Nigeria's TUC urges action on food imports, calls for stronger naira

Nigeria's Trade Union Congress (TUC) is pressing the federal government for decisive action on multiple fronts, including maintaining current food import policies and expediting the establishment of state police forces. The TUC also advocates for a significant strengthening of the naira, aiming for an exchange rate between 900 and 1,000 naira to the U.S. dollar.

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We are calling on government to sustain this policy and solve the state of insecurity so that our farmers could go back to farms.

Comrade Festus Osifo, TUC President, briefed journalists on the nation's economic and security situation, emphasizing that a stronger naira would directly translate to reduced prices for essential food items and commodities, thereby providing relief to Nigerian workers. He argued that the currency remains undervalued despite its appreciation from highs of ₦1,700-₦1,800 to the dollar in early 2024 to the current rate of around ₦1,380.

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Only when the supply end has been solved can we stop food importation.

Osifo stressed the continued necessity of emergency food importation until domestic security improves sufficiently to allow farmers to return to their fields and restore stable supply. He warned against a return to past price spikes, where a bag of rice cost ₦100,000 or ₦120,000. The TUC also threw its support behind striking aviation and hotel workers and called for increased investment in technology and equipment to combat insecurity, treating it with the urgency of a nation at war.

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We still believe that our naira is still undervalued. CBN has what it takes to manage the exchange rate to about 1,000 naira to a dollar.