TUC Urges FG to Import Food Amid Hardship and Soaring Prices

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has called on the federal government of Nigeria to put aside national pride and begin importing food to mitigate the soaring prices of food across the country.

The TUC President, Festus Osifo, made the statement during a press conference in Abuja on Monday, emphasizing that Nigerians are facing unprecedented levels of hardship and hunger.

Osifo argued that the national pride of striving to achieve food sufficiency locally should be temporarily relaxed, and that governments at all levels should immediately purchase sufficient quantities of food items from different parts of the world and share them with vulnerable Nigerians.

He believes that importing food abroad will help reduce the hyper-inflation of food in the country.

The TUC President urged President Bola Tinubu to strengthen the economic management team of his administration and develop homegrown solutions to the hardship facing the country, without considering partisanship, ethnicity or tribal issues.

He stressed that it is a population that is alive that can celebrate the gains and beauty of any government policy.

The call for food importation comes at a time when Nigeria is facing significant economic challenges, including a decline in oil revenues and currency devaluation.

The government’s focus on achieving food sufficiency locally has been a key part of its economic policy, but the TUC argues that the current situation calls for a more pragmatic approach.

The TUC’s call for food importation is a significant development in the ongoing debate about how to address Nigeria’s economic challenges.

It remains to be seen whether the federal government will heed the call and take steps to address the soaring prices of food in the country.