Sixty-six years ago, our founding fathers and mothers wrestled this nation from the grip of colonial rule, convinced that political independence would translate into economic freedom and dignity for the Nigerian people. Today, as we mark another Independence Day, the Nigeria Labour Congress salutes every worker, artisan, youth, woman, retiree, informal economy operator, and every Nigerian who wakes up each morning to struggle for survival in a country that has increasingly turned its back on its own people. We honour the sacrifices of those who paved the path to liberation with their sweat and blood. However, we refuse to drown in empty patriotic rituals while the masses drown in poverty.

Sixty-six years after independence, Nigeria has become a nation whose governance decisions have been captured by neoliberalism; an ideology and a policy framework that does not serve workers, does not serve the masses, does not serve the nation, but is designed to serve Western capital. From policy formulation to resource allocation, from taxation to subsidy removal, from wage suppression to price escalation, the beneficiaries of this arrangement are a tiny elite (who keeps applauding) and international capital, while the costs are borne by the very people whose labour built this country.

Yet oppression has never been a permanent destiny. The power of Nigerian workers and the people ended colonial rule and forced one government after another to retreat from anti-people policies. Hope exists, but it will not fall from the sky. Hope depends on the decisions we make and the actions we take as trade unions, workers, and as a people.

We stand at the crossroads of a full-scale survival crisis. The real value of wages has been devoured by structural inflation. Petrol now sells at ₦1,430 per litre or higher in major cities and far more in remote areas. The surge in transportation costs drives up the prices of food, school fees, rent, and nearly every necessity of life, while nominal wages remain stagnant.

The root of this crisis is very clear. The May 2023 petrol price hike was a systematic assault on the working class. Government claimed subsidy removal would free up resources for infrastructure and social services. Three years later, petrol prices have multiplied several times over, yet the promised infrastructure and social services remain mirages. Where exactly did the subsidy savings go? Nigerians deserve an answer, and they deserve it now.

More infuriating is that Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, depends on imported refined petroleum, while domestic refining capacity has been systematically neglected, except the effort of a few private refineries. When international oil prices fluctuate, the Nigerian working class bears the consequences. This is not an economic law. It is a policy choice that favours importers and Western refining capital while sacrificing our own people by ensuring the four publicly owned domestic refineries remain comatose.

Our demands are clear, just, and cannot be delayed any further. First, we demand that government seek ways to immediately reduce the price of petrol as transportation costs are the central transmission mechanism of inflation in Nigeria. Without cutting this chain, any effort to ease the suffering of the people is futile.

Second, we demand the immediate implementation of a nationwide wage award for all workers. A wage award is not charity. It is an emergency intervention against the collapse of real income. We demand that this relief reach all workers in federal, state, and local governments.

Third, we demand that the government deliver the tax relief agreed upon in the October 2023 dialogue with labour. The tax incentives promised in the Memorandum of Understanding signed between government and labour have not been implemented.

Fourth, we demand that government expedite action on the new national minimum wage negotiation. The current ₦70,000 minimum wage was already destroyed by inflation before it was implemented. We demand the immediate establishment of a tripartite committee to ensure that a new wage standard for 2027 is formulated and legislated before the year runs out.

Fifth, we demand that the government reduce the cost of governance and practise transparent governance. When workers are asked to tighten their belts, the extravagance and waste of the governing class are unacceptable. Government must lead by example.

Beyond these immediate demands, we insist that the government  invest massively and genuinely in road and social infrastructure, make our hospitals, schòols and other social services work. Public education must be affordable, high-quality, and accessible. Good roads are a basic precondition for reducing transport costs and improving economic efficiency.

The governmentnt must create genuine opportunities so that young people can see hope instead of being preached to about hope…so that desperate journeys  across the Sahara and the Mediterranean do not remain the only source of hope.

We must also remind the   government that insecurity has worsened the macroeconomic situation and has become one of the greatest threats to national stability. In the first quarter of 2026, nearly 2,000 Nigerians died from violence. Farmers cannot farm. Teachers and doctors dare not go to work in some places. Poverty, unemployment, desperation, and inequality are the most fertile soil for violence and crime. Without addressing distributive justice, insecurity cannot be cured, and without curing insecurity, no economic recovery is possible.

As campaigns rage on for the 2027 general elections, we warn all political forces that the choice of the people must be respected and must prevail. Any attempt to manipulate elections, intimidate voters, or exploit divisive rhetoric to incite ethnic and religious antagonism will be unacceptable to workers or all progressive forces. We will not forget the politicians who turned a deaf ear to the demands of workers. We will not forget the parties that made promises before elections and abandoned workers after winning power.

NLC  will, at the appropriate time, use our Workers’ Charter to make it clear which policies and candidates deserve the support of the working class. However, we will never accept any force treating workers’ organisations as dispensable electoral tools. Workers have the right to independent political thoughts, judgement, and choice.

NLC  will always stand on the side of workers, fighting to the end for decent wages, safe workplaces, and a life of dignity. We will uncompromisingly pursue accountability in governance, ensuring that public resources serve the people and not a predatory few. The unity and action of the masses is the only reliable force capable of changing this country. Hope belongs to those who organise, who struggle, and who choose their own destiny.

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