Avert NLC Strike, Youth Party Tells FG

The Youth Party (YP) has expressed sadness over what it termed the unserious approach that the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government has adopted to provide palliative to the severe economic impact of the removal of the fuel subsidy on the masses.

In a statement issued by Ayodele Adio, National Publicity Secretary of the party, the government has applied a slow as well as an unserious cosmetic 'rice sharing' approach to a situation that demands a robust sustainable economical way forward. 

The proposed NLC industrial action to pressure the government to act and protect the masses from the economic impact of the policy, according to YP, is an action supported by it.

“However, we caution the NLC to take a creatively pragmatic approach that would not compound the economic hardship currently being experienced by the masses. 

“Sadly, the President Tinubu-led administration removed the petrol subsidy without any plan to protect the young, poor, and vulnerable from the economic impact of its said policy on 29th May 2023. 

“First, the APC government took about 80 days to announce palliative measures on 17th August since 29th May 2023”, Adio stated.

While insisting that the FG had no plan for the masses before the removal of fuel subsidy, Adio posited that the policy was an afterthought at best as the government merely gave an unserious N5billion loan to each state, which in turn has led to rice-sharing galore across the country. 

In his words: “Removal of petrol subsidy by the government without any plan to cushion the blow on the masses has led to intolerable hardships. 

“Petrol is part and parcel of the Nigerian way of life. Small businesses, homes, hospitals, schoolchildren, and individuals are dependent on petrol for their day-to-day activities in the absence of a constant power supply.

“How this cynical ‘rice sharing policy’ assists the workers' monthly ‘take home pay’ to actually ‘take them home’ remains to be seen.  

“Workers now sleep in offices since their ‘take home’ salary can no longer “take them home”. Parents now struggle to afford transport fares for their wards to schools. 

“The cost of foodstuff has skyrocketed on the back of over 300% increase in petrol cost without any efforts to reduce the cost of public transport as it is done in other market-driven economies.

“This solution portrays how disinterested the APC government is in the reality plaguing Nigerians and its lack of empathy. It’s also obvious that the APC government has adopted the failed ‘trickle-down economic theory.’ 

“How does rice fuel buses or generators? Once the rice is consumed, will another batch be shared? This tokenism policy does not address the major issues of hyperfood inflation and public transportation, which has become expensive for many of the masses”.

Adio further stated, “The government recently claimed to cut down the cost of governance by directing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to freeze the processing of visas for all government officials seeking to travel to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, while going to the G20 summit with a large Entourage. 

“This is tantamount to painting a donkey as a zebra when clearly the moment it rains the reality will be revealed. 

"It shows a lack of seriousness and playing to the gallery. The failure to reduce the number of ministries shows the government’s true intentions, which is party over country. 

“The Senate and House of Assembly have equally shown no intention of cutting down the cost of governance. The number of Ministers appointed is the largest so far in the history of Nigeria”.

He added that “The Youth Party has at various points proposed a more pragmatic approach to dealing with the pain points of Nigerians. The focus on public transportation to reduce the cost of living should be immediate. 

“The distribution of 100-seater buses across the states of the country to keep prices as low as possible is a first step. Secondly, Nigeria’s gas remains untapped. 

“The transition to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and converting petrol or diesel engines to CNG should be encouraged. This is a policy that should be expedited. 

“The FG should engage NURTW on how the cost of transport can revert to pre-subsidy rates. Public transport should be subsidized, as it’s done all over the world. 

“Masses cannot be subjected to the vagaries of the market. The market has its limit. The masses need to be protected.

“Also, the Youth Party would like to call on the NLC and its allied unions to apply the pressure of their actions with a human face, as their ultimate goal should be to ameliorate the hardship being faced by Nigerians and not to worsen it.

“The Youth Party has noted with dismay the unserious approach that the APC-led government has adopted to providing palliative to the severe economic impact of the removal of the fuel subsidy on the masses. 

“The government has applied a slow as well as an unserious cosmetic 'rice sharing' approach to a situation that demands a robust, sustainable economical way forward. 

“The proposed NLC industrial action to pressure the government to act and protect the masses from the economic impact of the policy is an action supported by the Youth Party. 

“However, we caution the NLC to take a creatively pragmatic approach that would not compound the economic hardship currently being experienced by the masses. 

“Sadly, the President Tinubu-led administration removed the petrol subsidy without any plan to protect the young, poor, and vulnerable from the economic impact of its said policy on 29th May 2023”. 

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