The seemingly silence of the organised labour, led by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in the face of the lingering fuel crisis in the country is already raising serious concerns amongst Nigerians.

Many Nigerians have said it is unusual for the NLC to remain silent in the face of such national issue such as scarcity of fuel, especially because it has lingered for more than a month.

The NLC recently admitted the woes workers are passing through as a result of the ongoing scarcity of petrol. NLC president, Ayuba Wabba said the crisis has affected workers productivity adversely nationwide.

He said: “If you look at the scenario it is a reoccurring decimal, people are facing serious fuel challenges from one day to the other. This is affecting productivity, it also put workers on unnecessary and undue pressure because you know that the salary is fixed.

“Anytime there is an increase in any commodity either power or petroleum product certainly it deplete that available income at the disposal of the worker.

But the silence by the congress in the ongoing fuel crisis is giving Nigerians a cause to be concerned.

The NLC since its inception has earned a reputation for being a voice for the oppressed and kicking against government policies that that appears to be anti-people. In 2012 when the then government announced an increment of pump price of petroleum, the NLC led other civil society group in a protest that became known as occupy Nigeria.

However, since the current scarcity, the NLC has done little to indicate that it is ready to tackle the government on the issues that led to the scarcity. This has kept many Nigerians wondering if the congress is now compromised or now

The last statement issued by the NLC condemning the fuel scarcity was issued on March 3. The congress had in the statement expressed concerns over the recurring scarcity of petroleum products, especially the Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, known as petrol across the country, threatening to ask workers to stay at home should the scarcity persists.

That statement was issued more than a month ago, and the scarcity has lingered. And with statement coming out of government circles, it appears the scarcity will still persist for a while. Yet, the NLC or any of its affiliates union in the oil and gas sector have not addressed the challenge being experienced by workers.

“Labour leaders must not allow the welfare of the people to be compromised. If labour leaders do not stand up for the people at this time as they have done in the past, posterity will not forgive them,” Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose said recently while reacting

Fayose, who reminded the unionists of how they led their members to protest when fuel price was hiked by the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2012, said that: “No matter the political party in government, labour unions must stand by their members in particular and the people in general.”

In a recent interview, Wabba said of the current fuel crisis: “It is deliberate to create scarcity, the present situation has remained. This particular scarcity is deliberate; government has no taken a proactive action to stop scarcity, so it’s deliberate. They have not done enough to prevent this scarcity.”

Usually, the NLC would have led a protest or at least issued public statement to draw government attention to

“This is so unusual. This silent by the labour is suspect. It has never happened before. My take is that the NLC has been compromised. This is something fishy about their silence” a civil servant, Remi Doyin told our reporter.

Also speaking, a motorist in Abuja, Okechukwu Nwoye said, “In the past, the NLC would have led a protest or even gone on a nationwide strike. Why they are not saying anything or confronting the government, nobody can tell.”

But for Chris Maxwell, the NLC may have understood that there is no point opposing the government policies if it is for the best interest of all Nigerians.

He said, “Perhaps the NLC understands now that it has to allow government remove fuel subsidy. If the NLC had not protested in 2012 and had allowed government to remove the subsidy, perhaps, we will not be experiencing the current fuel crisis.”

Another FCT resident, Julius Okorie said, “justifiably, every Nigerian deserves to be concerned. It is very unlike the NLC we have come to know. This can’t be the same NLC that confronted the Obasanjo government on numerous occasion.”

Whatever the case may be, Nigerians as it appears have great confidence in the NLC and expect them to always protect thier interest. The fact remains that the fuel crisis is worsening with motorists sleeping at petrol stations and the organised labour must speak up and be seen to be on the side of the people.