By Comrade Joe Ajaero
President
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) voices the collective anguish of millions of Nigerian workers bearing the brutal cost of a global capitalist crisis they did not create. The military escalation involving the US, Israel, and Iran has sent shockwaves through global oil markets. Consequently, petrol prices in Nigeria have skyrocketed to between N1,170 and N1,300 per litre.
This is a direct assault on the Nigerian people. While imperialist rivalries play out with bombs abroad, our working class is bombarded with poverty and hunger because, we have refused to ensure that our Public refineries are operational.
This crisis has brutally exposed the fragility of Nigeria’s downstream sector, tearing off the mask of those who claimed local refining made us immune. The Dangote Refinery has adjusted its prices in lockstep with global volatility, passing the burden directly to the masses. This makes a lie of comfortable narratives about meeting domestic demand. As long as we remain dependent on a market-driven pricing structure tied to global vicissitudes, and refuse to bring our public assets to life, we will remain hostages to wars and speculators.
The NLC warned of the danger of sabotaging our refineries to create a monopoly. This is a wake-up call for the managers of our economy. No nation achieves economic freedom by exporting jobs and importing prices. The government must immediately halt the vandalism of the public sector and bring the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries back on stream; not as a favour, but as a right of the Nigerian people to cushion themselves from a hostile global order.
The cost of PMS and AGO has made transportation a noose around workers’ necks. Food inflation is galloping, and meager wages are being swallowed by this induced scarcity. When a worker cannot afford to go to work, the economy stops. When a family cannot afford three meals a day, society sits on a keg of gunpowder.
The government cannot foreclose any action that would offer succor. We demand an immediate intervention. It is the duty of the state to act to prevent the agony of its citizens and not wring its hands in hopelessness mouthing the Middle east war. Latest forecast by the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) shows that Nigeria stands to reap about N30trn (Thirty Trillion Naira) Oil windfall from the Middle East crisis.
The Nigeria labour Congress (NLC) subsequently demands;
· An immediate Wage Award and Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) for all workers to cushion the high cost of living. Current wages are stipends of starvation.
· An expansion and overhaul of Cash Transfers to ensure transparency and that they reach the most vulnerable, with increased value to match inflation.
· Immediate Tax Reliefs for Workers and a stoppage of all regressive taxes on low-income earners, including the proposed tax on the informal economy. Taxing the minimum wage is extortion.
· A timeline for the full-scale operationalization of all public refineries. The Nigeria state must be held accountable for billions spent on turnaround maintenance.
· Nigerian workers are being pauperized and massively suffering. We are not a statistic; we are the engine of this nation. When the engine overheats, the entire vehicle crashes.
· The about N30trn (Thirty Trillion Naira) only Oil windfall expected to accrue to Nigeria as a result of the Current Middle East war must not grow wings like the Gulf Oil windfall but should be invested in Nigerian people. It should be used to cushion the negative effects of the crisis in Nigerian people.
The government must engage in sincere social dialogue with Nigerian workers and the broader citizenry. Using the Middle East war as an excuse to further impoverish Nigerians is unacceptable. The primary duty of government is to ensure the welfare of the citizenry. We demand action. We demand justice. We demand survival.
Comrade Joe Ajaero
President
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NIGERIA LABOUR CONGRESS (NLC)
NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS
Paschal Bafyau Labour House
Plot 821/821 Central Business District
Federal Capital Territory
P.O.Box 10971, PMB 566 Garki, Abuja
Tel: +2348117077418, +2348117077419
E-mail: gsec@nlcng.org
Website: www.nlcng.org