The news coming out of Abuja is that the leadership of NLC and TUC is set for yet another compromise with government when the people are still in the streets protesting Jonathan’s withdrawal of the subsidy on corruption and inefficiency. We have seen this script before—from Babangida to Obasanjo.
The news coming out of Abuja is that the leadership of NLC and TUC is set for yet another compromise with government when the people are still in the streets protesting Jonathan’s withdrawal of the subsidy on corruption and inefficiency. We have seen this script before—from Babangida to Obasanjo.
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First, raise the price of refined petroleum products. Then sit back as the people pour into the streets. Then offer a reduction in the price and pain that the ordinary people will have to pay again to feed the greed of the tiny minority. This script, according to a report in PUNCH—see below—is about to be played again, starring Jonathan, Abdulwaheed Omar of the NLC and Peter Esele of TUC, with a minor role for Senate President, General David Mark. And they may very well emerge heroes after the compromise, just as Adam Oshiomole, architect of the N65/litre compromise under Obasanjo, did, thus paving the way for him to be the governor of Edo State and a supporter of the very action he opposed a few years ago. The new price being offered by Jonathan is N90.
Let us make it clear to the leadership of organised labour that they do not represent EVERY Nigerian. There are more unemployed citizens than are employed or under-employed. Moreover, the withdrawal of the phantom oil subsidy was merely a catalyst of the current protests. The Nigerian people are defying death, grievous bodily harm, hunger and intimidation to protest the accumulated rot that has put the country on the brink of another civil war. They are protesting the unmitigated demolition work of the ruling PDP, the tiny clique of mercenaries that go by the names politicians and contractors, the structural imbalances that have reduced Nigeria to a federal republic in name only, and the unchecked looting of the commonwealth, among others. They are demanding fiscal responsibility, an end to corruption and electoral malpractices, jobs, development, improved health and education, etc., etc!
Moreover, if Jonathan agrees to a reduction in the pump price of petrol, that in itself defeats his argument that he needs N1.234 trillion naira to build his post-‘subsidy’ withdrawal paradise. How much can he possibly realise from a mere N25 increase?
The time to COMPROMISE or play games is not now! The Nigerian people must REJECT any compromise and occupy the streets until Jonathan reverts to the N65/litre price. Let Jonathan take immediate steps to stop the subsidy on corruption and inefficiency, starting with a 50% cut in the TOTAL emoluments of all political and top public office holders; recovering the staggering amounts looted by the oil cartel in collaboration with NNPC, Petroleum Ministry and Central Bank officials; commencing the immediate rehabilitation of the four refineries; going after Boko Haram and guaranteeing the security of the nation. These should be minimum conditions for ending the protests.
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