The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has clarified that it is not behind the planned nationwide hunger protest set for August 1.

Responding to circulating reports that the NLC had withdrawn from the youth-organized protest, NLC President Comrade Joe Ajaero stated on Wednesday. He urged both the federal and sub-national governments to heed the pleas of hungry Nigerians and address the economic crisis.

The statement, titled “The Nigeria Labour Congress cannot withdraw from a protest that it did not organise,” read in part:

“A news report claiming that the Nigeria Labour Congress has withdrawn from the widely discussed national protest has been brought to our attention. The Nigeria Labour Congress debunks such stories as patently false.

“The truth is that the Nigeria Labour Congress cannot withdraw from a protest that it did not organise. Only the organisers of the speculated national protest can decide to pull out or continue with the protest.

“The Nigeria Labour Congress has internal trade union mechanisms, especially leadership decision-making processes, that its industrial actions such as protests pass through before such activities are undertaken.

“Yet, the fact that the Nigeria Labour Congress is not the body organising the protest does not mean that Organised Labour is oblivious of the dire living conditions Nigerians have been subjected to by the harsh economic policies of the government.

“The Nigeria Labour Congress stands in solidarity with the Nigerian people in these very trying and excruciating times.

“Pursuant to proactive engagement with the issues raised by the protest organisers, we have called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to invite the leaders of the protest movement to dialogue on their demands.

“We have advised that it would be counter-productive for the government to meet the widespread anger in the land with brute force.

“Once again, we implore the Federal Government and the sub-national governments to listen to the cries of the Nigerian people and do the needful. After all, it is said that the voice of the people is the voice of God.”