PREMIUM TIMES EDITORIAL
The truth is: it is not going to be easy economically henceforth for the average Nigerian. The new order will stoke inflation, currently at 22 per cent.
President Bola Tinubu’s removal of fuel subsidy during his inaugural speech on 29 May is a steely resolve well made. But it has set the alarm bells ringing. The decision sits well with the World Bank, IMF and technocrats who had engaged in long advocacy for it; but not so for the downtrodden, who see only the painful effects that go with it. Evidently, it is a well-calculated policy that pulls Nigeria from the precipice of bankruptcy; and ends the rogue regime of subsidy corruption that has savaged the country for more than three decades.
A day after the announcement, all hell was let loose at petrol stations. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) rolled out a new price template for the product, which replaced the N185 per litre, for between N448 and N557 per litre now, across the 36 states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). But the retail marketers are selling above the price range, for up to N800 per litre in some areas.
The organised labour’s swift and truculent reaction, with its threat of a nationwide strike, was not unexpected. Its grouse was the non-consultation with various stakeholders before the decision was taken and the lack of measures put in place to cushion the deleterious effects of the price spike on workers. The fact that the 2023 Appropriation Act (budget) captured fuel subsidy till the end of June, made its abrupt and unilateral removal more revolting to labour.
To be fair, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) acted within its right as an organisation devoted to workers’ welfare. The truth is: it is not going to be easy economically henceforth for the average Nigerian. The new order will stoke inflation, currently at 22 per cent. The inflationary spiral is already being felt in the over 200 per cent hike in transport fares. Frenetic discussions between labour and government representatives already gathering pace, will resume on 19 June.
The agreements reached last Monday nipped in the bud the earlier planned 7th of May nationwide strike. These include the setting up of a joint committee to review proposals on wage increase; inclusion of low-income earners in the $800 million cash transfer programme; rehabilitation of the country’s ailing refineries; repair of roads, among others. The Trade Union Congress (TUC) had in its separate discussions with the government’s team, presented a N200,000 minimum wage demand to replace the current N30,000. The NLC adopted it. Finding common ground on this proposal and the consequential adjustments on general wages to be made at both federal and state levels will certainly be complicated.
What is publicly known about fuel subsidy is that it is a state-sanctioned scam, which has haemorrhaged the treasury at the expense of the provision of public infrastructure and services like roads and bridges; health, education and water for decades. Previous administrations lacked the political will to stop it and rein in the thieving cartel.
