NLC TO FG: MILLIONS OF NIGERIANS IN MULTIDIMENSIONAL POVERTY. (PHOTO).

 NLC to FG: Millions of Nigerians in multidimensional poverty

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged the federal government to take urgent and decisive steps to address what it described as a deepening cost-of-living crisis, growing socioeconomic inequalities, erosion of workers’ welfare, and worsening insecurity across the country.

The call was made in a communiqué issued at the end of a joint meeting of the NLC’s National Administrative Council (NAC) and Central Working Committee (CWC) held in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

The document was signed by NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, and General Secretary, Comrade Emmanuel Ugboaja.

The union expressed grave concern over the “escalating economic hardship, which has pushed and kept millions of Nigerians in multidimensional poverty.”

It noted that workers and their families continue to suffer the brunt of persistent inflation, rising food prices, exorbitant transport costs, and the erosion of real wages.

The NLC also decried the “alarming and continuous deterioration of security” across Nigeria, saying the time for empty promises had passed. “What is needed now are actions,” the communiqué said.

The union cited the rampant killings in the Middle Belt, Northeast, and Northwest, along with the widespread climate of violence and criminality, as evidence of the state’s failure to protect lives and property.

“The nearly 700,000 lives reportedly lost to insecurity in just one year is a grim statistic more befitting of a country at war.

“When farmers can no longer access their lands, famine becomes a looming threat. The high cost of food in the country today is directly linked to insecurity,” it said.

The NLC, therefore, demanded that the federal government and security agencies take decisive, coordinated action to halt the tide of insecurity and restore public confidence in the capacity of the Nigerian state to safeguard its citizens.

The union also addressed the lingering crisis over withheld local government allocations in Osun State, demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all funds due to lawfully recognised administrations.

It accused the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, in collaboration with the Minister of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), of orchestrating the unconstitutional withholding and diversion of these statutory allocations.

The Congress further demanded that the Attorney-General retract all unlawful directives to financial institutions and cease politicising local government autonomy.

It warned that failure to comply within a reasonable timeframe would compel the NLC to take decisive actions to protect workers’ rights and uphold the rule of law.