The Labour Party (LP) has advised President Bola Tinubu to seek help to address the surging economic crisis and high cost of living before it becomes unmanageable.
LP, in a statement issued by its spokesperson, Mr. Obiora Ifoh, yesterday, expressed deep concern about the increasing cost of living in Nigeria, and how millions of people were battling with the crisis of food shortage since the turn of the year.
The party also called on President Tinubu to prevail on some of his aides to desist from making inflammatory, incendiary, and careless comments capable of offending the sensibility of average Nigerians
It said: “As at today, essential commodities such as rice, garri, flour, protein have witnessed exponential increase in prices since January. For instance, a carton of noodles now sells for N10,000, a 50kg bag of sugar is now selling at N73, 000 as against N62, 000 sold in early January. A bag of cement now sells upward of N7000 against N5500, a bag of rice rising above N70,000, while a kg of meat now sells for N4000, among others.
“We are aware that the Organised Labour union and the government have been in a long protracted dialogue on a possible salary increase for the civil servants. There is an air of despondency across the nation. The immediate fallout of this situation are increasing crime particularly among the youths who are desperate to remain alive; incidences of suicide are in upswing. It has now become a familiar scene for people to jump into the Lagoon, hang themselves or take lethal substances.
“Mr. President and his team should just admit they’ve run out of ideas, they should ask for help because it is now apparent that no amount of propaganda can change the fact that more and more Nigerians are falling below the poverty line. Local and foreign companies are folding up and government appears at a loss as to what next to do other than ask us all to pray.
“For any Nigeria to begin to compare this country with some other countries and go as much as pontificating that Nigerians are living in paradise is mischievously opprobrious and insulting to the millions who go to bed every night without food.
“As a matter of urgency, we think that the Tinubu-led government should stop spending billions on some useless consultancy for some social welfare services which most often end up in private pockets.
We are about entering into farming season, we should borrow a leaf from the consumption to production policy of the Labour Party and ensure that farmers are mobilized early enough through various incentives to return to the farms. Fresh University graduates should be encouraged to go into farming and ensure that their produce are mopped up and properly rewarded. Our farms must also be protected from criminal herders and rustlers. We do not have need to be importing several food items that can be grown locally.
“The federal government needs to take action to reduce the hardship being faced by the poor Nigerians, and seek help because things are becoming unbearable for average Nigerians. This must be done immediately to stem the rising tide of discontentment. Let us pray very hard that the Niger State incidence does not trigger chains of other protests because it is really biting hard across the nation.”
