FEELERS in the oil industry indicate that Nigerians may start buying petrol for between N110 and N120 per litre, if President Goodluck Jonathan bows to the current pressure
on him for the removal of oil subsidy.
A source in the oil industry told Nigerian Tribune that the call by state governors for the removal of the subsidy as a precondition to pay the N18,000 new minimum wage was a climax to intense political manouevre in the corridors of power over the subsidy saga.
The source said the call by the governor was only meant to sell a dummy to members of the public with a view to gauging public pulse on the contentious issue.
According to the source, who pleaded anonymity, only the president could make a formal announcement on the withdrawal, since he is yet to name a substantive petroleum minister.
He added apart from the president, only a substantive petroleum minister and not the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) could announce the removal of the subsidy, if he deemed it necessary.
The source said: “There is no way Nigerians will buy fuel for less than N110 per litre if the subsidy is removed as long as the current price of crude oil in the international market hovers between $95 and $110 per barrel.”
The source claimed the feeling in the official circles was to gauge the pulse of Nigerians before possibly bowing to the governors’ demand.
Meanwhile, a legal practitioner and activist, Mr Festus Keyamo, lambasted the governor for making such a demand and even making it a pre-condition to peg the new salary for workers.
He accused them of taking delight at pilfering public fund at the expense of offering good governance and serving the people that elected them into office.
“Their call is very unpatriotic because that money they have been stealing is public fund. They should use that money that they have been stealing to pay their workers. They must pay the new minimum wage,” Keyamo fumed.
He likened the demand of the governors to robbing Peter to pay Paul and declared that Nigerians should frustrate the plot.
“What they are trying to do is that at the end of the day, they will increase the salary of workers while at the same time reducing the purchasing power of the people, because of the predictable ripple effects of removing the oil subsidy. Nigerians should resist it by mass action,” he stated.
However, the organised labour warned on Thursday that the state governors were inviting anarchy and unprecedented crisis in the country should President Jonathan acceed to their suggestion that the subsidy on petroleum products should be removed in order to bring more money to their purse to pay the new minimum wage.
The two labour unions in the country, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) vowed to resist such a move and lead the rest of Nigerians to also resist it.
Speaking with Nigerian Tribune on Thursday night, the Acting General Secretary of the NLC, Comrade Owei Lakemfa, and the President General of TUC, Comrade Peter Esele, said the two issues, minimum wage and fuel subsidy did not align and one cannot affect the other.
Comrade Lakemfa, who emphasised that the NLC would use everything in its power to lead Nigerians to resist it said: “Nigerians are already suffering, there are more poverty in the country. People are hungry and there are no social services. Should the government go ahead to remove subsidy, it will lead to fuel price increase.
“To add to the burden might be an attempt to ignite crisis. The Federal Government is advised to ignore the evil advice and suggestion by the governors.
“The governors want more money to share by placing additional burdens on the hapless and poverty stricken Nigerians. They want to over-burden the people. This is not the best way to increase money to the state government’s purse.
“For the governors to look for more money by adding money to the petroleum products price is not acceptable, they should rather be innovative to generate more money.
“Again, they must start paying the minimum wage with effect from April 2011. The NLC advise the federal, state, and local government, as well as other employers of labour who have more than 50 employees to start paying now because, if they delay, the arrears will be too much.”
The TUC president-general, Peter Esele, said “the issue of subsidy and minimum wage do not align at all. Minimum wage is law. The two cannot align at all and we believe they must obey the law.”
A former senator, Olorunnimbe Mamora, frowned on the call because of the multiplier effects of its removal, adding that if fuel subsidy was removed, it would cause social upheaval.
Senator Olabiyi Durojaye, in his claim, said if the government should remove the oil subsidy, the burden would be passed over to the masses.
Meanwhile, the Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has urged the Federal Government to publish the amount it spent on petrol subsidy.
The president of the LCCI, Chief Femi Deru, who made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Thursday, said the citizens were in the dark over the level of its involvement.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Nursing mother जिलेद.
Mother of a two-month-old baby was yesterday sentenced to 60 days imprisonment by an Abuja magistrate court for collecting under false pretence N978, 000 from one Asogwa Festus.
She was, however, given an option of N10,000 fine, and asked to refund money to the owner.
The convict, Mrs. Philomena Iruobe of Kuje area council, old NEPA road, Abuja, was alleged to have collected N1.4m from the complainant, Asogwa Festus, as daily contribution between 2009 and 2010, but instead of remitting the money to his bank account, she converted it to her personal use.
Police Prosecutor, Ibeto Patrick, told the court that the complainant reported the matter to the police on May 12, 2011, that the accused introduced herself as a staff of Oceanic Life Assurance Ltd, Abuja.
She was, however, given an option of N10,000 fine, and asked to refund money to the owner.
The convict, Mrs. Philomena Iruobe of Kuje area council, old NEPA road, Abuja, was alleged to have collected N1.4m from the complainant, Asogwa Festus, as daily contribution between 2009 and 2010, but instead of remitting the money to his bank account, she converted it to her personal use.
Police Prosecutor, Ibeto Patrick, told the court that the complainant reported the matter to the police on May 12, 2011, that the accused introduced herself as a staff of Oceanic Life Assurance Ltd, Abuja.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Uwazuruike, MASSOB leader threatens: I may join Boko Haram
The leader of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike has threatened that his group may abandon its non-violent approach and toe the line of the Boko Haram since the Federal Government understands the language of violence.
Uwazuruike, in an exclusive interview with Daily Sun in Owerri at the weekend said both groups were calling for the division of the country in different ways, saying while the Boko Haram adopted violence approach to press their demands, the latter (MASSOB) engaged in non-violent method to achieve the same objective.
According to him, it had taken MASSOB over 12 years preaching the gospel of Biafra sovereignty through non-violence, government had not deemed it necessary to invite the group for discussion but regretted that within a short space of time of the Islamic group’s bomb attack across the country, government had extended olive branch to it. “I congratulate them because it has taken me more than 12 years to preach the same language that they are saying today that Nigeria needs to be divided at least between Christians and Moslems, but the Federal Government has ignored me for 12 years.”
“Now, within a very short space of time the Boko Haram people have said the same thing I was saying through non-violence, the Federal Government has invited them and of which the group, (Boko Haram) has ignored the government and continue what they are doing.” The MASSOB leader made it clear that if he had his way, the group would join the Boko Haram and the entire nation would be in flames, since it was the only language the Federal Government understood.
“I am telling you that if I have my way now, I will join the Boko Haram and the entire country will turn into crisis, since it is what the Federal Government wants. I am saying it today that, I congratulate the Boko Haram people and I wish they will continue in their efforts and if I have my way, I will join them.” He regretted that, whenever the MASSOB embarked on a peaceful demonstration, government, through its security agencies would clamp down on them, even maiming and killing them in the process.
Uwazuruike, in an exclusive interview with Daily Sun in Owerri at the weekend said both groups were calling for the division of the country in different ways, saying while the Boko Haram adopted violence approach to press their demands, the latter (MASSOB) engaged in non-violent method to achieve the same objective.
According to him, it had taken MASSOB over 12 years preaching the gospel of Biafra sovereignty through non-violence, government had not deemed it necessary to invite the group for discussion but regretted that within a short space of time of the Islamic group’s bomb attack across the country, government had extended olive branch to it. “I congratulate them because it has taken me more than 12 years to preach the same language that they are saying today that Nigeria needs to be divided at least between Christians and Moslems, but the Federal Government has ignored me for 12 years.”
“Now, within a very short space of time the Boko Haram people have said the same thing I was saying through non-violence, the Federal Government has invited them and of which the group, (Boko Haram) has ignored the government and continue what they are doing.” The MASSOB leader made it clear that if he had his way, the group would join the Boko Haram and the entire nation would be in flames, since it was the only language the Federal Government understood.
“I am telling you that if I have my way now, I will join the Boko Haram and the entire country will turn into crisis, since it is what the Federal Government wants. I am saying it today that, I congratulate the Boko Haram people and I wish they will continue in their efforts and if I have my way, I will join them.” He regretted that, whenever the MASSOB embarked on a peaceful demonstration, government, through its security agencies would clamp down on them, even maiming and killing them in the process.
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