Reactions continue to trail the Federal Government’s N8000 per household palliative.
The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and its counterpart, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, faulted President Tinubu’s plans, saying it runs contrary to the works of the Presidential Technical Committee on the removal of Subsidy.
NLC and TUC argue that it is not only undemocratic but shows that the President is merely setting up the committee as a window dressing for whatever purposes he has set out for himself, stating, “Any palliative payment must be in line with the agreement reached with labour in line with the technical committee meeting.”
Though the President and General Secretary of NLC, Joe Ajaero, and Emma Ugboaja, could not be reached, a senior officer of NLC who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “The issue is whether the President has trust and confidence in the Steering Committee set up or not. If he has a budget already, it means that he already has activities he has planned on his own. If he has that, what is the need of the Committees? The action of the President has actually undermined the credibility of his own Committee.
“We believe that it is not only undemocratic but shows that the President is merely setting up the committee as a window dressing for whatever purposes he has set out for himself.
When you also look at what he has planned, to give N8,000 to households for six months which approximates to N48, 000, you ask yourself, can N48,000 address the millions of suffering the government has already inflicted on the poor? Will it make any significant impact in addressing the consequences already being faced by Nigerians? Will the suffering suddenly end after six months?”
On his part, the President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, Festus Osifo, who also doubles as President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, simply said “Any palliative payment must be in line with the agreement reached with labour in line with the technical committee meeting.”
Corroborating, the President of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, ASCSN, and TUC’s Deputy President, Dr Tommy Okon, said, “As far as I am concerned it is economic waste. What is N8,000 monthly to 12 million Nigerian households with this hyperinflation and socio-economic challenges?
“How did the government or the president determine those who are to benefit from the data deficit in Nigeria? I think the government should stop this ad-hoc and get unsustainable programme.
“What form of poverty alleviation policy implementation strategy is this? Is it not proper to allow the Presidential Committee on Removal of oil Subsidy to conclude its assignment and arrive at a collective agreement with organized labour before embarking on any palliative care distributions? What the government is doing could amount to doing exactly what the previous administration did that yielded no positive impact on the economy and the citizens.
Similarly, General Secretary of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, NASU, Prince Peters Adeyemi, said “Any effort geared towards the alleviation of the present hardship Nigerians are going through as a result of the President removal of subsidy and the harmonization of the exchange rate markets should be supported.
“However we need to know the criteria to be used in determining those that will benefit from the programme. We hope that this will not be another avenue for a few individuals to divert such money to their private pockets.”
N8,000 per month is an insult on Nigerians — Maritime group
THE Maritime Arbitrators Association of Nigeria, MAAN, stated that the move by the Federal Government to pay 12million poor households N8,000 per household monthly is a far cry from the economic realities adding, “It is an insult on Nigerians.”
Vice President of the association, Ms Jean Anishere Chiazor, said that the President has been ill-advised as that amount of money cannot feed a child in one month, talk less a family.
He stated: “N8,000 for 12million households; who identified the poor households; what yardsticks; who is a poor family; what are the requirements to qualify as a poor family entitled to N8,000.
“How much is N8,000 in Pounds or Dollars; What will N8,000 buy in a day for feeding. Start with Garri for the poor, one Olodo is N3,500, that cannot feed a family for a week if they eat Eba every other day. One Olodo of rice, equivalent to a paint bucket is N4,800 if not more because the price is always going up. So that comes to almost N8,000.’’
Reacting to the FG’s palliative, President, Association of Capital Market Academics of Nigeria, ACMAN, Prof Uche Uwaleke, said: “This is rather a sub-optimal option. The government should look in the direction of non-cash palliatives.
“With the current galloping inflation rate (official figures are understated), what can N8,000 do for a family of four in a month? And this is meant for only 12 million families (about 48 million persons, that is, assuming they are adequately targeted and the National Social Register is clean and updated) in a country of over 200 million people.
“The President is equally seeking approval of 800 million US dollars soft loan from the World Bank as part of funds to cushion the impact of the fuel subsidy removal. If we add this N500 billion to the N600 billion (assuming I & E average rate of N750 applied to the World Bank’s facility), that should give N1.1 trillion.
