SSACGOC Urges FG To Address Inflation

SSACGOC Urges FG To Address Inflation
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The Senior Staff Association of Statutory Cooperation and Government Owned Companies (SSACGOC) have urged the Federal Government to address the issue of inflation in order to improve the economic indices in the country.

Mr Kayode Alakija, SSACGOC President General made the call while speaking with newsmen on the need for improved welfare packages for the Nigerian workers, on Monday in Abuja.

Alakija was only recently elected as the President General of the association alongside other officials.

Alakija said the continuous devaluation of the Naira was worrisome as it affects the cost of commodities and services that had taken its toll on workers’ income and the ordinary Nigerians.

Read Also: More Trouble For Nigeria As Inflation Rate Hits 18.17%

According to him, if you look at the welfare of workers, unfortunately whatever we have in terms of salary has been taken away by inflation.

“I will keep telling people that even when we had the N18,000 minimum wage, we were even better off than what we are earning now.

“If you look, as at today, I think a dollar now is about N589 to N590 and vies- a-vies the minimum wage, you will discover that an average Nigeria is not even earning up to 60 dollars in a month.

“And what can you do with 60 dollars, so to me, in terms of workers welfare or package, a lot still needs to be done,’’ he said.

The SSACGOC boss said that it was imperative for the federal governments to address the issue of inflation as the negative effects were better imagined.

Alakija, however, added that when you address inflation and you are able to bring certain parameters down, the economic indices would improve.

According to him, it will improve the purchasing power, so it is not every time that workers will say they want an increment because the little earned by any worker will be enough to do something with it.

He said that there was a need for the government to open up the economy by creating more jobs for the teeming youths.

“We have seen a lot of Executive Orders encouraging foreign investors to come and invest in the country but this has not yielded the desired result.

“It will still interest you to know that our investment environment is still not friendly for foreigners to come in.

“But until there is improvement in the foreign direct investment, our economy can grow and be viable to attract more foreign investors.

“At least if we are saying that our GDP is growing, it should also be translating to the activities in the economy,‘’ he said.

He called on the federal government to address the issue of insecurity in the country.

Alakija also pledged to change the narratives of the association for improve efficiency and effectiveness of the union for its members.

SSACGOC is an affiliate member of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) with 64 branches, both in federal and state levels.

Africa Daily News, New York

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