The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has accused President Bola Tinubu’s government of worsening economic hardship in the country since he assumed office two years ago. The labour union claims that the administration’s promised economic reforms have only deepened the suffering of workers and ordinary Nigerians.
NLC President Joe Ajaero criticized the policies, saying the government recycled the same failed economic ideas that have harmed Nigeria in the past. “You cannot cure a patient by prescribing the poison that made them sick,” Ajaero said during a recent statement.
He singled out the sudden removal of the petrol subsidy as a major cause of the crisis. According to him, the price of fuel skyrocketed overnight from N187 to over N600 per litre. This sharp increase triggered inflation that has pushed many families to skip meals, forced small businesses to close, and made transportation costs eat up most workers’ wages.
Ajaero also lamented the fall of the naira’s value, which he said has turned Nigeria into a cheap market for neighbouring countries while local industries struggle with imported inflation.
“What makes this pain worse is that this is nothing new. We have seen subsidy removals, currency devaluations, and austerity measures before, always justified as necessary sacrifices for a better future. But when has it ever worked?” he asked.
He added that previous governments’ similar policies only increased inequality, enriched the few, and left the majority poorer. “Tinubu’s version is no different, except that the suffering is deeper and the anger louder,” he said.
The NLC leader accused the government of intimidating and harassing labour leaders and trade unions over the past two years. He said Nigerian workers, pensioners, small businesses, and more than 150 million citizens are now trapped in multidimensional poverty.
Ajaero also reminded that the federal government has not paid promised wage arrears to cushion the hardships workers face. Instead, he said workers demanding fair wages are met with threats and police brutality, while government officials live in luxury.
He called on the government to abandon “cruel experiments” and listen to the people by putting Nigerians’ welfare ahead of foreign creditors and profiteers.
The NLC acknowledged the government’s effort to provide CNG buses to ease transport for workers but said the initiative is insufficient and hampered by poor gas infrastructure.
The union accused top officials of hypocrisy, saying, “Those who preach sacrifice travel in convoys, feast on bloated budgets, and treat public funds like personal piggy banks.”
Ajaero identified the real beneficiaries of the current economic policies as oil cartels, currency speculators, political elites with offshore accounts, and foreign institutions like the IMF and World Bank, which he said have long treated Nigeria as a testing ground for failed economic ideas.
He concluded by warning that economic stability is meaningless if Nigerians live in fear amid rising crime and insecurity. “Who would invest in such an environment except looters and plunderers?” he questioned.
“The truth is simple: reforms that bring only pain without any real gain are not reforms at all. They are deformations—a deliberate attack on the poor to benefit the powerful,” Ajaero said.
