Subsidy pains: organised Labour insists on protest as government plans N500bn palliative, 3,000 buses

BY BABAGANA JIDDA KANEMPRESS

1ST AUGUST 2023

The organised labour in Nigeria says it will hold its planned nationwide protest on Wednesday despite the Monday rollout of subsidy removal palliative plans by President Bola Tinubu.

President Tinubu had in a national broadcast unveiled N500bn palliative for manufacturers, small businesses and farmers. He also released plans to increase salaries and acquire 3,000 mass transit buses.

Asides the President’s last-minute plans to avert the protest by the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, said the rally would hold in line with its schedule.

Ajaero spoke shortly after talks between the organised labour and the Federal Government on Monday became inconclusive. The talk is expected to resume on Tuesday.

The Presidential Steering Committee on Palliatives meeting between the government and labour was held at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.

“We just adjourned to go and listen to Mr. President’s speech and to continue with our conversation tomorrow (Tuesday). Our peaceful rally will go on as scheduled…this rally has been fixed,” Ajaero told journalists after the meeting.

Ajaero said that the peaceful protest would be hijacked by hoodlums, saying that such had never happened in any of its workers’ protest.

The president of the Nigeria Labour Congress said security agencies were responsible for safeguarding workers in such exercises.

In reaction to president Tinubu’s economic reforms especially on the exchange rate and others, Ajaero said “By the time you have a single market (exchange rate) and you are not having anything that has a comparative advantage, your energy is import driven, then how are you going to control it?

“How are you going to control somebody that exchanged dollar at about N900? Are you going to tell him to sell below the price?

“How are you going to tell even the Discos not to increase their tariff with the high cost of production today? Even corn in the villages that was sold at N18,000 in February; now it’s about 56,000. How are you going to control it?”

Similarly , the NLC National Assistant Secretary, Chris Onyeka, said, “Our protest is irreversible, and it is a mass protest. Remember that we did not issue the notice based on the other increases. Ours is based on the N617 price increase in Premium Motor Spirit. The Federal Government has to deal with that first.”

On his part, the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, said issues around the subsidy removal were discussed at the closed-door meeting, after which it was later adjourned.

He also said the government was dealing with the oil cabals that have crippled the economy.

He said, “We have been locked behind for a couple of hours, we had a good meeting, issues were thrashed out on the situation in Nigeria today in terms of issues centred around on government intervention on the situation in the country.

“We agreed to adjourn till tomorrow as you know Mr. President is making a national broadcast today. Based on what we anticipate that Mr. President will be telling Nigerians, we decided to adjourn the meeting till 12pm tomorrow (Tuesday) before labour can decide whether or not they want to continue with the protest on Wednesday,” Gbajabiamila said.

He added, “But we believe that after tonight broadcast, President will speak to all the issues, he will roll out his interventions and needless to say we believe any reasonable person will tell you that at that point there will be no need for any protest.”

On why the government did not roll out palliatives before ending the subsidy regime, Gbajabiamila said that the previous government did not budget for subsidy and that President Tinubu was rolling out palliatives to cushion its effect on Nigerians.

In attendance at Monday’s meeting were Ajaero, his counterpart from the TUC, Festus Osifo; the General Secretary of NLC, Emma Ugbaja; the TUC Secretary, Nuhu Toro and other members of the organised labour delegation including Prof. Sam Amadi.

On the FG’s side were the President’s Chief of Staff, Gbajabiamila; Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Dr Folashade Yemi-Esan; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Kachollom Daju; the Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari; and the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, among others.

Tinubu unveils plans

In a related development, president Tinubu on Monday announced the release of N500bn palliative as he promised a new wage for Nigerian workers.

Critics believe the president’s move was to ameliorate the agony of Nigerians who are in pains of the fuel subsidy removal.

President Tinubu also said 3,000 buses would be provided to address the high transportation fares as a result of the hike in fuel pump prices.

Tinubu reeled out the promises in a nationwide broadcast on Monday evening titled, ‘After darkness comes the glorious dawn.’

The president’s announcement is a day to a planned strike and protests by the Nigerian Labour Congress over the removal of the fuel subsidy and the failure of the Federal Government to implement palliatives to cushion the attendant hardships.

President Tinubu plans to roll out 3,000 CNG-fuelled mass transit buses in states and local council areas.

He said the Federal Government is working closely with states and local governments to implement interventions that will cushion the pains of the populace across socio-economic brackets.

According to president Tinubu buses across the states and local governments for mass transit will be rolled out at a much more affordable rate.

He said his administration planned to invest N100bn between now and March 2024 to acquire 3,000 units of 20-seater CNG-fuelled buses.

The buses, he said, would be shared to major transportation companies in the states, using the intensity of travel per capital, adding that participating transport companies will be able to access credit under this facility at 9 per cent per annum with 60 months repayment period.

‘’In the same vein, we are also working in collaboration with the labour unions to introduce a new national minimum wage for workers. I want to tell our workers this: your salary review is coming,”
Tinubu stated.

‘’Once we agree on the new minimum wage and general upward review, we will make budget provision for it for immediate implementation.’’

Tinubu said manufacturers, medium and small scale enterprises and farmers will get a whopping N500bn share of the palliatives that would be rolled out.

‘’ Our plan to support cultivation of 500,000 hectares of farmland and all-year-round farming practice remains on course. To be specific, N200bn out of the N500bn approved by the National Assembly will be disbursed as follows:

“Our administration will invest N50bn each to cultivate 150,000 hectares of rice and maize. N50bn each will also be earmarked to cultivate 100,000 hectares of wheat and cassava,” he said.

“This expansive agricultural programme will be implemented targeting small-holder farmers and leveraging large-scale private sector players in the agric business with a strong performance record.

“In this regard, the expertise of Development Finance Institutions, commercial banks and microfinance banks will be tapped into to develop a viable and an appropriate transaction structure for all stakeholders.’’

Tinubu admitted that the economy was going through a tough patch and citizens were being hurt by it, citing the high cost of fuel, food prices and others.

To ease the hardship, he said his administration desired to reduce the burden the current economic situation has imposed on citizens, businesses, the working class and the most vulnerable.