We are suffering’, FCT workers tell FG

Some civil servants working in Abuja, have appealed to the Federal Government to take immediate actions to ameliorate their sufferings, saying that life has not been easy since the removal of fuel subsidy.

Those who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria said costs of living has become unbearable for those who are living in the city in particular, hence the need for government’s intervention to cushion the effects of the present conditions.

Felicia Anthony, who explained her ordeal, said she was finding it so difficult to cope with lot of challenges ranging from children’s school fees, her house rent and most importantly transportation to work with the present salary she was earning.

“It has not been easy since the removal of fuel subsidy, before now when you have N400, you can go as far as from New Nyanya to town and return back but now, even N1000 is not enough.

“It is very difficult and I will like to see government roll out palliatives to cushion the effects of this subsidy because its removal generally has caused the hike in the price of both goods and services.

“It is my prayers that the Federal Government should assist citizens because as it is now, an ordinary civil servants can no longer cope with the present salary.

Anthony, therefore, made an appeal to the government to look at the plights of the citizens and see how to increase the salaries reasonably for them.

She also called on the government to look into ways to check price control of goods and services as a good number of people were now selling as they wished in the name of fuel subsidy removal.

“There was a time we used to have price control of goods and services in this country because there were taskforce or measures to do so but now, everybody is selling as she or he likes in the name of subsidy removal and this has also aggregated the situation in the country.

“I am saying this because it is not everybody who is working as civil servants, even those working at private firms find it so hard at this present time. Something should be done about this because things are getting out of hands. “

Speaking on the proposed increment of minimum wage in 2024, Anthony said it was unreasonable to have remove subsidy when there was nothing added to the workers, saying it has caused additional suffering to Nigerians.

“If you removed the subsidy and there was nothing in support of it, it causes more hardship for us.

“There should have been supportive measures on ground first, particularly in the area of transportation before we even think of minimum wage increment by 2024.

“This would have gone a long way to cushion the effects of the actions by the government.”

Also, Ukwa Denis, another civil servant said the current economic situation were unbearable not only to the civil servants but to all Nigerians, adding that everyone is buying from the same market, pursuing the same goals of good living.

“The situation has been so hectic in a sense that much consideration was not put in place before the decision of subsidy removal. “

According to him, the nation’s refineries and the petroleum industries could have been resuscitated before any action was taken to reduce the suffering of the subsidy removal.

“We all know that the subsidy was removed by the previous government but all the same, this new government coming on board should have been prepared taking into consideration the ripple effects.

“And for us as civil servants, our salaries cannot take us to anywhere considering the present economic situations with the megger salaries we are earning now, so the situation is not something we can cope with anymore.

“I am appealing to the government to look inward and think of how to ameliorate the suffering of civil servants and the rest of Nigerians who are not working in the  government sectors.

Muhammed Idris, another respondent decried the situation as uncalled for, considering the blessings God had bestowed on the nation.

According to him, he sees no reason why Nigerians should suffer in the midst of abundance including the gift of oil as part of God’s given wealth.

“It is so disappointing for us as a nation to see what we are passing through today, those who rule the pass when our refineries were functions, were they not leaders; why can’t we fix our refineries.

Idris appealed to President Bola Tinubu to make provision to salvage the situation, while the repairs of refineries should also be considered as top priority in his administration.