The Federal Government has reversed its decision on the use of Eagle Square by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, to hold its May Day celebrations.
Earlier, authorities of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, had withdrawn the permission given to the NLC to use Eagle Square for the celebration in Abuja.
However, yesterday, the NLC said the withdrawal, which came barely three days before the celebration of International Workers’ Day on May 1 has been resolved.
The minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, while reacting to the development, said he had called his counterpart the Minister of FCT, Muhammad Bello who blamed the issue on some overzealous officials before the matter was resolved.
According to Ngige, Bello said the overzealous officials were acting without his authority, adding that there was a minor communication gap between the FCDA, the Federal Government Transition Committee and the NLC.
Ngige said; “It was actually the contractor handling the renovation of the Eagle Square, Merrs Julius Berger, that informed the Transition Committee for the handover ceremony that they erected their equipment even before last Thursday when the Nigerian Army used the venue for an event attended by the President.
“Consequently, the FCT Minister assured the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment that the place is available for NLC to use on May 1, which is Workers Day.
“This May Day is the last in the life of this administration. The NLC parade belongs to everybody, including government, diplomatic missions, international organisations, organised labour and affiliate unions and members of the public.
“The President, Ministers and others cannot shut themselves out. The Eagle Square is still available for all these individuals.
“All invited people should make themselves available for the parade at Eagle Square, especially the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), the diplomatic missions and the international partners.”
Ngige noted that he has briefed the NLC leadership led by Comrade Joe Ajaero on these developments and has also extended apologies of the Minister of the FCT for “the unintended embarrassment”.
He also added that the FCT Administration promised to give all necessary material support to make the event hitch-free and successful while wishing all Nigerian workers a blissful Workers Day on May 1.
Alleluia is the Assistant Editor and Content Writer at LagosPost.ng. She is a prolific writer and editor, she has written features and news stories on Lifestyle, Sports, Business, Politics and B2B marketing. She is also an event coordinator, host and social media content creator.
