Group Condemns Hardship Caused by Naira Redesign, Fuel Scarcity, Urges NLC, TUC to Appeal to FG

Ugo Aliogo

The Movement for a Socialist Alternative (MSA), a leading socialist platform in Nigeria, has condemned the untold hardship the working people of Nigeria have been through by what it described as “a result of the Buhari regime’s anti-people policies”

In a statement signed by its General Secretary, Lagos State Chapter, Dagga Tolar, the organisation stated that week after week, the mass of the people has continued to face one hardship or the other, ranging from queuing in the Bank to withdraw their own money or queuing at the filling stations to get petrol.

The statement also noted that while the challenge has lasted for months now, the Buhari government did not feel bothered by the high level of hardship it has forced on the poor masses.

According to Dagga Tolar, “The capitalist policies of this regime have further revealed the crises associated with the system. The country has been put into a state of chaos as a result of scarcity of cash due to the recent unnecessary and anti-poor policy of naira redesign and unavailability or hoarding of petrol which has continued for a period of four months.”

The organisation which described the response of the presidency to the current crisis as symptomatic of “the I don’t care body language and attitude of President Buhari towards the grave danger that these policies of his government pose to the survival of the general masses” also expressed worry over the lack of interest of the labour leadership on the situation.

“The silence of the Labour Unions has further emboldened the regime to continue to visit untold hardship on the Nigerian working people. We condemn the attitude of the Ayuba Wabba-led Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) as shown in its comment that the union will not challenge the ongoing fuel crisis and the hike in prices under the guise of being tired of fighting for price reduction,” the statement said.

The group called on the trade unions not to abandon their responsibility of defending the working class in the country, calling on both the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to place the Buhari regime on notice by commencing the mobilisation of the working masses for an effective 48-hour warning General Strike demanding for the end to the untold suffering imposed on the country made worse by the scarcity of petrol as this has further shot inflation high such that goods and services are now out of reach for the low-income earners.”