The labour leader lamented that
rather than work to create jobs and improve the condition of Nigerian working
people and Nigerians in general, leading elements in the APC government, like
Governor Nasir el-Rufai, have been taking measures to further ruin Nigerians by
throwing tens of thousands of workers into the already saturated unemployment
market and wretchedness.
He said 2017 saw the working
people, pensioners and other Nigerians facing series of daunting socio-economic
and security challenges, “even though we had hoped that the year would offer
succour for the masses of the people.”
Wabba added, “Against the
background of the campaign promise of the ruling All Progressives Congress
(APC) government to create three million jobs annually, this statistics from
the NBS underscores the grave and depressing situation of the Nigerian economic
landscape in 2017.
“Rather than work to create jobs
and improve the condition of Nigerian working people and Nigerians in general,
leading elements in the ruling APC government, like Governor Nasir el-Rufai,
have been taking measures to further chastise and ruin Nigerians by throwing
tens of thousands of workers into the already saturated unemployment market and
wretchedness.
“In the same vein, despite the
huge revenue that the states have received through the Federal Government
intervention funds to clear arrears of unpaid salaries and pensions in many
states of the federation, coupled with additional payment of three tranches of
windfall, (Paris Club debt refunds), states like Kogi, Osun, Benue, Ekiti,
Bayelsa and several others entered 2018 with huge arrears spanning up to ten
(10) or more months of wages and pensions.
“Under these conditions, Nigerian
workers, pensioners and their families remained the most despondent group in an
economy that even the well-to-do are groaning and struggling to survive. No
wonder, our country is one of the worst, known for having many hungry people in
the world according to the World Hunger Index report 2017.
“For us in the Congress, and for
majority of working people in Nigeria, the hope placed on the capacity of
President Buhari to bring about positive change is being undermined by his
government’s inability to address the infrastructural deficit and other related
problems in the oil industry, such as making our existing refineries work at
optimal capacity by refining products for domestic consumption.
“Not only is government unable to
achieve this for almost three years now, but moving forward more refineries,
especially modular refineries which can be built between 12 and 18 months are
required to address the reoccurring challenge of fuel scarcity and price hike
in Nigeria and stop the exploitation of ordinary Nigerians.
“The inherent corruption in the
system has made this impossible for more than three decades and should be
addressed headlong.”
On local government autonomy, the
NLC President said: “Congress appreciates the recent passage of three core
bills on Local Government autonomy in Nigeria by the National Assembly. It is
our belief that the passage of the constitutional amendment to guarantee Local
Government autonomy will promote good governance and deepen democratic culture
at the grassroots level.
“We therefore call on the State
Houses of Assembly to demonstrate courage, patriotism and assert their desired
independence by passing these constitutional amendment bills designed towards
emancipating our local governments and freeing their finances from being
usurped by governors who are determined to truncate the quest for
democratisation at the local government level.
“Over the years, the Congress has
advocated for good governance as a basis for sustainable development of our
country. We have in similar tone campaigned against corruption in our body
politics, as this malady has remained the greatest impediment to our quest for
national development.
“We believe that the ascendancy
of the APC to power was rooted on the personal integrity and anti-corruption
pedigree of President Buhari. As we move into 2018, our expectation is that the
executive arm of government would push for the implementation of key
anti-corruption protocols and good governance principles in our public and
private institutions.
“In the same vein, we call on the
government to increase the tempo of the fight against corruption in a way that
is fair, just and all encompassing.”
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