The ActionAid Nigeria, a non-governmental organisation, has totally condemned the hike in pump price of petrol, saying the development is ill-timed.The group noted that Nigerians are reeling from the adverse economic effects of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, and should not be pushed into further suffering by government.
Ene Obi, the Country Director Governance, said: “We are not out of Covid-19; a lot of citizens are losing their jobs, people are getting poorer, more responsibility with school closure, young people roaming the streets unemployed and fuel hike at this time is shocking.”
Obi said the expectation was that of easing the pain and burden of the common man, “but it seems the Nigerian government is not in touch with the reality on ground.”
She said that the organisation is on ground as it has been dealing with the less-privileged, and has noticed that times have been so rough and tough for Nigerians.
The group pointed out that Federal Government was dealing with too many increases at the same time, stressing that with the way government is going, it has introduced so much inflation into the lives of the citizens. It urged the Federal government to first deal with insecurity that has been heightened by Covid-19 which has plunged people into serious poverty.
“We dealing with too many increases at the same time and this is introducing so much inflation into our lives. Governance is about the people. Instead of dealing with insecurity, we are taking actions that will further heighten insecurity because as the inflations go up and more people are plunged into poverty, there will be more conflict in our society. With the volume of energy we have in the country, it is disappointing that we are still not refining crude locally,” Obi said.
“ActionAid Nigeria will be working with the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and relevant stakeholders to amplify the voices and demands of the common man. The fuel hike is a disappointing move at this time,” she added.
