A coalition of 17 civil society organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria has faulted government’s slow response to the hardship resulting from the removal of fuel subsidy.
Development Diaries reports that President Bola Tinubu, in his speech to the nation on 31 July, announced a series of measures aimed at fulfilling his campaign promises and easing the hardship.
The palliative promises include a new national minimum wage, N125 billion for small businesses, nine percent interest for startups, food price stabilisation, N200 billion for farming, infrastructure support for states, N100 billion for mass transit and funding for student loans.
However, the CSOs, in a communique issued at the end of their meeting on petrol subsidy removal and palliative, urged the federal government to begin a speedy implementation of its intervention plans.
The communique was signed by Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ); Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC); African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (CentreLSD); Equity Advocate; Food Basket Nigeria; Lawyers Alert; Foundation For Environmental Rights, Advocacy and Development
(FENRAD); Socio-Economic Research and Development Centre (SERDEC) and Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD).
Others are Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD); Youth Alive Foundation (YAF); Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre; Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA); Value Rebirth And Empowerment Initiative (VREI); Centre for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (CHRCR) and Meluibe Foundation.
In a statement made available to Development Diaries, the CSOs noted that a process for increasing the minimum wage should commence immediately at the federal, state, and local levels and by private sector employers.
The previous months have been difficult for many Nigerians as they continue to struggle with multifaceted poverty, suffering, a high cost of living, and inflationary pressures that have been made worse by the knock-on consequences of recent policy changes by the government.
‘While social protection has been acknowledged across the world as a veritable way to reduce poverty, in line with this, there is a need to update the Nigeria Social Register (NSR) and create awareness on the process of its compilation and the names on the register’, the statement read.
It is crucial that the government puts its promises into action and communicates properly at every stage in the implementation of the palliatives promised.
Photo source: Bola Ahmed Tinubu
