By Victor Ahiuma-Young
Informal sector workers, under the aegis of Federation of Informal Sector Workers, FIWON, have expressed concerns over the N8,000 for 12 million households announced last week by President Bola Tinubu, saying the money was too small.
In a statement by the General Secretary, Gbenga Komolafe, FIWON contended that the removal of fuel subsidy has resulted in the destruction of millions of micro and small businesses and loss of jobs of many workers operating in the sector.
It stated: “The combined effect of the subsequent removal of subsidies on premium motor spirit which spiked the pump price per liter by as much as 300 per cent in some parts of the country as well as the devaluation of the naira announced by the President are already being felt in the astronomical rise in the cost of the most basic essentials, especially food and transportation.
“As reported in the media, the grant will enable the transfer of the sum of N8,000 monthly to 12 million poor and low-income households for a period of six months, with a multiplier effect on about 60 million individuals. The grants will be disbursed through the much abused Conditional Cash Transfer window.
“The first issue with this is that the amount of money to be disbursed to beneficiaries is truly so paltry. N8000 naira or about USD10 per month in today’s exchange rate really cannot feed a child of five years in 30 days, let alone supporting all vulnerable Nigerians to meet the cost of basic needs, as announced under the programme.
“We would also question how they arrived at the figure of 12 million poor and low income households’ in a country with over 130 million people suffering from ‘multi dimensional poverty’ according to official statistics. Who are these 12 million Nigerians, how were they identified?
“It is critical to raise this because similar programmes in the past suffered so much, as relatively privileged Nigerians had their accounts credited with N10,000 ‘MarketMoni” while most market women and the poor only heard about the programme on the radio.
Under the Federal Government National Social Investment Programme, NSIP, easily the most ambitious financial intermediation programme in recent decades, similar programmes to this newly announced programme were implemented, especially between 2017 and 2019 with billions of dollars invested in them.
petroleum subsidy.”