Deputy Speaker Urges FG, Labour To End Strike

The Deputy Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly (LAHA), Mr. Kolawole Taiwo, on Sunday urged the Federal Government and organised labour to reach a compromise and end the petrol subsidy removal protests.

The lawmaker said that the crisis over the removal of petrol subsidy had become worrisome, and that there was the need for the government and the organised labour to end it.

“There is nothing wrong for the President to bring about a policy. Also, there is nothing wrong for the people to reject the policy, but the wrong thing is for both not to agree, reach a compromise,” Taiwo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

“To be a statesman, you need to be the listening type; you should listen to the collective voice of the people and consider the state of the nation,” he said.

Taiwo appealed to the organised labour to negotiate fast with the government to restore normalcy to the country.

The Chairman of LAHA’s Committee on Information, Mr. Segun Olulade, also appealed to both the Federal Government and labour unions to strike a bargain that would be in the best interest of Nigerians.

Olulade commended the organised labour, civil society groups and Nigerians for conducting themselves relatively peacefully in the five-day old strike that resumed today.

He, however, urged labour to call off the strike, and continue to negotiate with government on the correct pricing of petrol.