BY SEUN SHOTUNDE, ABEOKUTA
The Ogun State chapter of the Trade Union Congress has said that it would close ranks with the Nigeria Labour Congress to shut down the state in protest against the deplorable condition of the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta expressway at the expiration of the 21-day ultimatum issued by the NLC.
The NLC chairman in Ogun, Emmanuel Bankole, had during a protest by the union and some residents of Ota under the auspices of the Ota Progressive Youth Intervention in reaction against the hardship being faced by the residents on the road, issued a three-week-ultimatum to the federal government.
The protesters were angry that despite the assurances by the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola and Governor Dapo Abiodun, during their recent assessment visit of the road, no concrete step had been taken.
Those plying the road continue to lament the daily traumatic experience being faced.
In an interview with The Point in Abeokuta, the TUC chairman, Akeem Lasisi, said that the union resolved to join the NLC in a proposed mass protest if the government failed to address the problem before the expiration of the ultimatum.
Lasisi said that the labour unions would not continue to fold their arms and watch the hardship continue.
Insisting that the TUC would do anything to assuage the plight of the citizens, the TUC chief urged the federal government to embark on the reconstruction of the road before long.
“It is a joint labour issue; there is no way TUC will not join in any struggle that will better the lot of Nigeria. The Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta road is a project that is long overdue.
“The federal minister had come to check the road but up till now nothing has been done. There is nothing I will say rather than the federal government to come down to Ota and mend the road.
“There is need for this road to be put into proper use. If you look at the volume of people going to Lagos and coming, you will see that this road is already due for repair to reduce the hardship being faced by the people,” he said.
