By Chijioke Kingsley
Abuja (Sundiata Post) – A coalition of Civil Society Organization (CSO), has said the ongoing hunger protest in the country is not inspired by tribe, religion or political bias as insinuated by some section of Nigerians.
The CSOs made up of Equity International Initiative and Citizens Coalition Against Corruption, said the rate of inflation occasioned by the high cost of commodities leading to low or non-existence of purchasing power by an average Nigerian led to the current agitation for survival aimed at drawing the attention of President Bola Tinubu.
Speaking in a statement sent to our correspondent on Saturday, Amb. Chris Iyang, spokesperson for the coalition, said Nigerians have endured enough and can no longer remain silent.
Iyama said from the facts gathered, Nigerians cannot afford one square meal a day as a result of the anti-people policies of the present administration.
“Nigerians are hungry, families are barely surviving”, he said.
According to him: “Let me state categorically that this protest is not inspired by tribal, political or religious sentiments as opined by some members of the ruling class, but by the unprecedented hunger in the land.
“Anybody asking Nigerians to stop the protest is either an enemy of the people or the person is disconnected from the harsh realities in the country.
“In Nigeria today it is a story of severe hunger and increased poverty.
“So many people have been pushed into abject poverty as their purchasing power has drastically reduced.
“These untold hardships, pains and hunger are the drivers of the nationwide
demonstrations that kicked off last Thursday”, he said.
Iyama said the harsh economic realities can be attributed to the poor implementation and lack of effective management of the fuel subsidy removal and the ever increasing exchange rate.
“This ultimately contributed to high inflation and the reduction in the purchasing power parity of Nigerians, pushing more people into poverty.
“Today headline inflation is over 33.69% as against 22.22% a year ago.
“Food inflation is 40.53% as against 24.16% a year ago. This shows clearly that President Tinubu’s policies in one year have not addressed poverty or food security but instead have increased poverty and hunger.
“Children of the poor can no longer afford to pay university fees because they’ve been hiked. He has further created a hostile environment for businesses both multinationals and medium and small-scale businesses due to policy inconsistencies, higher energy costs and exchange rate complexities.
“The electricity tariff was increased by 250% and currently the interest rate is at 26.25%. between May 2023 till date, more than 20 multinational companies have exited operations in Nigeria and according to the National Employers Consultative Association (NECA) nearly 20,000 jobs may have been lost due to the closure of these companies.
“Local businesses are closing up as they can no longer meet production costs due to high energy costs, while Mr President is busy gallivanting around the world looking for audio investors”, he said.
Iyama said the worsening security situation which would have been addressed by the government has also led to the high cost of grains as farmers can no longer go to their farms and return alive.
“On security, over 5000 people have been killed and over 15000 kidnapped last year. We have seen increased wasteful spending from 5 billion for yachts to 90 billion for hajj.
“Over 57 billion for SUVs of lawmakers, 1.5 billion for the non-constitutional office of the first lady, and 21 billion to build a VP residence among many other frivolous spending.
“This is not the kind of Nigeria we want”, he added.
The CSO requested in a demand attached to the statement that Tinubu should review the performance of all his ministers and sack all under-performing cabinet members.
“On electricity tariff: we demand the immediate reversal to the former tariff as the present tariff is not only callous but evil.
“On Food Security: it is no longer news that our farmers can no longer go to the farm due to incessant attacks and the continuous attacks on our farmers and destruction of farmlands in our local communities are being sponsored because they want to push GMOs into the market with support from multinational companies and big donors. We cannot fold our hands and allow this act of terrorism to continue in Nigeria
We therefore call on the President to declare a state of emergency on food security and submit an Executive bill to ban GMOs for health and safety concerns.
“On Fuel Subsidy: we call on the President to bring back total subsidies on all petroleum products to alleviate the suffering of the poorest citizens.
“On import tariffs: we call on the president to give an Executive Order to customs officers at the borders to reduce import tariffs on imported goods. This will further reduce the prices of goods by more than 40%.
“On insecurity: we call on the President to exercise his political will and fight insecurity decisively. The Nigerian security architecture should be reformed to fight insecurity so that farmers can go back to their farms and citizens can enjoy relative peace.
“On the Safety of Protesters: The President should caution security agencies to ensure the safety of all protesters across the country”, the statement reads.
