TUC to FG: Fast track work on palliatives for suffering workers, masses

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has asked the Federal Government to fast track work on palliatives for Nigerian workers to cushion the economic effects of subsidy removal.

TUC urged the various committees put together during its discussion with the government to conclude its work in the next two weeks and submit their reports for the Presidential Steering Committee to conclude its work immediately.

President of the TUC, Festus Osifo, who briefed reporters on Monday in Abuja, noted that the federal government could not afford to “speak grammar while the workers are suffering.”

The discussions between government and organised labour was adjourned on June 19 for eight weeks to enable the government to put together measures to cushion the economic effects of subsidy removal.

The eight weeks will end on August 18, 2023.

Osifo said: “Government should fast track the action and processes to ensure that work was concluded on all discussions on palliative packages.

“We want the government to ensure that between now and the next two weeks all the committees must have submitted their reports for the Presidential Steering Committee to conclude its work immediately because we cannot continuously speak grammar while Nigerians are suffering. We cannot continuously speak English while people are trekking to work.

“As TUC we are ready to meet; even at night or weekend to ensure that the government fast track these processes because the plight of the Nigerian workers is our main concern. Anything that affects the Nigerian workers is what we will strive to correct.”

He also urged the government to reduce the cost of governance saying Nigerian workers and masses could not continue to adjust their belts while those in government continued to live large.

The TUC president urged those in government to lead by example by reducing the cost of governance.

He said: “The government cannot continuously ask workers and the battered Nigerian masses to continuously tie their belts. We have adjusted our belts and we have even exceeded the last hole while the government has continued to increase its largesse.

“Recently there was an uproar because the National Assembly wanted to purchase vehicles worth N40 billion and they earmarked N70 billion to be shared. They said it is about their condition of work. If you go to some ministries today, people are working without light; in some parastatals today the toilets are not working. We have some offices where civil servants buy chairs with their money and take them to their offices to work.

“The executive, legislature and judiciary must lead from the front while we follow them from behind as the followers. But in a situation where they push a lot of poverty to the masses and they are living in affluence we will not allow that to work. If the National Assembly cannot give a clear cut justification on what they think they are doing we will lead the entire Nigerian masses to besiege the National Assembly.”

He commended the President Bola Tinubu-led administration for shunning its earlier decision to share N8,000 to 12 million vulnerable households.

“We raised that red flag and thank God they have listened. We know that N8, 000 is nothing. Even if the government said it wants to transfer N50, 000 to Nigerians, the question is: where is the data? How can the data be verified?,” the TUC leader asked.

He added: “Anything we call palliative must be things that we can verify. Not something that you will promise us and at the end of the day we don’t know where any of those items have gone.

“We all remembered the issue of #Endsars when people were hungry and dying on the streets and palliatives were in the warehouses. So for us, we don’t really trust the process. The Nigeria Govenor’s Forum should do better, they should come up with things that are much more specific.

“We want the governors to come up with things that will ameliorate the sufferings of Nigerians.”

The TUC leader also hailed the suspension of the planned increase in electricity tariff.

Osifo added: “You cannot add insults to injury because things are relatively hard today. The patience of Nigerians, their endurance level is getting to a limit and it may get to a point that they won’t be able to take this anymore.

“When you are bring about some policies, you must also look at the timing and how to phase them out in order not to make the people to suffer.

“When they told us about the planned electricity tariff increase we told them to put it on hold. We reached out to government and told them you cannot be implementing this (increase) now when Nigerians are facing this level of suffering and thank God they listened. And we want them to listen more.”