The organized labour in Nigeria says all Africans should stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine in the context of the United Nation’s ‘two states of Palestine and Israel that live side by side in peace.
The call was made by member National Executive Council (NEC) of NLC, Comrade Issa Aremu at the 3rd Annual Ramadan Hamdalat Aremu lecture in memory of his late wife by the Kwara state National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Ilorin at week end.
“The organized labour in Nigeria has called on all Africans to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people within the context of United Nations’ two States of Palestine and Israel living side by side in peace, with secure and recognized borders and with Jerusalem as the capital of both two states. This call came on the heel of the recent killings of 62 Palestinians by Israeli security forces on 14 May, during protests at the Gaza perimeter fence following protest against the unilateral movement of US embassy to Jerusalem by Donald Triumph administration in America
Speaking at the Ramadan lecture with a theme: Solidarity With the Palestinian People, the labour leader observed that the intractable Middle East crisis “was not about religion or race but about land occupation, domination and oppression, in which since 1948, the Palestinians had been serial victims of orphans and widows while Israelis are triumphant oppressors”.
Aremu who likened the events in the Middle East to the age long history of slavery, colonialism in Africa and apartheid in South Africa said Africans who once reaped from global solidarity for liberation and independence, could not be indifferent until Palestinians get justice and fair deal in terms of a state and security.
The labour leader commended the Buhari Administration for disassociating Nigeria from what he called “ignoble shameless power show of American President Donald Trump” on Monday May 14, 2018 when he formally opened US embassy in Jerusalem amid deadly protests in the Gaza Strip.
“Increasingly the world has seen that “America first” slogan of Donald Trump is a hoax. In Middle East it is “Donald Trump and his partner in crime, minister Netanyahu first, not America first, not even Israel first.
“The embassy movement to Jerusalem does not enjoy the support of neither American nor Israeli electorate who knew that Jerusalem is a gravity centre to both Palestinians and Israelis and indeed all humankind of faiths,” he said.
Comrade Aremu hailed Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, for sanctioning Nigerian ambassador to Tel Aviv for his indiscipline in attending the controversial US Embassy movement adding that Buhari administration must ensure coherence in its foreign policy.
In a similar vein, participants at the Ramadan lecture also urged the Federal government to adequately fund the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to curb the menace of drug abuse in the country.
A lead speaker on Drug Abuse Among the Youths, Mr Jubril Kaka of the NDLEA listed more than 78 drug substance allegedly being abused by the youths pointing to the danger posed to the country’s productivity with what he called “stagnated and immobile youths on accounts of drug abuse.”
Aremu also called for immediate constitution of the board of NDLEA with all the stakeholders to help in realizing the agency mandate of “eliminating the growing, processing, manufacturing, selling, exporting, and trafficking of hard drugs in the country “.
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