Hardship: Start Food Importation, TUC Tells FG

Posted by Nwa Diokpa Featured, Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria Monday, February 26th, 2024

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria has enjoined the Federal Government to start the importation of food in two weeks to curtail the prices of food increasing daily across the country.

The President, TUC, Festus Osifo, stated this in a press conference on the economic hardship ravaging the country on Monday in Abuja.

The African Examiner writes that the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu on May 29 Inauguration Day has made the cost of living increase.

Speaking just a few hours before the two-day nationwide protest of the NLC, Osifo disclosed that Nigerians have never witnessed this level of hardship before and the problem emanates from lack of capable hands to lead the affairs of the country.

Osifo said, “Nigerians must live to see tomorrow before we can understand how beautiful a government policy is. The national pride of striving to achieve food sufficiency locally should be temporarily relaxed. Governments at all levels should immediately purchase sufficient quantities of food items from different parts of the world and share them with vulnerable Nigerians.

“Importing food abroad at this point will assist to reduce the hyper-inflation of food in the country. FG should allow importation of food items for Nigerians consumption within the next two weeks,” he added.

He also advised President Tinubu to quickly strengthen the economic management team of his administration and search for Nigerians who will help in providing solutions to this economic issue.

He said: “The Federal Government’s economic team should work towards a more realistic rate of the naira to dollar, which they pegged between N500 and N800 to the dollar.

“There should also be a clamp down on currency speculators, especially those online, who have made remittances from abroad drop.”