Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has alleged that the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu’s administration are largely driven by neoliberal principles, driven by World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which are deforming the nation’s economy.
Calling for a holistic overhaul of the policies to make them more effective and sustainable, the congress said while some measures might attract foreign investment and provide immediate fiscal relief, the policies, most times, come with significant adverse socio-economic consequences.
NLC President, Joe Ajaero, said this, yesterday, in a paper, titled: ‘Tinubu’s Economic Reforms in Nigeria: Assessing Gainers and Losers’, presented at the 21st Daily Trust Dialogue, in Abuja.
While urging government to review some of its policies and seek creative ways to reduce the hardship on poor Nigerians, he warned that any reform that did not deliberately reduce the cost of governance in Nigeria by at least 50 per cent was deceptive.
According to him, reforms are expected to produce better results or outcomes for the people and if not, it becomes a deformation.Stating that reforms were ostensibly designed to address perceived fiscal challenges and promote economic sustainability, Ajaero, however, said the policies implemented have been met with mixed reactions, with both positive and negative consequences for different segments of the population.
He said: “Any policy that awards humongous benefits to those in government, allocating scarce public resources to live in opulence, build mansions, buy luxurious cars, treat themselves abroad while Nigerians die over common ailments in hospitals here, maintain long convoys, receive prayer alerts and all manner of spurious allowances while our people can barely scratch a survival can only be summarised as voodoo.
“Unfortunately, we do not see courage in actions that pillage the people; rather we see cowardice in bowing to the pressures of foreign interests (IMF and World Bank) against that of your people. That is not what reforms look like but it is exactly what the path to deforming a people and a nation looks like. We therefore strongly say that Tinubu’s economic policies have thus far deformed Nigerian workers, masses and indeed the nation’s economy.”
He said government’s policies must support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to boost the agricultural sector, take deliberate steps to encourage cottage industries doting the nation’s landscape, pay workers a living wage to encourage productivity and provide incentives for struggling businesses in the organised private sector.
Ajaero also said there was need to get the publicly owned domestic refineries working to provide cheaper petroleum products, pursue the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) alternatives, increase budget effectiveness, grow the domestic economy and purge itself of the growing number of corrupt public officials by ensuring that there is consequence for every act of the breach of public trust.
The NLC chief said the removal of petrol subsidy, Naira devaluation and other measures contribute to inflation, reduced purchasing power, and job losses.
