The Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) Wednesday kicked against the extension of lockdown in Lagos, Ogun states and Abuja by President Muhammadu Buhari and some state governors in the country without tangible and adequate palliatives for working people and the poor.
SPN in a statement jointly signed by its Acting National Chairperson, Comrade, Abiodun Bamigboye and National Secretary, Comrade Chinedu Bosa and made available to newsmen in Ibadan lamented that the extension of the lockdown has further confirmed that the President Buhari-led government and those of other state governments “is anti-poor, insensitive and callous, considering the growing state of hunger, want and despondency.”
The party lamented that it was unfortunate that the federal government and the respective state governments are currently implementing different restrictions and lockdowns without addressing the socio-economic effect of a lockdown.
“There are millions of people who survive on small daily income as artisans, traders, labourers etc, whose livelihood has been cut short for the past two weeks. There are millions of casuals who are paid on a daily basis; all these categories of people are presently suffering. The reality is that many private sector workers will not be paid this month, some will be paid a fraction of salary while some will lose their job and there is no social program that addresses these problems.
“The lockdown has further exposed the rot and fragility that confronts the Nigerian society, there is growing tension with gangs of boys in hundreds stealing everything on their way including bread, sachets of pure water, biscuits etc., while working class and poor communities in Lagos and Ogun have come under mass attacks of gangs and communities have responded by creating vigilante groups to repel the attacks.”
While consistently asking government at all levels to come out with adequate palliatives and for democratic management of their distribution so as to cushion the effect of locking down the ordinary people, SPN noted that; “we had previously warned that in the absence of a sustainable palliative, there will be anarchy.
