By Victor Ahiuma Young

NIGERIA Employers’ Consultative Association, NECA, has called for social dialogue to avert the planned strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, over the worsening cash crunch which  followed the redesign of the nation’s currency. 

The umbrella for employers in the country, in the statement, warned that though it was concerned over the worsening cash crunch, the planned strike by NLC would further drag the economy into a deeper hole, leading to rapid business closures, job losses, and other socio-economic challenges. 

NECA’s Director-General, Wale-Smatt Oyerinde, said “It is without a doubt that the cash crunch has affected businesses, individuals, and households terribly.

“Economic experts and analysts have stated that the loss in economic terms could be over N20 trillion as a result of loss of productive hours in bank halls and petrol stations, shut-down of businesses due to low patronage, the inability of employees to transit to work, challenges faced by households in meeting basic needs and the general distortion in the general supply chain.

“While we had expressed our deep concern as regards the mismanaged and dreadful implementation of the naira redesign policy, and in fact, some other policies of the Central Bank of Nigeria, it is our strong belief that the planned strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, could further drag the economy into a deeper hole, leading to rapid business closures, job losses, and other socio-economic challenges. 

”While we affirm emphatically our displeasure with the government’s loud silence and seeming inactivity in resolving the self-inflicted quagmire, the planned strike, at this time, could be counter-productive.”