·
About to
stage one-day national warning strike
As
Nigerians continue to experience hardship due to the current fuel scarcity and
erratic power supply, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday passed a
verdict on the 10-month administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The
labour movement declared that Buhari’s administration is fast losing
credibility in the eyes of Nigerians. Also, the Trade Union Congress (TUC)
bemoaned the unpleasant situation in the country, which has stifled the economy
and claimed thousands of jobs due to closure of companies.
NLC
President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, who spoke after the Central Working Committee
(CWC) meeting in Abuja, said with the current fuel scarcity, the Federal
Government under Buhari is becoming unpopular with Nigerians.
“We dare say that one of the fastest ways for government to lose
its credibility before the ordinary citizenry is scarcity of petroleum products
because the combined effects of scarcity of petroleum products and low power
supply create misery for the people, as well as have a damning impact on
travel, jobs, productivity and the economy as a whole,” Wabba stated.
NLC leadership, which highlighted sufferings that Nigerians have
undergone as a result of persistent scarcity of petroleum products and arbitrary
increase in electricity tariff even at the expense of inconsistent payment of
salaries to workers, also resolved to stage a one-day national strike to
protest these irregularities.
Wabba insisted that the tariff increase was “illegal, unfair,
unjustifiable and an exploitation of the already exploited Nigerians.” “The CWC
will agree on a day to embark on the strike, because several actions promised
by the Federal Government to checkmate the tariff increment have not been
implemented,” he said.
He noted that the CWC meeting came at a time Nigerians are
feeling the heat and harsh realities of the economic crisis in the country.
Wabba said the disposition of government has clearly shown that it is pitched
against the people, which it should ordinarily take their welfare as priority.
According to the NLC President, plans by government to increase
fuel prices, even when it has not been able to provide the product adequately,
was an illegality. “The response to the prevailing economic situation by all
tiers of government in the country has been a further source of worry for many
Nigerians, especially Nigerian workers, who are the first historically to be
put up for sacrifice each time the political elite mismanages our economy,”
Wabba lamented.
The NLC leadership also criticised the Minister of State for
Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, and the Petroleum Products Pricing
Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) over purported plans to increase fuel price. His
words: “When the first incident of fuel scar-city occurred under this
government, we put it to sabotage and urged the government to deal decisively
with the saboteurs but with an eye to enhanced local production as an enduring
solution.
When the second incident happened, we similarly reasoned the
same way. “However, with the latest incident of prolonged scarcity and
confession by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources that scarcity will
persist till May as he is not a magician, regular scarcity might as well be a
familiar feature, and we would do well to brace ourselves for long spells,
except government does the needful.
“We must, however, make the point that spells of scarcity will
not be acceptable to labour and other Nigerians because the human and economic
costs are unimaginable. “While we appreciate government’s effort to make
available on an uninterruptible basis, such effort must be seen to be result
yielding and immediate.
Because of the place of petroleum products in the lives of the
citizenry, its scarcity even for a day generates ripple and crippling effects.”
The labour called on the government to do the needful by demonstrating the will
and capacity to “restore sanity, discipline and transparency to the downstream
sector of the industry.” “We demand the diligent prosecution of all those found
wanting in the distribution of fuel products, cold or fresh cases,” NLC stated.
On the power crisis, Wabba said the National Electricity
Regulatory Commission (NERC) has deliberately ignored the subsisting court
order, which barred any increase in electricity tariff. He insisted that the
increase was illegal, unfair, unjustifiable and a further exploitation of the
already exploited Nigerians.
“The due process in the extant laws for such an increment was
not followed in consonance with Section 76 of the Power Sector Reform Act,
2005. “There has been no significant improvement in service delivery coupled
with the fact that most consumers are not metered in accordance with the signed
privatisation Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of November 21, 2013 which
stipulates that within 18 months gestation period, all consumers are to be
metered.
“The increment, at this time, negates the present biting
prevailing economic recession vis-a-vis an attempt to further impoverish the
poor masses,” he stressed. TUC, in a statement yesterday, said it was no time
to shift blames as Nigerians voted for the present government because they
desired change. “We need to see that change now.
The government should speedily put an end to the fuel crisis
situation, even if it means stepping on sacred toes,” the union stated. The
statement, signed by the President, TUC, Comrade Bobboi Kaigama, observed that
apart from the biting scarcity of fuel, the dearth of foreign exchange has also
made it impossible for firms to repay foreign loans and import needed materials
for production.
“Our role as a labour centre is multifaceted. We are saddled
with the responsibility of functioning as change agents and watchdogs of both
government and private business and ensuring better welfare for workers. Of
late, our desk has been inundated with industrial issues, redundancy
complaints, antilabour practices, casualisation of workers, mass sack of
workers, etc. “All these are caused because of unfriendly business environment.
For instance, the food and beverage sector alone in the last few
months has lost over 500 employees, the naira currently exchanges for N197 to a
dollar at the official window and N320 at the parallel market and firms that
borrowed dollar-denominated loans are facing the risk of foreclosure on assets
pledged as collateral and loss of credibility among creditors because of
exchange rate fluctuations,” the statement said. On power outage, the union
accused the power distribution companies of defrauding consumers while the
government consistently looks the other way.
It demanded that DISCOs stop sending “estimated” bills to
Nigerians. TUC said: “How else do we explain the fact that Nigerians are paying
for services not rendered? We recall that the Minister of Power, Babatunde
Fashola, prior to the 2015 elections, said ‘any government that cannot fix
power in six months is irresponsible.’
“Should we now say that both the minister and the present
administration are irresponsible? Or shall we now conclude that this
administration is conspiring with operators in the power sector to rip
Nigerians off? “Equally worrisome is the lingering fuel scarcity that appears
to defy all solutions in a country that is the sixth largest oil producer in
the world.
We
have become a laughing stock among the comity of nations. The man-hour lost in
traffic jams due to long fuel queues has become unimaginable. As it stands now,
virtually all sectors of the economy are groaning in serious and unbearable
pain.”
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