‘The Hope You Are Trying To Inspire Does Not Align With The Difficulties Your Policies Have Caused Nigerians’ – TUC President Fires Tinubu
The President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, has urged President Bola Tinubu to match his talks about making Nigeria better with actions.
Osifo submitted that it is on record that the economic policies of the Tinubu government have significantly added to the challenges facing the citizens.
Speaking on Wednesday during an interview on Channels Television, the TUC President lamented that the attempts by President Tinubu to inspire hope is not in tandem with the economic realities caused by his policies.
Osifo made the declaration against the backdrop of the President’s New Year message in which, among other things, Tinubu promised to reduce inflation to 15%, stabilize the naira, and promote economic growth.
He vowed that in 2025, his government would boost local food production, increase the manufacturing of essential medicines, and improve credit access through the establishment of the National Credit Guarantee Company.
However, Osifo said while it is understandable that President Tinubu is only trying to market the country as any other leader would do, the reality of the situation in Nigeria doesn’t match the words.
He stated “The president of a country is the chief salesman of a country, his own primary responsibility is to lay out the message that he has laid out.
“To paint a very bright picture, to paint a picture of a lot of goodies that could come in 2025. So he has done what any president in the world could do. So generally, from listening to the statement and reading through it over and over again, we could see that a lot of things were painted with optimism.
“So in reality, what the president has said is trying to inspire hope, but that hope that he’s trying to inspire, is not really in tandem with what we have currently in our economy.”
No More Rhetorics
The TUC President identified some of the policies of the Tinubu government that have contributed significantly to the nation’s current challenges and economic difficulties, which many citizens are experiencing.
He urged President Tinubu to match his words with actions that justify the talks.
“Nigerians, Nigerians know clearly that a lot of these policies have brought about challenges, and have brought about difficulties that we are facing today.
“Today our exchange rate is about 1,600, depending on the parallel market or The Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Fixing, It is also these policies that have also brought about the inflation that we have today.
“We’ve been told, for example, that inflation is going to come down to 15% by 2025.
“We’ve been told, for example, that our crude oil production is going to rise to about 2.06 million barrels per day. We’ve also been told, as well, that the balance of payments, we’ve been told how much we are going to borrow to finance our budget. So all these that the president has said, we have taken the brighter ones.
‘When you now analyze them, what are the parameters that have been put in place? What are those details that have been put in place that we can see that truly it is not just talkism, that truly what the president is saying, there are actions to match them,” Osifo submitted.
