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Newswatch: The federal government is poised to remove oil subsidy. What is the position of labour on the matter?

Omar:  Labour is opposed to the removal of oil subsidy. The official position of the NLC is that removal of oil subsidy is going to affect the vast majority of Nigerians negatively.  Our position is that government should not do anything that will affect the citizens of this country negatively, including the removal of oil subsidy.  The NLC has not changed its position on this matter. The removal of oil subsidy debate is not a recent issue.  It has been a lingering problem.  Even during the reign of Buhari/Idiagbon, this issue came up.  I remember during an interaction with the media at that time, Buhari was asked by a foreign journalists if he Buhari was going to remove subsidy on oil so as to save money for development, Buhari’s response was that the money that accrues to government coffers belonged to Nigerian citizens and that he will rather prefer that the citizens enjoy the benefits of the natural endowment. Subsequent regimes after that of Buhari/Idiagbon did not emphasise the removal of oil subsidy.  But you will recall that Ibrahim Babangida’s administration attempted the removal of oil subsidy, but had to go back on the decision.  General Abacha attempted that too, but given the reactions by Nigerians, he settled for fuel price increase and not removal of oil subsidy.  President Olusegun had a tough time doing it during his two-term tenure.

Newswatch:  And you think this regime will also drop the idea along the way?

Omar:  This government under the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan is, more than any other government, bent on the removal of oil subsidy.  The most worrisome aspect of the matter is the fact that despite outcry from the various segments of the Nigerian populace, the story continues to be the same.  Every government official is singing the tune that fuel subsidy must go. When the president met with the Council on Inter-religious group last week, he had the effrontery to say that he was ready to explain to Nigerians why oil subsidy must be removed.  The way the President and his team are talking over this issue is as if Nigerians no longer matter, and that whatever position the government takes on a given issue is binding irrespective how unpopular that decision is among Nigerians. To me, this is very worrisome.  But I think any government that will outrightly disregard the wishes of the generality of its citizens is really heading for trouble.  Because that means the democracy we are talking about is only about going to cast votes and not lending a voice as to how you are governed.  That is certainly not the essence of democracy.  A situation where the government is set to go against the decision of the vast majority of its citizens on a given issue, that is no longer democracy.  I don’t think the vast majority of Nigerians will be wrong on an issue, and that only the tiny minority of people in government will be correct.

Newswatch:  Has the government ever consulted the NLC on this issue of oil subsidy removal?

Omar: No, not at all.  We in the NLC heard it just like any other Nigerian outside the government.  We just woke up one day to hear and read from the papers that the federal government is flirting with the idea of removing subsidy on oil. 

Newswatch: What are the things Labour advised government officials that they should be put in place before removing fuel subsidy?

Omar: We said the first step is to try and be self sufficient in trying to refine the crude here locally for our domestic consumption. That is a prime thing. You will recall that in a recent paper presentation by government officials, an analysis on the importation of fuel showed that by the time the imported fuel lands at the ports, the cost is often about N174 Naira per litre.  But if you remove insurance, freight and one other thing, about three components, the cost comes down to about N49 per litre.  It means then that, if Nigeria is able to refine its crude locally, they will be doing so at the cost within the range of N50 or even less per litre.  If this is so, why must the government be hell bent of saying it must import fuel when we have the capacity to refine it here, thereby making it available and cheap and affordable to the citizens?

Newswatch: The government says there is a cabal benefiting from this importation.

Omar:  Each time I hear the government or its officials say that, I am often very disappointed that the government is talking in that manner. It is defeatist. The government is exhibiting helplessness. It means it has lost control. That shouldn’t be the case with any government.  There is a disjuncture between what government officials are saying about the need to remove oil subsidy and what really is on the ground. Government officials say that we spend about 1.2 trillion naira every year on fuel subsidy.  And that is so much money.  Some other officials say N900 billion etc.  That’s what government officials say, perhaps in order to justify the removal.  But in reality, what is there in the annual budgets in the name of subsidy is in the region of a few million Naira.  In last year’s budget, it was N240 billion that was captured as money for fuel subsidy.  Now the question really is, how come officials are claiming to be spending up to one trillion naira on an issue that the government budgeted only a N240 billion?  Does that mean that the government operates completely outside its budgetary provisions in areas that are not even emergency issues without recourse to the National Assembly for supplementary budget?  This, in itself, is a very serious offence according to our constitution. Definitely, this issue of fuel subsidy is not the major problem of our economy.

Newswatch:  Why do you think so?

Omar:  Now, look at it this way.  Any increase in the pump price of fuel or removal of subsidy on oil will trigger increase in everything regarding the cost of living in Nigeria. It will lead to more hardships on the part of Nigerians.  It is a wrong time to afflict Nigerians with this oil thing in the face of acute poverty, very serious unemployment level in the country etc.  The government should not and must not give room for things that will not be very good and palatable for this nation at this particular time.  There is youth restiveness and it must be controlled.

Newswatch:  But the government is saying that monies saved from the oil subsidy removal will be put into solving other pressing problems in the country like creation of jobs, infrastructural developments etc.

Omar:  Do you trust that?  How much more money is the government going to get from oil subsidy removal that it has not ever gotten before?  The onus is on President Jonathan and not any other person, if things go well in the country, his name will go down in the annals of history as having ruled well.  If things go bad, he will still take the whole blame. 

Newswatch: The government is hell bent on the removal of oil subsidy.  What will be the reaction of the NLC if the government goes ahead to implement its decision by removing the subsidy?

Omar:  I hope the government will just not do so.  I hope the government will not continue to jettison the cries of the populace.  The vast majority of Nigerians are saying no to the removal of the subsidy. The labour movement is part and parcel of the Nigerian system. If the government insists and the chips are down, definitely labour will be forced to taking appropriate actions. We will always take appropriate actions not only with the civil societies and other allies, but with also the generality of the Nigerian citizens that reason together with it. These matters are not those of salaries that some will say involve only workers. This affects all Nigerians. So, if anybody thinks this does not involve labour, then such a person is only kidding.  I challenge the government to subject this issue of removal of oil subsidy to a referendum. If the majority of Nigerians vote in favour of its removal, who is labour to raise a voice again? But if the generality of Nigerians say No, don’t remove it, labour will join the majority.  I must continue to plead with Mr. President that he must reconsider the position of government on this matter whether Nigerians are in favour of it or not.