National Telescope national telescope newspaper
The Nigeria Labour Congress has criticised President Bola Tinubu over the economic hardship in the country, saying his economic reforms is worsening the hardship in the country.
The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, who stated this while speaking at the 21st Daily Trust Dialogue in Abuja, warned the President against heeding the advice of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Speaking on the theme, ‘Tinubu’s Economic Reforms: Gainers and Losers,’ Ajaero said listening those foreign institutions had never help Nigeria.
He also asked President Tinubu to reduce the cost of governance, saying any reform that did not address this cardinal issue is deceptive.
He said, “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.
“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.
“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.
“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.’’
Reacting to Ajaero’s claims, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, who was also at the event, said the President’s policies were to provide succour to Nigerians, and revamp the economy.
According to him, the N35,000 wage award being implemented by the Federal Government would be paid to workers for cushion the effect of the hardship.
“The N35,000 wage award, I know that there were some technical disruptions in the way it was implemented but I can tell you that the President is committed to ensuring that every kobo meant for the wage award is paid to entitled federal workers. The Federal Government has insisted that it has made a commitment.
“There was also the issue of the palliatives that we talked about. Now because fuel subsidy almost went away abruptly, there was the need to cushion that effect in the short term. The government is not saying every economic policy will be an emergency one or the one driven by palliative.
“What it sought to address was important that people have an immediate cushion to what was happening before a long-term solution was proffered. So it’s not all gloomy, it is not all emergency.
“Of course, if you have an immediate shock, it is important that you have first aid before a long-term solution is being proffered and that is being done jointly with labour itself.’’
He assured Nigerians that they would soon start enjoying the benefits of the reforms of the President.
In attendance at the event were the 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,
