Nigerians won’t eat good policies, academic union tells Tinubu

The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) has told President Bola Tinubu to frame his policies in a manner that will yield immediate results for the masses experiencing hardship.

Some of the policies introduced by the Tinubu-led government have led to hardship, especially the removal of petrol subsidy, which tripled the pump price of fuel.

But the president has repeatedly told Nigerians that there were brighter days ahead, likening the current situation to pains of a woman in labour.

Speaking in Ilọrin, Kwara State capital, on Monday, NASU General Secretary, Prince Peters Adeyemi, said there was need to find immediate solution to the hardship in the land.

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He spoke at a press conference during the ongoing 2023 quadrennial delegates conference/election of the universities and inter-university centres trade group council.

“This government has good intentions and policies, but these are not what the masses are going to eat.

“Nigerians, and our members are dying; we implore President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government to kick start the harmonisation of all his policies that will positively rub off and address the effect of the present hardship occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy. It is funny that the government will go ahead and remove fuel subsidy without planning an appropriate economic solution.”

According to him, president Tinubu’s celebration of 100 days in office was full of promises amidst sufferings by Nigerians.

Adeyemi stressed that there is the need to put in place appropriate machinery to increase salaries measured by the present cost of living index.

He appealed to the president to clear the outstanding backlog of their four months’ arrears.

“The IPPIS payment platform has been extremely problematic with a whole lot of crises and it took us almost two years to be able to resolve a few of them.

“As we speak, we still experience delay in the payment of third parties deduction, half hazard salaries, lack of payment of increment as at when due and some of our allowances initially omitted that we fought for were spread beyond our members that are entitled to it.

“And UTAS which we designed to address the problem has proven to be very reliable and competent in resolving the issue, the government is shying away from adopting it. Yet they have not had the courage to improve on the abnormalities,” he said.

He said the government cannot “force us to strike through its nonchalant attitude to honour MoUs and MoAs and refuse to pay us for the period it lasted”.