NOA Appeals to Labour to Suspend Protest, Dialogue with Government

As organised labour plans for nationwide protest on Monday, The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has appealed to labour leaders in the country to continue to engage government through dialogue in order to find a common ground on the issue of fuel and electricity price hikes.

Director General of the Agency, Dr. Garba Abari in a special message to the two main Labour organisations urged their leaders to continue to avail themselves of the platforms for debate and negotiations provided by government, especially now when government is making effort to reactivate the economy following the global economic slow-down occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to him, “calling for protests and strikes at this period hardly can help in the very difficult task of navigating the nation through the challenges thrown up by the impact of COVID19″

The Agency also appealed to Nigerians to come to terms with the economic realities of the time which require aggressive revenue drive, removal of unsustainable subsidies as a way of growing the economy and attracting the needed investment funds into the country.

“We should be talking about how to create jobs and this is the time to let private enterprises and investments determine the cost of goods and services in order to provide jobs and services in the country. What government is doing is simply to provide the environment for huge private sector investment in the oil and gas sectors and energy sub-sector” he said.

The Director General also called on labour to inspire a new sense of productivity among workers that will ensure greater output and growth in the economy.