Joe Ajaero, the national president of the National Labour Congress, NLC, has rated Tinubu’s economic policies poorly, saying they are killing Nigerians.
Tinubu inherited a range of challenges from his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari: high unemployment, inflation at the highest level in 20 years, record debt, widespread insecurity and massive oil theft draining national revenue.
He extended the ruling party’s reign with his election victory on 25 February 2023 after promising voters he would deal with these issues.
Since taking office on 29 May 2023, Tinubu has implemented a series of wide-ranging reforms aimed at revitalizing growth in Nigeria.
But the reforms, including repealing a petrol subsidy only pushed up the price of gas, goods and cost of transportation, worsening the country’s inflation which is now at 28.92 per cent.
Government officials have repeatedly defended Tinubu’s first major decision as a painful necessity. But Ajaero strongly disagrees.
“The harsh reality is that many Nigerians live on less than one dollar per day, and the situation has worsened after the subsidy removal. Locally produced goods have become exorbitantly expensive,” the labour leader said on Thursday at the 21st edition of the Daily Trust Dialogue organised by Media Trust Limited.
Ajaero described the impact of subsidy removal, with fuel prices soaring from N187 to over N600 as a burden disproportionately shouldered by the “common people.”
“The real losers are those who have seen the price of imported goods jump from N200 to N700,” he lamented.
“They are the ones whose transportation costs have quadrupled without any corresponding increase in their wages. They suffer from unimplemented wage increases. Ultimately, the common people are the losers, and economic policies have done little to alleviate their distress.”
The Labour Chief called for a policy reversal, emphasising the need for the government to reassess its strategies and consider the wider socio-economic implications of such measures on the populace.
