The union says mass kidnappings, banditry, and terrorism now define everyday life, casting a dark shadow over the administration’s economic reforms.

Two years after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office with a promise to renew hope, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says that insecurity has instead deepened across the country, forcing citizens to choose between staying alive and going hungry. 

The union says mass kidnappings, banditry, and terrorism now define everyday life, casting a dark shadow over the administration’s economic reforms.

NLC President Joe Ajaero, in a statement marking Tinubu’s one year in power, said: “In the surreal landscape of a nation grappling with escalating insecurity, discussing the intricacies of economic policy seems akin to debating the colour of curtains in a burning house.

“The pervasive threat of mass kidnappings, abductions, and banditry casts an ominous shadow over society, rendering economic discourse almost absurd in the face of urgent, life-threatening crises.”

He added that the worsening security has discouraged investment and plunged families into fear and uncertainty. “Who will invest in such an environment except looters and plunderers?” he asked.

Highlighting the growing presence of armed groups across the country, Ajaero noted: “Boko Haram and other insurgent groups have multiplied in recent years, while lives and properties are lost daily across the nation. 

Our nation is at war. In such a climate, the absurdity lies in the stark disconnect between bureaucratic discussions on fiscal policy and the visceral, pressing needs of a populace caught in the crossfire of insecurity.”

He faulted the government’s economic policies, arguing they have intensified suffering without delivering any visible relief. 

“Citizens find themselves torn between the hypothetical benefits of economic strategies and the immediate threats to their safety and well-being,” he said.

Ajaero concluded with a call for a new direction: “The truth is simple: reforms that bring only pain without gain are not reforms at all. 

“They are deformations—deliberate assaults on the poor in service of a system that rewards the powerful. 

“If this government truly wants to renew hope, it must abandon these cruel experiments, listen to the people, and chart a new course—one that puts Nigerians, not foreign creditors and profiteers, at the centre of policy. Anything less is a betrayal of public trust.”