Mr Issa Aremu, the Director-General of the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), has warned Nigerians to beware of “leaderless protests” that could truncate peace in the country.
Aremu gave the warning in Ilorin while speaking with newsmen at the 2024 Policy Seminar series of the Institute.
The title of the seminar is: “Democratic, Human And Workers Rights: An Inevitable Tripology for Human Development.”
He called for an all inclusive national social dialogue led by organised labour on the current economic challenges as against “leaderless protests” that could lead to unhelpful and avoidable anarchy.
The Director-General cautioned against what he calls, leaderless protests in Africa, adding that “protests without clear cut agenda have destroyed countries like Sudan and Kenya, which Nigeria should not copy.”
He said that while Nigeria has celebrates 25 years of uninterrupted democratic process, there were still “anti-democratic forces” lurking around to truncate democracy.
According to him, the challenges of democracy can only be overcome through more democracy, inclusive dialogue between the government and the people.
Aremu commended the 10th National Assembly for the speedy passage of the new N70, 000 minimum wage bill as proposed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He called on civil society organisations to emulate the approach of organised labour by engaging in policy contestation through peaceful dialogue on rising cost of living.
In his paper presentation, Mr Owei Lakemfa, the President, Society for International Relations Awareness, (SIRA) observed that government must do more to perfect its democracy on solving the needs of its citizens.
“The Constitution states that two primary reasons for the existence of government are the welfare of the people and their security,” he said.
According to him,the unprecedented hyperinflation is as a result of devaluation of naira and removal of subsidy.
Lakemfa said that the challenge of Nigeria was how to make democracy work in terms of food, primary healthcare, shelter, employment and education.
He urged the government to ease the plight of the citizens and uphold their enshrined rights. (NAN)
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