In his June 12 Democracy Day speech, President Bola Tinubu vaguely tries to assure workers seeking better pay
At Eagles Square after his early morning address to the nation, President Bola Tinubu startled his security detail and even the sitting crowd when he tumbled over while landing a step in the rover that would move him around the terrain.
Before the moment finally came, anticipation had been growing around what good can come out of another Democracy Day on 12 June and President Bola Tinubu’s speech on the anniversary appears to have summed it up for curious Nigerian workers.
In the president’s early morning broadcast today, the sacrifices in death of Nigeria’s major nineties characters such as Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola who was presumed to have won the 1993 Presidential Election and also his wife Alhaja Kudirat were buttressed.
ALSO READ: Yesterday & Today: This week in June 1996 trying to keep democracy alive in Nigeria
Mr Tinubu after making the speech was to head down to the Eagles Square in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja to mark an historic 25 years of unbroken democracy in Nigeria. Here is what he left the citizens with before changing venues.
Our economy has been in desperate need of reform for decades. It has been unbalanced because it was built on the flawed foundation of over-reliance on revenues from the exploitation of oil.
The reforms we have initiated are intended to create a stronger, better foundation for future growth. There is no doubt the reforms have occasioned hardship. Yet, they are necessary repairs required to fix the economy over the long run so that everyone has access to economic opportunity, fair pay and compensation for his endeavour and labour.
As we continue to reform the economy, I shall always listen to the people and will never turn my back on you.
In this spirit, we have negotiated in good faith and with open arms with organized labour on a new national minimum wage. We shall soon send an executive bill to the National Assembly to enshrine what has been agreed upon as part of our law for the next five years or less.
In the face of labour’s call for a national strike, we did not seek to oppress or crack down on the workers as a dictatorial government would have done. We chose the path of cooperation over conflict.
No one was arrested or threatened. Instead, the labour leadership was invited to break bread and negotiate toward a good-faith resolution.
Reasoned discussion and principled compromise are hallmarks of democracy. These themes shall continue to animate my policies and interaction with the constituent parts of our political economy.
VIDEO: President Bola Tinubu’s National Broadcast on the 25th Anniversary of Unbroken Democracy in Nigeria, Democracy Day 12th June 2024 pic.twitter.com/zvcPVagxWQ
— Presidency Nigeria (@NGRPresident) June 12, 2024
Now at Eagles Square, President Bola Tinubu startled his security detail and even the sitting crowd when he tumbled over while landing a step in the rover that would move him around the terrain.
All the same, the June 12 commemoration went on.
ALSO READ: How Bola Tinubu marked 25 years of unbroken democracy in Nigeria
Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.
