…LCCI calls for dialogue
From Bimbola Oyesola and Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), yesterday, said it would join other human rights and civil society organisations on a mass action against the government in the event of its failure to heed the call to reverse its recent hike in petrol pump price.
In a statement, the CLO’s Chairman, Agada Vincent Agada, noted that the financial capabilities of Nigerians to contain the hardship inflicted by the Muhammadu Buhari administration on the common man has been weakened by the inability of government at all levels to pay workers’ salaries.
The organisation regretted that one year down the line, the Buhari administration has not only abandoned all its campaign promises, it has also failed to record any success on its economic score card.
“All economic indices in Nigeria are in a scary negative. Inflation is currently at an all high 13.7 per cent while the naira plunged from N165 nine months ago to over N300 to the dollar today,” the statement said.
Agada recalled that the Buhari-led administration came in a year ago on the crest of campaign promises including reduction of the petroleum pump price to N45, rehabilitation of the three major refineries, jettisoning of petroleum products’ importers as well as the importation of petroleum products.
Buhari also promised to eliminate all forms of corruption and hiccups in the oil sector, which explains why the president assumed the office of the Minister of Petroleum.
Meanwhile, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), has warned that disrupting economic activities through a nationwide strike will be counter productive at this time.
Calling for dialogue between the Federal Government and labour, the LCCI noted that Nigeria’s fragile economy would be doomed should there be any nationwide strike. The LCCI President, Nike Akande, warned that the Nigerian economy was already in a very fragile state with very little capacity to absorb the shocks of any major dislocations.
“The resultant hardship from a strike at this time will be excruciating, especially for the majority of the citizens, micro and small businesses as well as the informal sector players of the Nigerian economy. This makes the dialogue option imperative,” she stated.
The LCCI President said the Organised Private Sector (OPS) welcomes the offer by the Federal Government to immediately engage the leadership of the labour unions in dialogue for more effective communication on both sides.
She added: “In this connection, it is important to give an appropriate context to the new policy of government on PMS. Key considerations should be given to the current state of fiscal viability of all tiers of government, the urgent need to grow investment in the petroleum downstream oil and gas sector, the imperative of economic diversification and the need to provide palliatives to cushion the adverse effects of the policy on the citizens.
“We call on government to also immediately put to work its information dissemination machinery and enlightenment of the general public on the inevitability of the new policy regime.”