President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent removal of fuel subsidy reverberated Thursday in Lagos, where organized labour, under the aegis of Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) canvassed a concert of measures to cushion the effects of the removal on the people.
Tinubu ended the subsidy on May 29 during his inauguration speech.
Guest Speaker at the monthly Forum of Labour Writers Association of Nigeria (LAWAN) and National President of ASCSN,Comrade Tommy Etim Okon, urged the Federal Government to provide mass transit buses to all the 36 states of the federation, including Abuja to ease the high cost of transportation on daily basis.
According to him,this should reduce the transportation burden on private and pubic workers.
Etim charged government to group small business enterprises into clusters,provide necessary tools with good policy back-
ups, stressing that if this is done, the economy would pick up within six months.
He also noted that each time government announced an increase in salary,as being currently touted, inflation would soar with negative multiplier effects.
Towards this end,therefore, the ASCSN boss suggested that non-
taxable incentives should be given to workers like the 40 per cent peculiar allowances granted to workers in the past, by the federal government.
He described as wasteful spending, the proposed palliatives to cushion the effects of subsidy removal.
Recall that the federal government
planned to give each household,the sum of N8000 for a period of six months to ameliorate the sufferings of many Nigerians, but beat a retreat and called for a review after pubic outcry.
Okon expressed sadness that the President ignored the Committee, which he personally set up to proffer lasting and enduring solutions to the economic crisis precipated by subsidy removal.
He stated that organized labour was unhappy over the neglect of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who had set up the Palliative Committee, only for him to announce the palliative without consulting the Committee.
Okon said :”We were of the view,that the President would have waited for our Committee on palliative to submit our template,on how to go about the policy,only for us to wake up one day and heard that Mr President announced N8000 per household.It is not in the best interest of the workers and the economy.The President acted on fair needs,which means thinking for the people, instead of action need,where people think and achieve their desired needs.
“The N8000 palliative for each household means that after six months, the people will revert to poverty again.It will not help the economy.The President’s neglect of the Committee shows trust deficiency, where the government will say something and
do another thing.It would have been more ideal,if the President had allowed the Committee’s report to identify what the people need.
” Why did he invite us to an open discussion with out waiting for our inputs ? If wewere invited and we did not attend,the people will say that organized labour has refused to support the government”.
