Nigerian Labour Congress has called on Past Heads of State to join forces with the President and citizens to terminate insurgency and senseless killings in the country.
NLC Vice President Comrade Isa Aremu made this statement at a news conference in Kaduna following the recent Kano Bombing.
Aremu said “Nigeria parades possibly the highest number of past Heads of State that include General Yakubu Gowon, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, General Muhammadu Buhari, General Ibrahim Babangida, Chief Ernest Shonekan, General Abdulsalam Abubakar and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. It is high time these past Heads of State joined forces with the Federal Government and patriotic citizens of the country to terminate insurgency and senseless killings in the country.”
He also said that if insurgency is not curbed in the country, the nation will face under development. He said “Citizens must be assured in concrete and practical terms that workplaces, schools, markets and worship places are safe. The current states of insecurity, if not curtailed will further worsen existing low productivity, ground work places and under develop the nation.
“When we add serial bombings in parts of Maiduguri and now Yobe, these are attacks getting too many for a country that has not been officially said to be at war. More frightening is the fact that the casualties include soldiers and police meant to protect us.
“It’s time President Goodluck Jonathan addressed the citizens on the state of the nation. Just today Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta has not only addressed Kenyans but has fired his internal security minister and accepted the resignation of his police chief following the al-Shabaab quarry attack that reportedly killed 36 quarry workers in the north of the country.
“We possibly may not know these dark forces of murder and mayhem. But we know our Commander-in-Chief, Service Chiefs, Defence Minister,Interior Minister, National Security Adviser, state governors, elected and appointed public officers and traditional rulers. They must live to the expectation of their respective oaths of office and ensure inclusive security of all Nigerians. If we can commendably secure political rallies, cultural carnivals, we must be able to guarantee security for all.
“With these senseless killings, 2.5 million people displaced, never before is Nigeria calling and we must obey. With as many as eight million organised workforce in the NLC and TUC, Nigeria parades patriotic workforce. It’s time these compatriots and patriots in the civil society rose to defend lives and property.
“We salute the patriots who are still standing and remain counted in this age of least resistance by many compatriots, notably His Eminence Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto and John Cardinal Onaiyekan, Catholic Cardinal Archbishop of Abuja, former Military Governor of Kaduna State, Colonel Umar Dangiwa (rtd), Prof. Wole Soyinka, elder statesman Emeka Anyaoku and Femi Falana have also rightly warned all compatriots not to be indifferent to the sad development in the Northeast.”