The Nigeria Labour Congress on Sunday lamented the devastating impact of the forex crisis on the economy and demanded urgent stabilisation of the naira.
The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, who said this in a statement on Sunday, blamed government officials’ love for foreign luxury products for the free fall of the national currency.
Ajaero warned that the economy was at risk of “a wave of devastating consequences” if the naira failed to stabilise against the American dollar.
The NLC president’s warning came ahead of the organised labour and the Federal Government’s meeting scheduled to hold on Monday.
At the meeting, the Federal Government and the organised labour will review the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding they signed on subsidy removal palliatives.
In a statement titled, “Urgent action to stabilise the naira amidst alarming depreciation,” the NLC president, said repercussions of the weakened currency would be felt by workers and the masses.
While the investor & exporter window has been relatively stable at around N770 to 780/$, the parallel market, where most individuals and businesses get their forex from, traded at over N1,000/$.
The naira’s depreciation in the parallel market has been attributed to an increasing forex demand that does not equate to supply from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
This decline has further led to manufacturers struggling to get raw materials, with more companies planning to sack more workers or shut down. With the declining naira value, manufacturers are faced with cutting production, jobs, and raw material imports.
NLC blames politicians
The NLC, in the statement signed by its president, said public officials must stop their penchant for foreign goods to check the depreciation of the naira.
Besides the statement he issued, the labour leader also addressed a press conference in Abuja on Sunday.
At the press conference, Ajaero disclosed that the union had been invited to the State House by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, on the implementation of the resolutions on subsidy removal palliatives.
He said, “Hopefully, we may meet on Monday with the Federal Government to see whether the agreement with organised labour on the fuel subsidy removal palliatives was met or not.
“If that meeting is to be held, it will be without the Minister of Labour and Employment (Simon Lalong) because we will not be part of any meeting with the Federal Government that the Minister of Labour and Employment will attend.
Labour warns minister
“You will recall that the decision we had on the National Union of Road Transport Workers was that all parties including the police should leave the premises, pending the resolution of the dispute but that did not happen. Therefore, any meeting we will have with the Federal Government, the minister of labour and employment will not be part of it,” the labour leader vowed.
The NLC had earlier accused Lalong of giving support to a faction of the NURTW and encouraging them to conduct their own delegates conference, both zonally and nationally, in a bid to confer legitimacy on the group.
Based on the allegation, Ajaero said the union believed that any meeting with the minister would be a waste of time “since he appears not to be in control of issues as far labour relations are concerned.’’
In the statement on the forex crisis, the NLC recommended various ways in which the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government could “rescue “the naira.
The NLC urged the government to deliberately “protect” the naira by purchasing locally manufactured goods such as public vehicles for government officials.
It also urged public officials to remain patriotic and refrain from the purchase of foreign products.
Ajaero emphasised that every cent spent on buying foreign-made goods created jobs outside the country to the detriment of the local labour market and put pressure on the naira.
According to him, every amount spent on purchasing locally manufactured goods creates jobs in Nigeria and increases employment, elevates income, reduces poverty, and much more reduces the pressure on the national currency as it encourages local manufacturers to increase production, raise their standards and create better chances for export.
The Labour union vowed to take action should the Federal Government fail to urgently address the crisis.
“In the absence of swift and tangible interventions, the Nigeria Labour Congress may find itself compelled to take appropriate steps to compel the relevant authorities to prioritise the rescue of the naira, the economy, and ultimately, the entire nation,’’ it warned.
Weighing in, a financial expert, Mr Okechukwu Unegbu, reasoned that improved local production of commodities, increased consumption of local products, and reduced importation of goods and services would help to stabilise and strengthen the naira.
Unegbu, a past President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, said it would also be advantageous if the government could price commodities for export in naira.
