By Esther Akaa and Martin Iyonguvihi
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) have rejected the planned increase in the price of petroleum products by the federal government, saying the decision will increase the already existing hardship in the country.
The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari, recently announced that petrol may cost N340 per litre after subsidy removal in 2022.
The announcement has generated a lot of reactions with many Nigerians saying the decision will cause untold hardship, and grossly affects the lives of the citizenry.
However, the Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) in a sharp departure from the majority feeling threw its weight behind the federal government’s plan to remove subsidy on petrol in 2022.
But the leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Benue state warned that the planned increase will further aggravate the difficulties faced by many Nigerians.
In an interview with The Voice, the Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Nasarawa State, Comrade Yusuf Iya described the plan as most unfortunate and said it will also spark an increase in prices of other commodities in the market.
“I will describe that pronouncement as unfortunate and will draw the attention of the government to the simple fact that increase in the price of fuel is what will trigger prices of all commodities in the market. So the attempt to increase the price of petrol may rather increase the hardship of the common man and this is something that we produce here in Nigeria. “Why is it being sold at an exorbitant price to the citizens? So as a union, we are going to vehemently reject it and stand firm to make sure that this does not become a reality because it will cause hike in the prices of other things such as transportation, food, hospital bills, among others.
“Because all these things are dependent on price of petrol. We already have our plan. We have held several meetings at the headquarters of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on what will be our action when it eventually happens but we will not disclose until when it happens.
“I therefore call on the government to reverse the decision to increase the price of petrol because the masses are already suffering and if this is actualized, it will further impoverish the poor masses. So I am calling on the government to have a rethink on the decision so that we will not have any industrial upheaval or any issue that will take us to the street to demonstrate,” Iya stated.
Also speaking in an interview with The Voice, Makurdi Branch Chairman of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Justine Gbagir Esq, said Nigerian leaders are being insensitive to the plight of the citizenry.
According to Gbagir, the rulers are gradually pushing the country to a dangerous point where, he said, a revolution is possible if government policies are not urgently geared towards making life easy for the generality of people.
“The issue of increments in the price of not just fuel but also cooking gas is a very unfortunate development. I think the leaders are been insensitive to the plight of Nigerians. And they are gradually pushing Nigeria where there will be a revolution in this country. In an ideal society, government gets from the rich to take care of the less privileged. Government policies are always geared towards having an enabling environment where all the citizens will live responsible and reasonable lives.
“God has blessed Nigeria with natural resources and petroleum is one of them. And because petroleum is a force that drives in the Nigerian economy, it determines a lot of things. When there is an increment in fuel price, it affects all other aspects of the economy. So government needs to be mindful of that fact. And for me, I believe government has a lot of other things to generate revenue apart from petroleum.
“In Benue state for instance, let’s assume that we have ten thousand houses, how many people are paying property tax or even ground rent? If you go to developed countries, you pay taxes on the type of car you have, so people ordinary who are average citizens don’t buy cars, when you have a car; it is a luxury in developed climes.
“There are several other natural resources that Nigeria is blessed with, scattered all over the country which are not been explored. In some cases, they have left them in the hands of illegal miners; in some cases where licenses have been given to private companies to mine, how much is the government getting? I have made a case that if the Federal government cannot even mine because it’s concentrating on petroleum, why doesn’t the federal government say the state should take responsibility to mine the resources that are deposited in their respective states for requisite development?
“Looking at the situation here in Benue, once there is increase in the price of fuel, the civil servant will demand for salary increase because standard of living has increased. So definitely, there will be demand for salary increments once fuel subsidy is removed since there will be increase in petroleum products prices, prices of goods will increase, and there will be industrial actions or strikes that will lead to suspension of economic activities in this country for weeks or months,” Gbagir stated.