CSOs demand return to fuel subsidy, single legislature

Organised labour has called on President Bola Tinubu to develop the political will and have policy rethink that would ameliorate the suffering of the citizens and put the country on the right growth trajectory.
 
This was as the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Edo State, demanded the restoration of fuel subsidy and single legislature, as well as improvement of security, among others, by the Tinubu administration.
 
In reaction to the President’s Independence Day speech, Labour told him that the citizens’ hope could only be renewed “when the government comes up with policies that are in tandem with their beliefs” to give them hope.
 
According to the Deputy President of Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Dr Tommy Okon, the government’s policies would be a mirage if it kills the hope of Nigerians, who have been patient and waiting for a prosperous society.
 
While commending him on some of Tinubu’s promises, Okon urged him to walk the talk, especially on his plans for the youths, citing the 2014 National Confab, whose outcome, he said, had not been effective.
 
“A lot of policies in the best interest of the country have not been looked into. They all ended up on the shelf. So, the government should use this opportunity to listen to the youth and come up with resolutions that would be implemented. That is when we know that the government is serious,” he said.
 
Head of Information, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Benson Upah, said the speech sounded like that of a President gradually coming to terms with the realities in the country and seeing the need to solve the problems.  
 
He added: “It is one thing to have this kind of born-again attitude and it is another thing to be able to see through the promises made. So he should develop the needed political will to ensure that we have a reversal or a rethink of policy that will ameliorate the suffering of the citizens and put the country on the right trajectory.”

THE CSOs, including African Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Talakawa Republic, Take It Back Movement and Faculty of Peace Organisation, during a rally to the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Edo State Council secretariat, Benin City, said the removal of fuel subsidy, insecurity and floating of the naira made life very difficult for Nigerians.
 
The Coordinator, Take It Back Movement, Edo State, Lawal Hafiz, said the government should restore fuel subsidies and improve security, so that farmers could work.
 
Hafiz also bemoaned the free fall of the naira and urged the government to restore the hope of the common man. Convener, Faculty of Peace Organisation, Kelly Osunbor, accused the political class of being wicked.