By Cross Udo, Abuja
The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has declared that Nigeria has been in a state of war for over a decade, lamenting that kidnapping and killings have continued to thrive as criminal enterprises across different parts of the country.
The TUC President, Comrade Festus Osifo, made the declaration on Wednesday in Abuja while briefing journalists after the congress’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, urging the Federal Government to significantly intensify its efforts to restore security and protect lives and property.
Osifo said the persistent insecurity had continued to undermine economic activities, discourage investment and threaten the country’s prospects for sustainable development, stressing that the government must treat the protection of lives and property as its foremost responsibility.
He said criminal activities, particularly kidnapping, remained widespread in several states, including Zamfara, Borno, Katsina and Plateau, as well as parts of southern Nigeria.
“We have kidnappings still going on as a business. We have killings still going on,” Osifo said, urging the government to provide security agencies with adequate funding, equipment and other operational resources to confront terrorists, bandits and other criminal elements.
According to him, the Federal Government should consider moving funds within the national budget to the security sector to enable security agencies to acquire the equipment and technology required to effectively combat insecurity.
Osifo said the security crisis had reached a level where the government could not afford to treat it as a secondary issue, noting that investments in infrastructure would have limited impact if citizens were not safe enough to benefit from them.
“We must first of all live well. We must first of all be alive to enjoy the dividends of the infrastructure—to be able to drive on those roads, to be able to feed and to send our children to school,” he said.
The TUC president specifically cited the rising cases of kidnapping and killings in Bakin Ladi, Plateau State, as evidence of the continuing security challenges confronting the country.
He said the situation was also affecting the investment climate, making it difficult for both foreign and domestic investors to commit resources to the Nigerian economy.
“It is very difficult to attract foreign investment. It’s very difficult to even get local investors to put their money into the economy where there is this level of uncertainty and this level of insecurity,” he said.
Osifo acknowledged the efforts of security agencies, particularly the Department of State Services (DSS), in apprehending suspects and securing convictions, but urged them to sustain and expand their operations.
He commended the DSS Director-General for what he described as recent successes, while also acknowledging the efforts of the National Security Adviser and other security chiefs in confronting the threats facing the country.
He, however, insisted that the scale of insecurity required a stronger and more coordinated response from the government.
“The government should double its effort. The funds going to fight the state of insecurity should be increased,” he said.
Osifo also condemned the deaths of about 37 suspected illegal miners who reportedly died while in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Niger State, describing the incident as an aberration.
He welcomed the Federal Government’s decision to establish a committee to investigate the deaths but warned that the outcome must lead to accountability rather than become another report abandoned by the authorities.
“We don’t want the committee’s report to just be another report gathering dust. Whoever is culpable, no matter how highly placed, must be decisively dealt with according to the letter and spirit of the law,” he said.
On the economy, Osifo said the Federal Government should do more to strengthen the naira, arguing that the exchange rate remained central to the rising cost of goods and services, including the price of petrol.
He said the congress had consistently raised the issue of the exchange rate and maintained that the naira should trade between N700 and N800 to the dollar.
“We cannot be tired of talking about the exchange rate because it is central to literally everything,” Osifo said.
While commending the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, for what he described as positive developments in the monetary environment, the TUC president maintained that the naira remained undervalued at about N1,300 to the dollar.
He said stronger economic indicators would have limited impact if insecurity continued to discourage investment and disrupt economic activities.
The TUC president also commiserated with the families of security personnel who died in recent incidents, noting that one of the pilots killed had reportedly married only a few weeks before his death.
On the dispute involving members of the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), Osifo said the TUC had resolved to write the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, urging the ministry to accelerate action on the workers’ demands.
