*Says Citizens Are Suffocating
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has come hard on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for dissociating itself from the removal of petroleum subsidy by the Nigerian government, an action that has increased sufferings of the citizens.
NLC said Nigerians are aware that IMF usually recommends unworkable economic policies to developing nations, but regretted its current disposition to the policy implementation in Nigeria, possibly due to the adverse consequences on the lives and living of Nigerians
At a press conference during the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington DC, United States, Abebe Selassie, IMF’s African Region Director, described the decision to remove fuel subsidy by Nigeria’s government as a domestic one.
However, NLC, in a statement on Sunday signed by its president, Joe Ajaero, said Nigerians are aware that IMF usually recommends unworkable economic policies to developing nations.
Regarding the statement of denial as a display of ‘subterfuge and evasion’, NLC called on the brettonwood institutions to remove their suffocating knees from the necks of the citizens so that Nigerians can breadth
It stressed the need for Nigeria and other developing countries to reclaim their economic sovereignty, insisting that externally imposed policies have failed to consider local contexts and the needs of the masses.
“Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) believes that it is cynical and indeed typical of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) to recently deny responsibility for the Nigerian government’s removal of petroleum subsidy. IMF and its cousin in economic mischief – the World Bank remains the twin forces that have longstanding pattern of recommending harsh and unworkable Economic policies to developing nations,” the statement said.
NLC said that in the “usual subterfuge” the IMF and World Bank present advisories as growth strategies but these so-called advisories have unfortunately often led to increased socioeconomic hardship and stagnation in Nigeria and other nations that take their recommendations.
The statement continued, “IMF’s recent statement is a display of subterfuge and evasion. This denial of involvement in Nigeria’s subsidy removal, coupled with the assertion that it was a ‘domestic decision,’ disregards the extensive influence that the IMF wields in policy formation within many developing countries.
“Despite this assertion, the IMF’s policy dialogues often suggest subsidy cuts as necessary steps toward fiscal sustainability. For Nigeria, where successive governments have frequently yielded to these recommendations, the IMF’s disavowal rings hollow, as it underplays the fund’s direct impact on the nation’s economic policies.
“The NLC has become more worried over this denial at this time which is another signpost of the already disturbing policies by the Nigerian government at the behest of the IMF and World Bank and which IMF is now trying to distance itself.
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“It shows that the institution is working very hard to stay away from the blame or the backlash that its policy directions will evidently bring in the future. IMF must know that Nigerians are not fools and we are always aware of the destructive influences its awful policy paths for Nigeria and indeed Africa has been. It is pretentious and truly too late to begin to deny complicity because we warned the government about the consequences of implementing IMF and World Bank driven policies.
“As IMF and World Bank continue to pretend not to know the apparent obviousness of the social costs of its policy recommendations another layer of concern is added to the entire denial. While the IMF acknowledges the ‘significant social costs involved,’ it casually suggests that governments can mitigate these hardships through its idea of expanded social protections which is a system that beggars the people forcing them to dwell on handouts in this case RICE that never gets to the people.
“The reality in Nigeria has continued to reveal a profound disconnect – subsidy removal and price hikes have pushed essential goods beyond the reach of many, with government-provided social safety nets remaining woefully inadequate. This gap between IMF recommendations and the lived experiences of Nigerians highlights a fundamental and deliberate oversight in the fund’s approach to economic policy.”
The statement further said:
“Once again, we call on the World Bank and IMF to remove their knees from our necks so that we can breathe as a nation. They have become the major problems we have as a nation and we may be forced to soon demand that they leave Nigeria entirely as their policies have continued to undermine our Economy and sabotage the people and the nation.
“IMF should not worry for we know that the Petrol price hike and the Electricity tariff hikes were domestic decisions but we also know that it is a case of ‘Esau’s Hands but Jacob’s voice.’ IMF should not present itself cowardly but should stand up and own up! That is what is called honesty and transparency which is the bedrock of IMF’s much vaunted institutional integrity!”.
