The meeting between representatives of the Federal Government and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has ended in stalemate.
In last-minute efforts to prevent the protest, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, had invited Labour leaders to his office.
Aside from the SGF, Ministers of Agriculture; budget and national planning; Labour and Employment; Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Head of Service of the Federation, as well as the Director General of the Department of StateService (DSS), attended the meeting.
A source at the meeting said that government officials appealed to the labour leaders to shelve the protests because it may lead to breakdown or law and order.
They said isolated protests in some states were nearly hijacked by hoodlums before the security agents curtailed the situation.
As the meeting progressed, the labour leaders took a break from where they broke into another meeting for consultation.
At the end, NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, said despite the intervention to avert the nationwide protests, it would go on as scheduled.
He however, urged the security agents to protect the protesters.
When asked on the warning from the DSS, he said, “I would say despite the warning from the DSS, the rally goes on, but it is part of their (security agencies) constitutional responsibility to make sure that the rally is peaceful.
“And while we are going to try our own side to make sure it’s a peaceful rally, that’s all.”
When asked on the unions protesting at the National Assembly, Ajaero said, “Usually, there is no rally that we just do for the sake of walking around. We have demands that we present. Maybe by Tuesday when we present these demands, a copy of it will be made public.”
Government representatives were, however, not available for comments.
Pockets of protests had broken out in Kano, Niger, Oyo, Edo, Lagos, Kano, Sokoto, Bornoand Osun, among other states, with protesters urging the government to take decisive steps to bring the hardship to an end.
The leadership of the NLC had declared a two-day nationwide protest for February 27 and 28 after government failed to implement some of the agreements reached with the congress.