Osun Civil Societies Coalition, OCSC, has given the Federal Government a seven-day ultimatum to reverse its decision on the fuel price hike which it said has brought unprecedented hardship to innocent Nigerians, or be ready to face mass protest.
It warned that failure to roll out palliatives capable of cushioning the effect of fuel subsidy removal within the expiration of the ultimatum would force it to mobilize Nigerians for a mass protest that will be worse than the #EndSARS revolt.
Addressing journalists at a press conference held at the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ Press Centre at Olaiya in Osogbo, the state capital, Comrade Waheed Lawal, Chairman of Osun Civil Society Coalition OCSC lamented the suffering of Nigerians occasioned by the recent fuel price hike.
Lawal who condemned the N8,000 palliative proposed by the federal government said it was an insult to the sensibility of ordinary Nigerians who could no longer afford two square meals in a day due to the hardship caused by subsidy removal.
His words: “This address has become imperative given the state of things in the nation and the groaning of the people we represent. We believe it is time to speak up and address critical issues affecting the people.
“Many Nigerians are feeling the pinch of the economic reform and have complained that politicians have shown no signs of cutting down the cost of governance. The common people have lost confidence in the leadership of political functionaries.”
According to Lawal, many Nigerians are struggling to survive due to subsidy removal saying the cost of living is declining every day without measures to address the suffering of the people.
He said the #30,000 minimum wage by the estimation of the National Bureau of Statistics has widened the poverty net with over five million people in 2022.
While lamenting the hike in transportation across the country, he said the current economic realities have sparked calls for the government to ease the nation’s cost of living and suspend fuel hikes in the interest of the poor masses.
He called on the government to quickly provide the anticipated palliatives to lessen the impact of the rising trend in prices on goods and services saying Nigerians cannot continue to wait for the promise of palliatives.
“We also demand that the Osun state government should go beyond empathy and promises to roll out measures to make life liveable for the people as several states have done.
“With no intention of threat, we want to state categorically that failure to address the issues raised, we shall be leading the people out on the street for a protest and nothing shall deter us till we achieve victory since that seems to be one language that government understands “.
