By Magnus Effiong
The Organised Labour, coalition of Civil Society Organisations, student groups, women groups, youths and market women, Wednesday, rose from a well-attended meeting to distance themselves from the #endbadgovernance protest.
Speaking, Chairman Nigeria Labour Congress NLC, in the State, Comrade Gregory Olayi, said workers in the state would not participate in the protest, submitting “As a Labour Leader, and NLC chairman, I want to say that we will not afford to have destruction of lives and properties as we witnessed during the endsars protest. We say ‘no’ to any form of protest.”
Olayi reasoned that the protest would do no good to the State, and appealed to protesters to give government a chance to improve living condition of the people.
In his remarks, Chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Monday Ugbodum, said the planned protest lacks transparency in the arrangements, and described organisers as ‘faceless.’
The Unified Commercial Drivers Association (UCDA), led by Mr Nta Effiom Henshaw, in his remarks, charged all well-meaning Cross Riverians and residents of the State to support Governor Bassey Otu in his efforts to better the lots of everyone.
He said: “We do not support any kind of protest. We remember the hardships of 2020 and cannot endure that again. We have only one state, and we must protect it”.
Speaking also, the Chairman of Youth Council of Nigeria (YCN), Cross River State Chapter, Olay Emmanuel, called for dialogue and noted, “We acknowledge the challenges but have chosen dialogue as our approach. We have a Governor who listens, and we cannot let a few dictates the outcome. We will document the issues young people face and present them to the government.”
