President Bola Tinubu, VAT
The statement credited to President Bola Tinubu to the effect that more difficult measures to reset the country are under way is not only wicked, unfeeling but a galling metaphor for the gap between the current ruling elites and the people.
Tinubu while addressing Nigerian community in China said that his government has taken some hard measures which have resulted in hard living conditions for the people, adding that he has no alternative as other measures may still be taken to revamp the economy.
The mantra is that at the end of the day Nigeria will be better for it. This line of reasoning is not only preposterous, but insulting and unfeeling, and such specious argument is not new in the country.
Successive governments have always hinged bad policies on the need to revamp the economy with no tangible, positive outcome on the lives of the people, if anything it is always the people that bear the brunt.
The hard measures that have brought hardship, hunger and difficulties according to many experts are not only misguided, but also a blind and anti- people obedience to Bretton Woods institutions prescription for the global south, which has always been responsible for the collapse of the economies of developing countries.
Never in the history of the political economy and policy formulation has any government been so wicked and anti people with ruthlessness as the current administration.
NATIONAL WAVES is highly perturbed that in the face of the increasing difficulties, this administration has further raised the price of petrol from N617 to N897 per litre, a development that has increased the woes of Nigerians. As if not satisfied, it is contemplating raising VAT, a move already under criticism from Nigerians and organized private sector. It is no longer news that many private companies have collapsed and many have downsized their personnel in line with hard business environment.
Raising VAT will further lead to more layoffs.
This newspaper calls on the Tinubu government to as a matter of urgency halt its anti people policy, drop the pernicious idea of increasing VAT, revert petrol price to the former equation and address economic challenges with a human face. Enough of this hardship!
