The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas
Workers, NUPENG and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff
Association, PENGASSAN, has described IMF’s advice to Nigeria on fuel
subsidy as poisonous. Recall that the IMF in a meeting with the World
Bank on Thursday, advised the Federal Government to remove fuel subsidy
which according to them is the right thing to do.
However NUPEN and PENGASSAN who described IMF’s advice to Nigeria as poisonous, said it led to hoarding of fuel.
“The
statement of IMF has created panic in the country with associated
hoarding of petroleum products, panic buying, skyrocketed increases in
prices of goods and services in the country. We read with serious
concerns and worries the reported statement” on the state of Nigerian
economy and “the unsolicited poisonous advice on further recovery of the
nation’s economy.
It is quite bewildering and baffling that the
IMF is not considering the pains and agonies Nigerians went through even
to achieve the acknowledged gains of 2018, with almost two-thirds of
the world’s hungriest people among Nigerians. One wonders why the IMF is
still callously and wickedly advising the government to inflict more
pains and harm on the people.This [IMF] statement is embellished and
loaded with poisons, considering the antecedents of the IMF in our
economic challenges and struggles over decades of our nationhood.
The
various devaluations of our currency on the strength of advices of the
same IMF have been a very big burden on our nation for several years
now.The leadership of NUPENG and PENGASSAN are aware of what Nigerians
are going through; we empathise with them and will not turn a blind eye
to any further attempt to increase their pains and impoverish them
further. We earnestly plead with President Muhammadu Buhari to
constantly put in mind the current hardship Nigerians are going through
in our collective journey to economic recovery. Be it known that any
economic policy that is devoid of human feelings could lead to more
social dislocations and upheavals,” they added.
