2023: Tinubu Reveals what he Told Labour Leaders at a Town Hall Meeting

The meeting between the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and Labour leaders has been made public.
According to Track News, Tinubu met with the leaders of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) on Monday at a town hall meeting held at the Chida Hotel Conference Centre in Abuja.

The President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, and his Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Festus Osifo led the two labour groups in the country to the interactive session.

Tinubu told the meeting that his achievements in Lagos make him the best person to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023, and he urged Nigerian workers to vote for him because he is the most qualified of the presidential candidates.

The APC flagbearer stated that he transformed Lagos infrastructurally and powered it to the 5th largest economy in Africa and can repeat the same feat at the national level.

Tinubu promised that if elected President, he would address unemployment, poverty, challenges in the housing and educational sectors, and the economy’s weak industrial base, noting that his track record speaks volumes about his commitment to good governance.

“Today, the questions you must all ask yourselves are: who can be trusted to accomplish all of this?” he said.

“The man who has done it before, or the man whose most lasting achievement as Vice President is the corrupt sale of national assets to his friends and cronies?

“Who has the better strategy? The man whose blueprint guided Lagos State’s emergence as Africa’s fifth largest economy, or the man whose greatest pride is the amount of money he managed to bury in the sand while his state’s infrastructure deteriorated and its workers endured interminable hardship?

“You have a choice. But first, let me tell you a little bit about myself and my vision. I’ve always been and will always be a progressive Democrat.

“In my opinion, the government has a fundamental responsibility to collaborate with both business and labor to ensure that all constituent parts of our society receive their fair share of rewards without undue hardship.”

NADECO Experience
Tinubu stated that he has spent his entire life fighting the government for good governance, and that he was detained and eventually forced into exile.

He described how he fought for democracy and went into exile at the height of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) movement against the country’s military junta.

“As Organised Labour, you have been at the forefront of Nigeria’s worker’s rights movement, championing economic fairness and the welfare of the average person, the weak, and the forgotten,” he said.

“You have also been involved in the struggle for democracy and political rights. Your collective efforts bring democratic rights and economic ideals enshrined in our constitution to life.

“I can speak fondly of your impact on our nation because of my personal history on the frontline of the social justice movement.

“I may be running for president now, but I wasn’t always in this position. Long before I ran for president, I was fleeing military dictators who were enraged by my role in anti-dictator protests and their efforts to crush our democratic aspirations.

“The defining moment of my public life came during Nigeria’s struggle for democracy and my membership in the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) movement.

“I’ve devoted my entire being to that cause. I was imprisoned and then forced into exile because I refused to accept anything less than a government founded on the idea that the will of the people is sovereign and should take precedence over armed might and imposition.

“I believe those gathered here today share the same ideals of progressive and democratic good governance. I have spent my political life advocating for the rights and interests of ordinary Nigerians as you talso do. We’ve been on the same road for a long time.