The President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has disclosed the details of the union leadership’s meeting with President Bola Tinubu.
Tinubu’s meeting with the NLC leaders at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Tuesday night was part of the last-minute efforts to halt the union’s proposed nationwide protest over insecurity.
The NLC had declared a nationwide protest for Wednesday, citing what it described as the country’s “degenerating security situation.”
However, Ajaero said the meeting held with Tinubu centered on addressing the issue of financial insecurity of Nigerian workers.
Ajaero disclosed this this after a meeting convened by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma with the NLC leaders in Abuja on Wednesday, December 17, 2025.
Ajaero said workers who were poorly paid and inadequately fed were more likely to face deeper challenges than those whose welfare needs were properly met.
He said: “The action continued this morning. We are rounding off now. We will take back whatever we discussed with them to our members.
“The attitude of meeting at the day or eve of any action is not rocket science.
Tinubu engages labour leaders in last-minute talks to avert nationwide protest
“However, Mr President was emphatic that the issue of insecurity will be a thing of the past very soon. He said he’s taking extra steps to take care of it.
“We equally talked about financial insecurity because a worker that is not well fed and not well paid will have even more problems than the ones that are well fed and well paid.
“Mr President said he has put Nigeria in the map of prosperity and we agreed that we’re going to meet in January to look at some grey areas where we need to touch.
“It will equally translate into the prosperity of the working people of Nigeria.”
On whether the protest had been cancelled, Ajaero said: “We are going back to our members now, and then we will get back to them.
“But today (Wednesday) is gone and our action is not an indefinite one. It’s a protest. The issue of suspension is not there because the action has taken off this morning.”
Also speaking, Uzodimma who is Chairman, Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF), said Tinubu’s intervention played a key role in resolving the matter, adding that a channel had been opened for increased communication with labour.
The governor said: “President Bola Tinubu met last night with the leadership of NLC.
“They discussed issues of the Nigerian economy, issues of welfare of workers and the various reforms going on; and also issues of national security and other developments in the country, and all of them agreed.
“At the end of the meeting, we also discovered that there is a need for regular engagements with the NLC.
“For now, both the government and labour are on the same page to ensure that Nigeria is better protected and more investments in the areas of security should be encouraged.”
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