The Labour Party (LP) said it was deeply concerned about the increasing cost of living in Nigeria and advised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to seek help to ameliorate the suffering of the masses.
According to LP, millions of Nigerians were battling with the crisis of food shortage since the turn of the year.
A statement issued by national publicity secretary of LP, Obiora Ifoh, on Monday, said residents of Minna, the capital of Niger State blocked main roads in the city to protest the high cost of living.
“Women and young people among the demonstrators were heard shouting protest songs while accusing the government of insensibility and inadequate responses.
“As of today, essential commodities such as rice, garri, flour, garri, and protein have witnessed exponential increase in prices since January. For instance, a carton of Indomie noodles now sells for N10,000, a 50kg bag of sugar is now selling at N73, 000 as against N62, 000 sold in early January. A bag of cement now sells upward of N7000 against N5500, a bag of rice rising above N70,000, while a kg of meat now sells for N4000, amongst others,” the opposition party said, adding that it was aware that the organised Labour and the government have been in a long protracted dialogue on a possible salary increase for civil servants.
“There is an air of despondency across the nation. The immediate fallout of this situation are increasing crime particularly among the youths who are desperate to remain alive; incidences of suicide are in upswing. It has now become a familiar scene for people to jump into the Lagoon, hang themselves or take lethal substances.
“It is either that the government is bereft of ideas on how to check this unfolding catastrophy or that it chose to continue to act as if it is still campaigning for office. This is no time for politics.
“Nigerians were told that by removing fuel subsidy, the economy will revamp. In addition to the foreign exchange crisis where the dollar is now selling above N1500 and the naira still falling unabated, it has become obvious that this sad situation may never be arrested by this government and this calls for concern.
“We have always said it, that the hasty manner with which President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who was obviously basking in the euphoria of his swearing in, announced the removal by fiat, his action was not taken through the rigors of consultations and planning. We knew this would lead us into economic trouble. Our leader, Mr. Peter Obi and our party gave words of caution but we were called names,” the statement added.
