The Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) says it has scheduled Saturday for a peaceful rally nationwide in solidarity with the Federal Government over removal of petroleum subsidy.
Alhaji Danlami Navom, the Secretary General of the Association, who disclosed this in an interview on Friday in Abuja, said the association had disassociated itself from other segments of the labour movement.
Navom, who described strike as inimical to the nation’s development, advised other labour unions to adopt dialogue, which he said, was the surest way to ensure lasting solution to any problem.
The general secretary noted that the removal of subsidy on petroleum would drastically reduce the corruption in the oil and gas industry.
“Throughout the world there has never been a place where protest has yielded good result rather it worsened the situation of the country.
“RTEAN is using this medium to advise other labour unions to shelve their planned protest and adopt dialogue to address the current situation rather than declaring strike, which I feel, will not augur well for the poor masses and the nation in general.
“We in the transport sector are supposed to be the one complaining but we did not because of the enormous benefit of the subsidy removal,” Navom said.
“We have ordered all our zonal offices across the country to come out for tomorrow’s pro-subsidy rally in their various states to show support for the Federal Government,” he added.
On the issue of the transportation problems being faced by the masses, he reaffirmed that government had taken palliative measures in terms of provision of buses to cushion the effect.