Movement for a Socialist Alternative, Nigeria
The current economic challenges in Nigeria, caused by the anti-people policies of the APC-led Tinubu government, have left many Nigerians in severe hardship and prompted the call for the End Hunger protest. President Tinubu’s announcement on the day of his inauguration to increase the price of petrol from Naira 197 to over N500 has since led to continuous hikes in the prices of almost all goods and services, pushing Nigerians into extreme poverty.
We in the Movement for a Socialist Alternative (MSA) fully support the call for a protest to resist the hardship caused by the ruling elites. We urge all Nigerians to support this movement to end bad governance in the country and to join forces to build a working people’s party that will challenge the anti-people political parties and wrest power for the mass majority of suffering Nigerians.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) highlights from the 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index survey reveal that 63% of people living in Nigeria (133 million people) are multidimensionally poor. This refers to a state where individuals experience multiple forms of deprivation across various aspects of their lives, such as education, health, clean water and living standards, beyond just a lack of income. The Tinubu policy regime has further pushed many others below the poverty threshold, with food inflation currently standing at over 40%.
While the Tinubu government is comfortable with astronomically increasing the prices of essential commodities like petrol, electricity tariffs, and school fees, they find it difficult to pay fair wages. For instance, the petrol price increased by over 200%, electricity tariffs increased by 250%, the floating of the currency caused a 107% increase, and school fees in higher institutions increased by around 400%. Yet, the government has only made a mere 133% increase in the minimum wage, and the ruling elites celebrate this despite earning jumbo allocations for almost doing nothing.
It is heartbreaking to remember that as an oil-producing nation, Nigeria still relies on the importation of refined crude despite having four refineries, all allowed to collapse by the ruling elites.
We urge the Nigerian masses and the callers of this protest to organize and demand an end to the anti-people policies of capitalism, which are the foundation of corruption and underdevelopment in the country. We support the agitation for a peaceful protest and call on the Nigerian security agencies to support this call and provide maximum security, as protest is a constitutional right of every Nigerian citizen.
We call for a strategic and impactful protest and urge the organizers to draw out appropriate demands, engage the streets for three days, and call for a review. If the government fails to heed these demands, we should return to the streets.
To have a successful protest, it is essential to get organized under a unified umbrella that can be transformed into a formidable platform capable of seeking political power. This platform should aim to transform society from a corrupt capitalist regime to an egalitarian system where the country’s resources benefit the mass majority of people instead of being looted by a few individuals in the guise of capitalism.
We also emphasize the need for the NLC and the TUC to mobilize Nigerians in building a formidable Labour Party with planned working-class programmes needed to end poverty. This Labour Party should represent the interests of the working masses and provide a viable alternative to the existing political parties that have consistently failed the people.
We call on Nigerians to join us in demanding:
- Immediate rehabilitation of all public refineries.
- Reversal of petroleum prices from N700 to N197 per litre.
- Free, publicly funded education and grants for all Nigerian students.
- Adequate wages and salaries for Nigerian workers and retirees that reflect inflation rates.
- Reversal of the hike in electricity tariffs.
- Immediate release of all #EndSARS protesters.
- All political public office holders to be placed on the same salary structure as workers.
- Together, we can end the regime of misery and poverty wages and build a better Nigeria for all.
