Nigeria’s most staple food, the good, old bread, may be going off breakfast tables from Tuesday for a week as the country’s bakers embark on strike to press home demands for ease of doing business.
The news comes amid reports that the nationwide protest by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) may kickoff in a few hours after protests rocked Benin, the Edo State capital; and parts of Lagos and Osun States.
However, there are reports of a meeting between President Bola Tinubu on the one hand; and labour leaders on the other. The NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) are said to be in the meeting in Abuja as part of last minute efforts to stop the protest.
The country has been on edge since the protest, slated for Tuesday and Wednesday, was made public by the NLC. The workers’ body called out its members to protest the econmic hardship, and has warned that it would be indefinite if workers are attacked by agents of government.
But on Monday evening, the hardship and hunger crisis was worsened by an announcement by the Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria of Full National Withdrawal of Service for seven days, starting Tuesday.
See below the announcement by Bakers:
Meanwhile, according to the Daily Trust newspaper, a human rights group, Take It Back Movement, has begun a nationwide protest in Lagos against the economic hardship being experienced in the country.
This is despite the warning issued by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Adegoke Fayoade.
The police spokesman in Lagos, Benjamin Hundeyin had, in a statement on Sunday, quoted the Commissioner of Police, Fayoade, as warning intending protesters against violence or acts that could infringe on the rights of others, such as obstruction of traffic and paralyzing the commercial activities in the state.
Fayoade assured residents of Lagos State that necessary security measures had been put in place to protect lives and property, with or without any protest.
But on Monday, the protesters took to the streets carrying placards despite the warning.
In Osogbo, Osun state capital, the protesters converged on Nelson Mandela Park, lamenting the effect of inflation and rising cost of living.
They called on the Federal government to act to prevent the situation from getting out of hand.
In Benin City, Edo State capital, the protesters marched from Kings Square to Akpakpava Road, wielding placards with inscriptions such as “End Economic Hardship”; “FG End the Hunger in Nigeria Now”; “We Are Tired of Hardship”; among others.
● Additional reports by Daily Trust