The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said that two years into President Bola Tinubu’s administration, Nigerian workers and the masses experienced no gains—only pain and misery.
In an appraisal of the administration’s first two years, NLC President, Joe Ajaero, stated that there has been nothing to celebrate since the government came into power.
Ajaero said: “When President Bola Tinubu took office on May 29, 2023, he promised a new dawn—bold economic reforms that would rescue Nigeria from fiscal instability and set it on a path to prosperity.
“But two years later, the only thing bolder than his rhetoric is the magnitude of suffering and hardship his policies have inflicted on workers and ordinary Nigerians. Far from renewing hope, his administration has recycled the same failed neoliberal experiments of the past, proving once again that you cannot cure a patient by prescribing the poison that made them sick in the first place.”
“The sudden removal of the petrol subsidy sent shockwaves through an already fragile economy, causing fuel prices to skyrocket from N187 to over N600 per litre overnight. The government claimed it was a necessary sacrifice to free up funds for development—but where are the results?
“Instead of reinvestment, Nigerians got inflation so vicious that families now skip meals, businesses shut down daily, and transport costs consume what little remains of workers’ wages. The naira, left to the so-called ‘market forces,’ has collapsed in value, turning Nigeria into a bargain basement for neighbouring countries, while local industries suffocate under the weight of imported inflation.
“What makes this pain even more frustrating is that none of it is new. We’ve seen this script before—subsidy removals, devaluations, and IMF-approved austerity—each time sold as the bitter pill Nigeria must swallow for a brighter future. But when has it ever worked? These same policies under past administrations only widened inequality, enriched a few, and left the majority poorer. Tinubu’s version is no different—except the suffering is deeper, the anger louder, and the government’s response more brutal.
“Nigerian workers have seen their real wages obliterated. Pensioners, SMEs (facing over 150 per cent inflation in inputs), and 150 million Nigerians are now multi-dimensionally poor. It has been two years of intimidation and harassment for Labour leaders and trade unions in Nigeria. Flagrant disregard for court orders and the criminalisation of union protests and actions have become the norm. Wage award arrears at the federal level remain unpaid, despite repeated promises.
“The only notable effort is the provision of compressed natural gas (CNG) buses by the Federal Government to ease transportation for Nigerian workers—but this remains grossly inadequate, hampered by severe gas infrastructure deficits.”
“Promised dialogue with Labour unions has been replaced with intimidation and violence. Workers demanding a living wage are met with batons and threats, while the government wallows in luxury. The same officials who preach sacrifice travel in convoys, feast on bloated budgets, and treat public funds like personal piggy banks. Meanwhile, factories close, jobs vanish, and hunger becomes the defining feature of Tinubu’s Nigeria.
“Who benefits from this folly? Not the millions of Nigerians who can no longer afford food or transport.
Not the small businesses buried under the weight of rising costs. The real winners are the usual suspects—the oil cartels, the currency speculators, the political elite with offshore accounts, and their foreign backers at the IMF and World Bank, who have always seen Nigeria as a laboratory for their disastrous economic theories.”
“Economic performance can only be measured by how well the citizens feel. No amount of data manipulation can explain away the massive hardship that pervades our nation. Workers and ordinary Nigerians are deeply worried about the future.
“In any case, in the surreal landscape of a nation grappling with escalating insecurity, discussing the intricacies of economic policy seems akin to debating the colour of curtains in a burning house. The pervasive threat of mass kidnappings, abductions, and banditry casts an ominous shadow over society, rendering economic discourse almost absurd in the face of urgent, life-threatening crises.
“While economic stability is undoubtedly a crucial aspect of governance, the reality of citizens living in constant fear—with lives upended by the heinous acts of criminals—demands immediate attention and action. Who will invest in such an environment except looters and plunderers?”
“Boko Haram and other insurgent groups have multiplied in recent years, while lives and properties are lost daily across the nation. Our nation is at war. In such a climate, the absurdity lies in the stark disconnect between bureaucratic discussions on fiscal policy and the visceral, pressing needs of a populace caught in the crossfire of insecurity.
“Citizens find themselves torn between the hypothetical benefits of economic strategies and the immediate threats to their safety and well-being. The urgency of addressing the security crisis is a stark reminder that, in the hierarchy of priorities, protecting life and liberty must take precedence over economic debate—challenging the very essence of governance in times of profound adversity.
“The truth is simple: reforms that bring only pain without gain are not reforms at all. They are deformations—deliberate assaults on the poor in service of a system that rewards the powerful. If this government truly wants to renew hope, it must abandon these cruel experiments, listen to the people, and chart a new course—one that puts Nigerians, not foreign creditors and profiteers, at the centre of policy. Anything less is a betrayal of public trust.”
