The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero, has urged President Bola Tinubu to review some of his government’s policies to alleviate the country’s prevailing hardship.
Ajaero made this statement on Thursday at the 21st Daily Trust Dialogue held at the Nigeria Airforce Conference Center in Abuja.
Speaking on the theme, “Tinubu’s Economic Reforms: Gainers and Losers,” the NLC President emphasized that any reform under President Tinubu’s government that does not intentionally reduce the cost of governance in Nigeria by at least 50% is deceptive.
In his remarks, Ajaero stated, “Thus far, the economic policies of the Tinubu administration, largely driven by neoliberal principles, have sparked mixed reactions. While some measures may attract foreign investment and provide immediate fiscal relief, they come with significant socio-economic consequences.
“The removal of the petrol subsidy, Naira devaluation, and other measures contribute to inflation, reduced purchasing power, and job losses.
Expanding foreign exchange allocation and privatization efforts may benefit specific groups, but historical precedents raise concerns about their long-term success.
The cash crunch, whether intentional or not, poses challenges for citizens. A holistic overhaul of these policies is essential to make them more effective and sustainable.
“We urge the government to review some of its policies and seek creative ways to reduce the hardship on the growing army of the poor in Nigeria.
Support for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, boosting the agricultural sector, taking deliberate steps to encourage cottage industries dotting the nation’s landscape, paying workers a living wage to encourage productivity, providing incentives for struggling businesses in the organized private sector, getting the publicly-owned domestic refineries working to provide cheaper petroleum products, pursuing CNG alternatives, increasing budget effectiveness, growing the domestic economy, and purging itself of the growing number of corrupt public officials by ensuring that there are consequences for every breach of public trust.”
Furthermore, Ajaero added, “Our nation is in dire straits, and it is only through the leadership exhibiting more patriotism and thinking more of the citizens that they can craft policies to lift our nation out of the doldrums. The World Bank, as unreliable as their data is on developing nations, has predicted a 3.3% growth in our economy this year.
“We hope it is real growth and not driven by the devaluation of the Naira. However, we can grow faster than this if we learn as a nation to put our food where our mouth is. Listening to the IMF and World Bank has never helped us and will never help us.
“Our destiny is in our hands, and we can take deliberate and sustained steps to support our real sectors, nurture and encourage them to grow. The story of ‘It will get hard before it gets better’ is one we have heard over and over, but the reality is that it has continued to get worse.
“Nigerians demand concrete, transparent, and visible measures to arrest the continuous slide into deeper economic despondency, stabilize it, then begin a push back and grow our economy.
Let us grow our economy by putting our people once again at the centre of our economic policies and governance.
That is why we are worried that our fears concerning the government’s neoliberal policies are becoming manifest. The spate of borrowings, leveraging on future sales of our resources, destroys our today and mortgages the future.
“The rate of poverty has increased tremendously, leading to desperation, suicide, and ‘Japa,’ which have all become the lot of the masses.
Politicians are inflating the budget to feather their nests and purchase luxury vehicles and items to live cozily, to the detriment of our people and dear nation.
Anyone who thinks this will continue without consequences is dwelling on illusion because it is clearly unsustainable.
“Any reform that does not intentionally reduce the cost of governance in Nigeria by at least 50% is deceptive. Any policy that awards enormous benefits to those in government, allocating scarce public resources to live in opulence, build mansions, buy luxurious cars, treat themselves abroad while Nigerians die from common ailments in hospitals here, maintain long convoys, receive prayer alerts, and all manners of spurious allowances while our people can barely scratch out a survival can only be summarized as voodoo.
“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 how the path to deforming a people and a nation looks like. We, therefore, strongly assert that Tinubu’s Economic Policies have thus far deformed Nigerian workers, masses, and indeed the nation’s economy.
“We urge the Nigerian Government to expedite the process for negotiating the new national minimum wage, which should reflect the real cost of living, thus approximating a living wage for Nigerian workers.
The elimination of wages that enforce and validate poverty underpins the President’s Renewal of Hope Agenda. The business case for a living wage is huge, with deep positive multipliers for our traumatized economy.”
