The Nigeria Labour Congress has advised foreigners to obey its stay-at-home directive on May 28 and 29 and stay away from the presidential inauguration.
The NLC President, Mr. Abdulwaheed Omar, gave the advice on Tuesday at a press conference organised to herald the stay-at-home protest.
Omar also announced the congress�s �decision to enforce the stay-at-home protest in spite of threats by the government and its agencies.�
He said, �Foreign nationals are advised to obey the stay-at-home directive for their own safety and because they too have a stake here.
�We need your support and understanding. We want our country to work as good if not better than your own countries.
�If we do not get it right, our youths will never stop migrating to your countries. If you continue to side with criminality, fraud and state violence, we cannot get it right.�
According to Omar, the stay-at-home order is necessary because of the willful destruction of democratic culture and institutions, the imposition of the tyranny of the few, the relentless assault on the people�s values and cultures and the unwholesome corruption in the polity.
He added, �These elections have been considered by Nigerians and international observers as the worst in the history of this country.
�The tragedy of the situation is that while other countries, including the supposedly less-endowed, are moving forward, we are dancing in circles, sometimes backwards.�
�The conduct of these elections has taken us several decades back; yet, we are said to be the giant of Africa. No wonder, we are the butt of cruel jokes across the world.�
On the reported support by the European Union and G8 for the President-elect, Alhaji Umar Yar�Adua, Omar said not all those who profess love and friendship for the country truly care about Nigeria .
He said, �Not everybody that comes in to say they are friends are truly friends of Nigeria . If they (EU or G8) are coming here, they are only coming to protect their interest or programme of economic domination. Those who support this imposition are not friends of Nigeria.�