TUC Demands N1,000/$ Exchange Rate, Backs Food Imports, State Police

By Moses Akwashiki

The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has called on the Federal Government to sustain food imports until insecurity is brought under control and farmers are able to return fully to their farms.

TUC President-General, Comrade Festus Osifo, made the call in Abuja while addressing journalists on the economic situation in the country, workers’ welfare, insecurity, aviation, petroleum refineries and other national issues.

Osifo said the union supported the government’s decision to allow the importation of food, arguing that the policy had helped to moderate the prices of some essential commodities.

He, however, warned against abruptly ending food imports while insecurity continues to prevent farmers from accessing their farmlands.

According to him, food imports should only be discontinued when domestic food production has sufficiently increased and the supply side of the economy has been stabilised.

“We don’t want a bag of rice to go back again to N100,000. We don’t want a bag of rice to go back again to N120,000. Even where it is today, we still believe it is still relatively high,” Osifo said.

He urged the government to intensify efforts to address insecurity so that farmers could return to their farms and increase food production.

The TUC leader also called for further intervention in the foreign exchange market, saying the naira remained undervalued despite its relative stabilisation from about N1,700–N1,800 to the dollar in early 2024 to around N1,380.

Osifo argued that the naira could be strengthened to between N900 and N1,000 to the dollar, saying such a development would reduce inflationary pressure and lower the cost of goods and services.

He said the stabilisation recorded at the macroeconomic level had yet to translate adequately into relief for ordinary Nigerians.

“The macroeconomy is known to economists and the bourgeois, but for the talakawas, for the workers, for the traders, all they relate with are the issues bordering on the microeconomy,” he said.

Osifo further argued that while the prices of imported goods and other commodities respond quickly to exchange-rate movements, workers’ earnings had not increased correspondingly.

He said the implementation of consequential adjustments following the new minimum wage had been inadequate in many states and government institutions.

On insecurity, the TUC president-general renewed the union’s call for the establishment of state police, saying the time had come for the Federal Government and National Assembly to fast-track the process.

He dismissed concerns that state police could be abused by politicians, arguing that the number of politicians in Nigeria was insignificant compared with the wider population that continued to suffer the consequences of insecurity.

“We don’t care much about that. What we care about is what will protect over 99 per cent of Nigerians,” Osifo said.

He urged the government to deploy modern technology and other security equipment to combat terrorism, banditry and kidnapping across the country.

According to him, Nigeria’s security challenge should be treated as an emergency because economic development cannot thrive in an environment where lives and property remain under threat.

The TUC also threw its weight behind the ongoing industrial action involving workers in the aviation sector, particularly the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), an affiliate of the Congress.
Osifo said one of the major grievances was the alleged refusal by some airlines to allow their workers to unionise.

He described the right to organise as an established labour right under international labour standards and Nigerian law.
He also raised concerns over the alleged non-remittance of a five per cent ticket charge meant for workers, saying the outstanding amount was estimated at about N25 billion.

He said the TUC had been involved in efforts to broker a resolution but warned that merely persuading workers to suspend the strike without addressing the underlying issues could lead to another industrial action.

“We must go to the root cause and resolve the issues once and for all,” he said.

The TUC also warned hotel operators who allegedly prevent workers from joining trade unions to desist from the practice.

Osifo specifically mentioned Abuja Continental Hotel, accusing the management of preventing workers from being organised.

He warned that the union could take industrial action against establishments that continued to violate workers’ rights to unionise.

On the country’s refineries, Osifo opposed outright privatisation, but advocated a model that would reduce government ownership while giving controlling equity to competent private investors.

He cited the Nigeria LNG model, where government holds a minority stake while private-sector partners have the controlling interest.

The TUC leader said the government should reduce its equity in the refineries to a maximum of 49 per cent, while allowing credible private investors with proven technical and financial capacity in the petroleum and petrochemical industry to hold 51 per cent.

He said the arrangement would reduce political interference and ensure that commercial considerations drive decisions concerning refinery operations.

Osifo also warned against repeating what he described as the mistakes associated with the privatisation of the power sector, arguing that some of the investors who acquired distribution companies lacked the technical and financial capacity required to effectively manage the sector.

He therefore endorsed the current efforts involving the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and prospective strategic investors to reposition the refineries.

The labour centre commended the Department of State Services (DSS), under its Director-General, Oluwatosin Ajayi, for recent arrests of suspected terrorists and bandits.

Osifo urged security agencies to ensure that arrested suspects were prosecuted in accordance with the law, arguing that successful prosecution and conviction would send a strong deterrent message to criminal elements.

“When government does some things that are wrong, we condemn. And when they do things that we see some positive in it, we also commend,” he said.

The TUC also commended the Federal Government for increasing the salaries of military personnel by between 50 and 80 per cent.

Osifo described the move as a step in the right direction but called for similar salary adjustments for other Nigerian workers, particularly public-sector employees.

He appealed to state and local governments to emulate the Federal Government by improving the remuneration of their workers.

The TUC president-general also commended the Minister of Health, Professor Ali Pate, for intervening in a dispute involving members of the Food, Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB).

Osifo said some factories where members of the union worked had been shut down over government policy issues, while some workers were arrested.

He said the intervention of the Minister resulted in the release of affected workers and the reopening of the factories.

The TUC leader urged other ministries, departments and agencies of government to emulate the minister’s prompt intervention in labour-related disputes.

Osifo said the Congress would continue to support government policies that positively affect Nigerians while resisting policies and actions that undermine workers’ welfare and the wellbeing of the wider population.

He concluded by reaffirming the TUC’s commitment to defending workers’ rights and advocating policies capable of improving living standards, economic stability and national security.