From its inception, the current administration of the APC regime has demonstrated its commitment to imposing unbearable hardships on the working class. The first expression of this was in its inaugural speech, where President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy. This move was undoubtedly made to follow the neoliberal prescriptions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. This decision is a stark reminder that President Tinubu and his government, like his predecessors have more in common as capitalists with the forces and institutions of imperialism, than with the working people in Nigeria.
The removal of fuel subsidies has had a devastating impact on the lives of poor people. It resulted in skyrocketing pump prices of fuel price of fuel across the country, with multiplier effect on commodities.. Inflation has soared to 33%, and the foreign exchange market is unstable, with the naira plummeting in value despite attempts to strengthen it. As a result, many companies have resorted to mass layoffs and redundancies to protect their profits, further exacerbating the suffering of the working class.
The proponents of neoliberalism argue that the removal of fuel subsidies is a necessary evil, a short-term pain for long-term gain. However, the reality on the ground tells a different story. The working class is bearing the brunt of the regime’s anti-poor economic decisions, and the promised “better days” seem like an illusion already.
While the local ruling class and their foreign masters continue to drain the working class dry and make a mockery of meager wages, the few bosses in government and business continue to enrich their fat pockets. Successive governments, including that of Tinubu have consistently provided subsidies and incentives to big businesses and capitals, including “legal” tax evasion as tax breaks of different sorts, which cost the Nigerian economy an average of $2.6 million annually.
Bedeviled by unending hardship and insecurity of life in the country, many Nigerians often ask the question, “Who does Nigeria like this?” But the actual question is, “What has Nigeria’s working class done to the ruling class?” Apparently, it is us – the working class – against them, the few ruling elements in government and big corporations. The neoliberal regime of the global capitalist class has declared war on us – the working class – and removal of fuel subsidies, electricity tariff hikes, tuition fee hikes, and unnecessary and unfair taxation are their social and economic weapons of mass destruction fashioned against us.
There have been several protests and strikes across the country, including the recent protest against the unfair sack of about 405 staff of the Lagos State Water Corporation (LWC). These are significant, as they show the growing grievances of the mass of workers and youth against the regime’s insensitive policies, and its attacks on the working class.
While protests and national strikes are relevant tools of resistance, they are not enough to put an end to the neoliberal regime and attacks on the working class. To overthrow this inhumane and anti-poor regime and system, we need a social revolution. And for such to manifest, we need to organize in a mass party of the working class, owned by the working class, and committed to fighting and winning socialism from below.
Revolution is the solution to class war for we, the working people. And the time is now. The working class must rise up and fight for a new system that prioritizes their needs over the profits of the wealthy capitalists. The neoliberal regime and its imperial puppeteers must be held accountable for their crimes against humanity. The people must unite and fight for a better future, a future that is free from the shackles of neoliberalism and its benefactors.
by Lai BROWN
