VAM News Update

Osun Civil Societies Coalition (OCSC) has threatened to embark on mass protest if the federal government fails to put in place a palliative to cushion the effect of removal of subsidy on petroleum products within the next one week.

The groups who spoke at a press conference addressed in Osogbo by their chairman, Comrade Waheed Lawal insisted that the Nigerian government must move quickly to set up shock absorbers to cushion the people’s pain.

Lawal said it was just a mere emphasis to state that there is poverty, hunger, confusion and frustration in the land, adding that anger is bottling up and the gunpowder that Nigeria is sitting on may explode anytime.

The human rights group said the recent hike in cost of fuel is damning, leading to people of Osun State particularly having to trek and those that have vehicles can’t even afford to fuel them for use.

“We recommend a pause in interest rate hikes to relieve the pressures on economic agents. We also urge the government to implement fiscal measures such as reducing, removing the tax on basic food items to protect the most vulnerable as well as spur demand-side growth.

“We also implore the government to hasten the provision of the anticipated palliatives to lessen the impact of the rising trend in prices on economic agents. We can’t continue to wait for palliative promises. The time is now!

“We wish to state that while we demand speedy response from the federal government on the roll out of palliative to cushion effect of the removal of subsidy and biting economic reality, we also demand that the Osun State government go beyond empathy and promises to rolling out measures to make life liveable for the people as several other states of the federation has done.’’