2023: What Tinubu Told Labour Leaders During Town Hall Meeting

The details of the meeting between the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and Labour leaders have emerged.

Naija News reports that Tinubu, on Monday, met with the leaders of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) at a town hall meeting held at Chida Hotel Conference Centre in Abuja.

The President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, and his Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Festus Osifo led the two labour groups in the country to the interactive session.

Speaking at the meeting, Tinubu said his achievements in Lagos make him the best person to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023, urging Nigerian workers to vote for him because he is the most qualified of the presidential candidates.

The APC flagbearer stated that he transformed Lagos infrastructurally and powered it to the 5th largest economy in Africa and can repeat the same feat at the national level.

Tinubu promised to tackle unemployment, poverty, challenges in the housing and educational sector, and weak industrial base of the economy if elected as the President, noting that his track record speaks volumes of his commitment to good governance.

He said: “Today, the questions you all must ask yourselves are these: who can be trusted to accomplish all of this?

“The man who has done it before, or the man whose most lasting achievement as Vice President is the corrupt sale of national assets to his friends and cronies?

“Who has the better plan? The man whose blueprint guided the emergence of Lagos State as the fifth largest economy in Africa or the man whose greatest pride is the amount of money he managed to bury in the sand while his state’s infrastructure decayed and its workers suffered endless hardship?

“The choice is yours. But permit me to now talk a little about myself and my vision. I have always been and will continue to be a progressive Democrat.

“In my worldview, the government has a cardinal responsibility to work not only with business but also with labour to ensure that all constituent parts of our society are afforded their fair share of rewards without taking on undue hardship.”

NADECO Experience

Tinubu stated that he has been at the forefront of fighting the government for good governance all his life when he was detained and eventually forced into exile.

He narrated how he fought tooth and nail for democracy and went into exile at the peak of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) movement against the military junta in the country.

He said, “As Organised Labour, you have been at the forefront of the worker’s rights movement in Nigeria, championing economic fairness and the welfare of the average person, the weak and the forgotten.

“You have also been involved in the struggle for democracy and political rights. Your collective efforts breathe life into the democratic rights and economic ideals enshrined in our constitution.

“I can speak fondly of your impact on our nation because of my personal history on the frontline of the social justice movement.

“I may be running for president now, but I was not always in this position. Long before I started running for the presidency, I was running away from military dictators angered by my important role in protests against them and their efforts to vanquish our democratic aspirations.

“The defining moment of my public life came during Nigeria’s struggle for democracy and my membership in the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) movement.

“I have dedicated my entire being to that cause. I was detained and then forced into exile because I refused to accept anything less than a government based on the proposition that the will of the people is sovereign and should reign over armed might and imposition.

“I believe that those assembled here today share the same ideals of progressive and democratic good governance. I have spent my political life advocating for the rights and interests of ordinary Nigerians as you also do. We have long been fellow travellers on the same road. I hope that we shall continue as friends and brothers.”