The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday reiterated its warning to the Federal Government that there would be nationwide disruption if it goes ahead with the planned removal of subsidy on petroleum products by December this year or latest, end of 2011.
The leadership of the workers body was reacting to an interview given by the Minister of Finance, Olusegun Aganga, at the weekend, where he said the government is set to go ahead with the controversial policy. Although Mr. Aganga also announced that there would be an investment of N10 billion in a mass transit system to ease the impact, the removal is likely to mean a petrol price hike from N65 to N120 per litre.
In a statement by its acting head of information, Onah Iduh, the NLC said that Mr. Aganga’s declaration is contrary to ongoing discussions with the government.
“The position of the honourable minister is completely against the subsisting dialogue between Labour and government.
“To the best of our knowledge, nothing meaningful has come out of the discussion up to now.
“We see the minister’s comment, therefore, as pre-emptive of the dialogue and invariably a mark of government’s insincerity on the policies of subsidy and deregulation,” the statement said.
During the interview, Mr. Aganga said the government was keen to avoid any disruptions, but that there was no “economic sense in marinating subsidies.”
“The question is, what would be the impact of removing the subsidy on those that you want to protect, the most vulnerable in society?” he said.
The NLC statement addressed Mr. Aganga’s comments by saying that a subsidy removal would do the opposite.
“We wish to state that the NLC still remains opposed to the twin policies of subsidy withdrawal and deregulation principally because the arguments usually advanced by government do not take into consideration the broader social and economic ramifications on, especially, the masses, who are supposed to be the beneficiaries of subsidy,” it declared.
According to the NLC, the implications of the removal of subsidy from petroleum products go far beyond the question of availability of mass transit system, or whatever amount of money government would be saving. Rather, it is about the question of government living up to its basic responsibility of providing good governance in the best interest of the masses.
In the oil sector, which is the hub of the country’s economy, it observed, good governance would be symbolised in functional refineries, effectively coordinated distribution network for petroleum products, as well as other variables geared towards serving national interests, adding that it believes what the government requires to achieve these are the will, commitment, and courage to confront the numerous challenges, particularly the most profound: corruption in the oil sector.
While restating its call on the president to ignore any advice on the removal of subsidy on petroleum products without exhaustive engagement with relevant interest groups, particularly Labour, the NLC said it believes “this is not the time to put additional burden on already overburdened Nigerians,” adding that it would not be able to guarantee industrial peace in the country if government goes ahead to unilaterally withdraw subsidies on fuel products, as the Minister of Finance has stated.
The issue of removal of subsidy on petroleum products has always been a touchy issue in labour circles, as it is often seen as a way by government to put more pressure on Nigerians, particularly workers, whose salaries have not witnessed any adjustment, despite rising cost of living.
In spite of several assurances by government that it would take steps to ameliorate the likely pains envisaged from the implementation of the policy, it has always met stiff resistance from a cross section of Nigerians, who claim that the current structures in place can hardly sustain the implementation of the policy without aggravating the already deplorable economic situation of the people.