By Myke Uzendu, Abuja
As Nigerian workers join their counterparts across the world today to celebrate International Workers Day, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has stated that no administration has subjected Nigerian workers to very harsh condition like the regime of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The Waziri Adamawa in a statement on Tuesday to felicitate with Nigerian workers said that despite prolonged pledges and flowery words by the government, the much talked-about prospects of wage increment for the Nigerian worker remains a mirage. He said that every step taking by this administration “unveils renewed hardships and harsh living conditions”.
With the theme of this year’s Labour Day: Ensuring Safety and Health at Work in a Changing Climate” Atiku said that he will inspire the Nigerian government to put the plight of Nigerian Worker on the front burner.
Narrating the plight of Nigerian workers since time past, Atiku said, “Since the days of legendary, Pa. Michael Imoudu, to later day fire brands such as Pascal Bafyau and Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the Nigerian worker has been at the forefront of the fight against tyranny and bad governance.
“No administration in our history has trampled workers’ rights like this one. Daily, workers face uncertainty over skyrocketing prices of essential goods.
“The Nigerian worker has had it so rough under this current administration and it is unfortunate that while the living conditions of the Nigerian worker remains at a miserably low ebb, the Nigerian government continues to regale its international audiences with tales of how the masses are being weaned of their wasteful dependence on government”.
Atiku lamented that after the contradictions by the government about whether the subsidy regime has gone or it is still being implemented, the country is today facing the angst of frustration by Nigerians who waste precious man-hours in queues at petrol stations across the country.
“The petrol subsidy is purportedly gone; yet its impact lingers – revealing the ineptitude of the current federal government.
“In an unprecedented manner and condescending of both the Nigerian worker and the general public, this current federal government announced a unilateral removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit without consultations with representatives of the Nigerian worker.
“The continued increase in tariffs in different service offerings without addressing the corruption and inefficiencies in the system only amounts to long-suffering Nigerians subsidising the corruption and inefficiencies in the system.
“It is thus beginning to appear, that as far as the current federal government is concerned, the management of our country’s micro-economic outlook is an unwieldy laboratory experiment, to which the Nigerian worker is laid prostrate” Atiku lamented.
While he shared his sympathy with the Nigerian worker for the way the current government has ridiculed them for far too long, he expressed felicitations with the worker on this year’s Workers Day.
