…ignores NLC, TUC Protest even as he promised to review workers’ salary
President Bola Tinubu on Monday stated that a few cabal which he described as very powerful persons looted the nation’s treasury through payments for fuel subsidy and multiple exchange rates
The President in a nationwide broadcast said for several years, he has consistently maintained the position that the fuel subsidy had to go, adding that this once beneficial measure had outlived its usefulness.
He failed to mention anything about the impending protest by the Nigeria Labour Congress NLC and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria TUC which is scheduled to hold tomorrow.
According to him, the subsidy cost us trillions of Naira yearly. Such a vast sum of money would have been better spent on public transportation, healthcare, schools, housing and even national security. Instead, it was being funneled into the deep pockets and lavish bank accounts of a select group of individuals.
“To be blunt, Nigeria could never become the society it was intended to be as long as such small, powerful yet unelected groups hold enormous influence over our political economy and the institutions that govern it.
“The whims of the few should never hold dominant sway over the hopes and aspirations of the many. If we are to be a democracy, the people and not the power of money must be sovereign.
“The preceding administration saw this looming danger as well. Indeed, it made no provision in the 2023 Appropriations for subsidy after June this year. Removal of this once helpful device that had transformed into a millstone around the country’s neck had become inevitable.
“Also, the multiple exchange rate system that had been established became nothing but a highway of currency speculation. It diverted money that should have been used to create jobs, build factories and businesses for millions of people.
“Our national wealth was doled on favourable terms to a handful of people who have been made filthy rich simply by moving money from one hand to another. This too was extremely unfair.
“It also compounded the threat that the illicit and mass accumulation of money posed to the future of our democratic system and its economy.
“I had promised to reform the economy for the long-term good by fighting the major imbalances that had plagued our economy. Ending the subsidy and the preferential exchange rate system were key to this fight. This fight is to define the fate and future of our nation. Much is in the balance.
“Thus, the defects in our economy immensely profited a tiny elite, the elite of the elite you might call them. As we moved to fight the flaws in the economy, the people who grow rich from them, predictably, will fight back through every means necessary.
The Nigerian leader had pronounced an end to the payment of fuel subsidy among others.
While the move has resulted in a hike in the pump price of the commodity cost of living also high, Tinubu told Nigerians that he understands their plight.
The President, however, promised to reduce the burden the current situation had imposed on the working class and the most vulnerable among us.
Manufacturing
He stated that his administration will spend N75 billion to boost the manufacturing sector between July 2023 and March 2024, following the hardship occasioned by fuel subsidy removal.
“To strengthen the manufacturing sector, increase its capacity to expand and create good-paying jobs, we are going to spend N75 billion between July 2023 and March 2024,” the President said during a national broadcast on Monday.
“Our objective is to fund the minimum of 75 enterprises with great potential to kickstart sustainable economic growth, accelerated structural transformation and improved productivity.”
According to him, each of these manufacturing enterprises will have access to N1 billion credits at a maximum of nine percent per annum with a maximum of 60 months’ repayment for long-term loans and 12 months for working capital.
Tinubu spoke in the light of four executive orders he signed earlier this month “in keeping with my electoral promise to address some friendly fiscal policies and multiple taxes that are stifling the business environment”.
He added that the executive orders on suspension and deferred commencement of some taxes would provide the necessary buffers and headroom to businesses in the manufacturing sector to continue to thrive and expand.
Review of civil servants’ salaries.
He gave the assurance on Monday night during his national broadcast where he mostly spoke about the country’s economy.
According to him, the move is part of efforts to cushion the impact of the removal of petroleum subsidy which has triggered a hike in the price of the commodity.
“In the same vein, we are also working in collaboration with the Labour unions to introduce a new national minimum wage for workers. I want to tell our workers this: your salary review is coming,” Tinubu added.
“Once we agree on the new minimum wage and general upward review, we will make budget provisions for it for immediate implementation.”
He also lauded some private organisations that have reviewed employees’ salaries.
“I want to use this opportunity to salute many private employers in the Organised Private Sector who have already implemented general salary review for employees,” he said.
