As Nigeria closes in on yet another recession, the Federal Government has appealed to traders and transporters not to hike prices of food items and transportation as the country battles to contain the Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic.
Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who made the plea during the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 daily news briefing on Thursday in Abuja, said it had become necessary for market women and men to understand the enormity ofsituation, adding that there is need to show compassion to all Nigerians by not hiking prices of foodstuff and other essential services.
“This is a time people are giving back to the society. We call on our compatriots not to take the opportunity to oppress the people,” he urged.
Mohammed also urged the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to ensure that the transportation cost of food items being taken to other parts of the country were not hiked.
He said that it was regrettable that, despite being aware of the danger posed by COVID-19, the NURTW members still flout the guidelines of the lockdown as they carried passengers above the approved number.
The minister noted that some members of the union had refused to accept that COVID-19 was real, adding that this can be the reason for flouting the guidelines by carrying five to four passengers.
He said that the members refused to heed the call by PTF to take precaution in carrying passengers, warning that such can be detrimental to their health.
The minister also called on state governors to engage members of NURTW in their states in order to salvage the situation and contain the deadly virus.
“We need to carry NURTW along. We cannot micromanage their activities in the state from the centre,” he said.
Mohammed said that the NURTW had the mechanism to engage their members, adding that they had been warned not to carry more than three passengers.
