In Nigeria lately, there have been lots of protests about electricity prices going up. This has caused some tension between the government and Labour Unions.
It’s important to talk about these issues in a way that helps everyone and solves the problems we’re facing with electricity.
Electricity Hike Protest
After the union protested about electricity prices going up, the government asked pressure groups to stop the protest to avoid causing problems for its plans to fix the power system.
This request comes as tensions rise between the government and workers because of recent electricity price hikes.
The Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress had held protests at the National Electricity Regulatory Commission and Distribution Companies all over the country about the higher prices.
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, talked to reporters after a government meeting on Tuesday.
He said the workers had the right to protest but should keep it peaceful.
“We can’t stop them from protesting or asking for what they want. Let me be clear. President Bola Tinubu’s government listens to people,” he said.
FG To Labour Unions
Also, he said the government had heard what the protesters want but reassured them that President Tinubu had the intention of making electricity better.
“We’ve heard what they want. We’ll look into it and we’ll talk more. I think we can agree peacefully with the workers because no government can do well without working with workers.
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“So, we welcome the peaceful protest, and I’m glad it wasn’t violent. They’ve said what they want, and the government is listening and looking into it.
“But I want to say this: most of the people protesting yesterday aren’t actually affected by the higher prices.
“They still get a big discount from the government on their electricity. So when they say to lower the prices, it doesn’t really affect them. That’s one thing.
“I’m asking them again not to mess up our plan to fix the power system. We have a plan to make electricity better and cheaper in Nigeria, but it takes time because the system has been broken for almost 60 years.
“Everybody needs to make sacrifices, the government, the people, and the companies. We have to do this to make things better in the long run.
“I don’t want us to go back to how it was in February and March when there wasn’t enough power. We all felt that. Since we started making some changes in April, we’ve seen things get better, and they’ll keep improving.”
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