FG differs as NLC says reforms killing Nigerians

The Nigeria Labour Congress on Thursday tackled President Bola Tinubu over the economic hardship in the country, which it said was worsening.

The President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, who faulted Tinubu’s economic reforms at the 21st Daily Trust Dialogue in Abuja, warned the President against heeding the advice of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

But the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, who was at the event,  faulted  Ajaero’s criticism.

He assured Nigerians that they would soon start enjoying the benefits of the reforms of the President.

Also, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, in an interview with The PUNCH,  said the President’s economic reforms were pro-Nigeria and aimed to stabilise the economy and restore the ailing naira to its true value.

Following Tinubu’s removal of the fuel subsidy on his assumption of office on May 29, 2023, prices of goods and services went up.

He justified the decision by saying the government could not continue to subsidise fuel with billions of naira which he promised to invest in infrastructure and other social development programmes.

In protest, the NLC and Trade Union Congress held a street rally over the increasing cost of living due to government policies, especially the removal of the subsidy on petrol.

To address the forex crisis and boost liquidity, the government through the Central Bank of Nigeria, abolished the multiple exchange rates which collapsed into the Investors and Exporters.

However, the policy change has failed to yield the expected results as the forex crisis, which started under the Muhammadu Buhari administration, worsened with the national currency now exchanging for over N1,400 per dollar.

But on Thursday, the NLC president took a swipe at the policies of the Federal Government, noting that Nigerians were the losers in the economic programmes initiated by the President.

Speaking on the theme, ‘Tinubu’s Economic Reforms: Gainers and Losers,’ Ajaero cautioned the President against implementing IMF policies, noting that listening to the Bretton Woods institutions had never helped Nigeria.

IMF-driven

Addressing the audience which included a former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Attahiru Jega, Deputy Governor of Katsina State, Faruq Jobe, ex-Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, Senator Shehu Sani, and others, he argued that many of Tinubu’s reforms were the policies of the World Bank and the IMF.

He cited the hike in fuel pump prices which he said was a World Bank’s idea.

“Reforms are meant to be accepted by the people and such reforms are supposed to yield results for the people. When it is the other way around, it becomes information. Many of the Tinubu’s reforms are just policies of the World Bank and the  IMF,” he said.

The NLC chairman, who was a panellist at the event, said it was not too early to measure the indices of failure and winning.

He stated that the masses were the losers because the price of fuel had become almost unaffordable to Nigerians.

He stated that fuel which hitherto sold at N187 per litre now dispenses for N700 per litre while the salaries remained the same.

“Some of the policies we are talking about today seemed to be emergency policies. I am going to talk about how the policies affect the common man on the street. I am here as a representative of the losers,” stated.

Ajaero lamented the closure of businesses in the country as he lamented that Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world.

Touching on Tinubu’s key economic policies of subsidy removal and naira devaluation, Ajaero stated that it took eight years for the naira to fall from N260 per dollar to N700 per dollar under former President Muhammadu Buhari, but under Tinubu, the national currency fell from N700 per dollar to N1,350 per dollar within six months.

He lamented the increasing debt profile of the country. “Who do you think will pay it?’’ he asked.

“I know they tell you that you have to suffer a bit so you can gain, but it has been the same story since forever,” he said, as he called for a review of all government policies to know what works and what does not, noting that the country’s situation is getting worse.

“I think the Tinubu’s administration should look at all these things holistically so we have a good master plan to drive Nigeria, we need policies to keep people in their jobs and not the other way around. The situation will continue to worsen until there is a policy reversal,” he concluded.

He submitted that the steps taken so far to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal have not been felt by the people.

Instead of helping Nigerians, the labour leader insisted that Tinubu’s policies have deformed the workers.

He noted, “Unfortunately, we do not see courage in actions that pillage the people, rather, we see cowardice in bowing to the pressures of foreign interests (IMF and World Bank) against that of your own people. That is not what reforms look like but it is exactly what the path to deforming a people and a nation looks like.’’