Funmi Lawrence
Mr Gbenro Olajuyigbe, Executive Director, Emergency and Risk Alert Initiative (ERAI), a non-governmental Humanitarian and development organisation has warned on the consequences of hike in electricity tariff and price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol.
Olajuyigbe, in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Friday bemoaned the increase in tariff of electricity and price of PMS in the contexts of economically devastating global COVID-19 Pandemic.
According to him, live in a world where everyone takes informed and appropriate action to reduce vulnerability and prepare for emergencies and hence condemned the attitude of government and its agencies in respect of the price hike.
” It posited that the increment will deepen poverty, widen inequality and heighten crimes and violence.
‘‘Increase in electricity tariff will increase cost of production of already ailing companies and make their products uncompetitive in the market, further harming the capacity for economic growth in the long run.
“Developing state like Nigeria that is desirous of growth and development needs to produce at very low cost so as to compete with other states who have mastered the art of Ease of doing Business at low cost.’
Olajuyigbe noted that ‘more shameful is that the government kept on justifying the increase of fuel price by drawing price comparison from the U.S, Europe and other countries without corresponding reference to Per Capita Income, GDP, infrastructures, available options; including modes of transportation and diversities of such economies. Such face saving data and comparison are misleading and disingenuous.
“They are too simplistic as Impacts vary. Development Economic Analysis is about vulnerability, about risk and risk reduction measures in place to address spiral effects of economic policies; more so in a monocultural economy like ours’.
He asserted that nobody is safe under the cloud and regime of high cost of living, low standard of living with mingling hyperinflation in climate of recalcitrant unemployment and frightening preponderance of poverty triggered violence and insecurity.
He said in such atmosphere, ‘the rich will mock the poor who are hungry at day time and the angry poor will mock the rich at night! That’s how society prepares crime’
Olajuyigbe advised that rather than afflict poor Nigerians further, government should reduce the humongous cost of governance, address the issues of mind boggling corruption and resource mismanagement that have trailed the government and its functionaries in the last few months.
” It is disheartening that rather than supporting vulnerable people and businesses of a country that is just emerging from an exceptionally high risk and high impact health emergency like COVID-19, the Nigerian government has chosen to prioritize taxing and tasking people and businesses that have not functioned in the last five months.
“Emergency & Risk Alert Initiative (ERAI) believes that increase in Electricity Tariff and the price of petrol will trigger cost of living, hurt businesses, deepen Poverty, widen Inequality, heighten crime, violence and abolish the constitutional expectation of security and welfare for which government is instituted to provide.
“We demand the immediate reversal of the hike,” he said.
