Following the announcement that President Mohammadu Buhari’s departing administration had left the decision of removing the petrol subsidy to the incoming administration, the Nigeria Labour Congress, or NLC, issued a warning that those pushing for the removal of subsidies will set Nigeria on fire.
The NLC asserts that local petroleum product refining should be prioritized and claims that anyone considering the elimination of subsidies at this time wants to destroy the nation.
In a conversation in Lagos, NLC General Secretary Emma Ugboaja made these remarks and added that no one should pressure Nigerian workers and the general populace into supporting any rise in fuel prices under the guise of subsidy.
In the name of removing subsidies, he cautioned that Organized Labour would not support an increase in fuel prices.
He said: “It will be uncharitable in 2023 for any government to be talking about subsidy or no subsidy for a product that is naturally and thoroughly well-endowed in Nigeria.
“It smirks of wickedness for us to be discussing subsidy as an issue rather than discussing production. We are discussing subsidy as an economic theory rather than discussing production.
“The energy and resources that people are putting into discussing subsidy show a lack of focus. It shows a lack of seriousness and a lack of appreciation of what governance should be.
“If in 2023, rather than getting people that will make proper use of our natural endowment, we are busy discussing the cosmetic challenge of subsidy or no subsidy, it is absurd.
“One would have thought that people should be setting before the incoming government a genuine challenge on how to move Nigeria forward.
“Not for us to continue in the rigmarole of vicious, musical cheers and absurd comedy of subsidy or no subsidy. We cannot be people that do not respond to records.