LAGOS—THE second phase of the strike by Labour and Civil Society Coalition (LASCO), to force a reversal of oil prices to the pre-September 23 level, is to commence on November 16. However, the struggle will no longer be restricted to fuel prices alone, but similar issues, according to Labour-Civil Society Coalition (LASCO), which said it had in addition declared war on multinational oil company, Shell, for allegedly joining government to oppress the people of Nigeria by taking workers to court in a bid to stop them from joining the planned strike.
The court case in which Chief Gani Fawehinmi is representing the oil workers under the aegis of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) comes up today in Lagos.
President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, speaking to reporters at the end of a five-hour meeting of the group in Lagos said once the strike began, it would be total and indefinite until the political system which, according to him, has made the National Assembly irrelevant and dialogue impossible, is reformed.
He noted that LASCO was shifting the date of the strike to accommodate the appeals and feelings of genuine and suffering Muslims who have been in the struggle with LASCO. He said LASCO rejected the appeals of some traditional rulers and religious leaders who had never sided with the people.
Comrade Oshiomhole lamented that the actions and comments by the presidency, including rejection of the price reversal suggested by government and employers’ representatives, the palliative committee to the extent that the President warned the committee not to discuss the issue of price as that was not in the committee’s mandate, had foreclosed the option of dialogue.
He said a peaceful mass rally would be held in Yaba Wednesday to begin a nationwide sensitisation and mobilisation of Nigerians toward the coming action that could transform the soci-economic and political situation Nigeria.
Said he: “This struggle must now be deregulated. We must go beyond the issue of price to include all those problems associated the growing state of hopelessness and the growing level of destitution and above all, the political regime that has made dialogue completely impossible. Those issues will be articulated by the coalition and they would form the basket of our chatter of demands.”
Comrade Oshiomhole said LASCO rejected the cushioning measures because they didn’t address the issue of price and sufferings it has created for Nigerians. He advised Nigerians to prepare for a very long strike which he described as “marathon and not a 200-metre dash.”
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