Festus Osifo, the president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), has expressed serious concern regarding the discrepancy between the Nigerian government’s call for citizens to make sacrifices and adapt to the nation’s economic challenges and the apparent exclusion of government officials from such measures.
In an interview on Channels Television’s “Politics Today” on Wednesday night, Osifo emphasised how urgent it is for the political elite to demonstrate their readiness to adjust to the shifting economic realities that everyday citizens are dealing with.
In particular, he spoke of the challenges posed by the end of fuel subsidies and the alarming rise in inflation, which, as of May 2023, was staggering at 22.41%.
Additionally, the unionist emphasised how important it was for public employees to lead by example and demonstrate that they are making an effort to comprehend and address the current economic problems the nation is experiencing.
For instance, the convoys, Osifo said. Governors are still conducting themselves as usual, as you can see. The number of new legislatures and their convoys is endless.
“Nigerians are suffering greatly; it is terrible and very difficult. What have you actually contributed to the conversation when you ask the public to tighten their purse strings? What part of the economic impasse that our nation is currently experiencing has been caused by the political class?What we’re trying to say is, if the Federal Government couldn’t pay for the subsidy, who would? What were they doing with our money, exactly? What did they do with the 23 trillion naira worth of borrowed money and other funds obtained through various means?
The Nigerian people need to be informed of the fact that they are pushed into the streets at the slightest provocation and told to tighten their belts while they are loosening their own.
Following the elimination of the subsidy, the government and Organised Labour declared that they had reached an understanding to form a steering committee that would receive reports from other sub-committees within eight weeks.
In response to the agreement reached with the Federal government, the Organised Labour had suspended its planned nationwide strike on June 5.
On June 5, agreements were made, one of which was the creation of a joint committee to review any proposed pay increases or awards and create a plan and timetable for implementation.
The Federal Government, the TUC, and the NLC were also expected to review the World Bank-financed Cash Transfer Scheme and propose including low-income earners in the programme, as well as revive the Compressed Natural Gas conversion programme previously agreed with Labour centres in 2021.
