Catholic bishops, former Speakers of Houses of Assembly, and lawyers have expressed concerns about the spiraling rise in the cost of living across the country.
They suggested some immediate and long-term solutions to the trend.
The bishops spoke at the opening session of this year’s First Plenary Assembly of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria Resource Centre, Durumi, Abuja.
President of the CBCN, Most Rev. Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, said the reform agenda of the present administration has added to the plight of the citizens.
He noted that with the end of the fuel subsidy regime and the unification of the foreign exchange market, there has been a significant increase in the pump price of petroleum products and a steep decline in the value of the naira.
“The reform agenda of the present government has added to the plight of Nigerians. With the withdrawal of fuel subsidies and the unification of the foreign exchange market, there has been a sharp increase in the pump price of petroleum products and a steep decline in the value of the naira. Indeed, there is a free fall in the national currency.
“As a result of the government’s reform agenda, millions of Nigerians have been reduced to a life of grinding poverty, wanton suffering, and untold hardship as never before in our national history.
“In a bid to survive, an increasing number of the poor have resorted to begging. With more than 80 million Nigerians living below the poverty line of less than two dollars a day, our country, according to the recent disclosure of the World Bank, is the world’s second-largest poor population after India.
“While many impoverished Nigerians continue to suffer and die as a result of the hardship caused by the government’s economic reforms, the president has continued to urge the populace to make even more and more sacrifices with the assurance that brighter days lay ahead,” Ugorji said.
The former Speakers across the country spoke after a meeting in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.They recommended price control mechanism for commodities to stop rising price hikes.
The ex-Speakers, who met under the aegis of Conference of Former Speakers of State Houses of Assembly of Nigeria, also suggested that there should be subsidies for essential commodities to reduce hardship.
The former speakers were led by the immediate past Plateau State Governor Simon Bako Lalong at the Banquet Hall of the Government House in Yola.
They called for quick actions to get Nigeria out of the prevailing challenges.
A communiqué issued at the end of the meeting reads: “Understanding the burden placed on citizens due to the rising cost of living, concerted efforts should be made to mitigate inflationary pressures through effective price control mechanisms, subsidies for essential commodities, and social welfare programs targeting vulnerable populations.”
Signed by Lalong, the communiqué urged the government to improve infrastructure, particularly in transportation and energy sectors, to reduce the cost of goods and services.
Also, the lawyers urged President Bola Tinubu to urgently set up a Price Control Board to avert further price increases across the markets to reduce the hardship Nigerians are facing.In a statement yesterday, the lawyers, through their National Convener, Mrs. Abibat Bankole-Apena, noted that such a board work work in line with the extant provisions of Price Control Act, 2004.
“The main function of the board is to regulate how service providers fix prices of goods and services and curb arbitrary and outrageous charges by greedy business owners,” the statement said.
“This is important at this auspicious time in view of the shocking ways prices of major commodity goods and services are skyrocketing within days in Nigeria and the untold hardship this is causing to Nigerian masses,” the statement added.
