Labour, govt forces clash at Town Hall Meeting<\/p>\n
IT was a battle of intellect yesterday in Lagos.<\/span><\/p>\n The issue \u2013 the government\u2019s controversial plan to remove fuel subsidy.<\/span><\/p>\n On one side were government officials, including Finance Minister Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Petroleum Minister Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, Central Bank Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and others. They explained why the subsidy, which the government says has cost about N1.3 trillion this year, should go.<\/span><\/p>\n On the other side were activists, unionists and some dignitaries.<\/span><\/p>\n But the Federal Government got support from Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole, a former Labour chief.<\/span><\/p>\n The governor endorsed the removal of subsidy but canvassed the prosecution of those responsible for the failure of the refineries.<\/span><\/p>\n They all spoke at the Town Hall meeting organised by the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) to review the debate on the combustible issue. The theme: \u201cRemoval of Petroleum subsidy: In whose interest.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n NPAN President and Thisday chairman Mr. Nduka Obaigbena moderated the meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n The activists said the petrol pump price being contemplated by the government is a reflection of the inefficiency of the government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They said President Goodluck Jonathan should fish out the cabal that has taken over the petroleum sector and all those who took money from the government but failed to carry out Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of the refineries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Trade Union Congress (TUC) President Peter Esele; Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Vice President Issa Aremu; Constitutional lawyer Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), rights activist Femi Falana; and Silverbird chair Ben Murray-Bruce spoke at the event.<\/span><\/p>\n The activists refused to be swayed by Mrs Okonjo-Iweala\u2019s claims that the government intends to put in place infrastructure that will change the lives of the people with the money to be realised from subsidy removal.<\/span><\/p>\n Esele pointed out that the cabal that has been holding the petroleum sector to ransom has been having its way because of collaboration by government officials.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The TUC president, who insisted that the government must reduce its stake in the refineries, also said if the sector must be deregulated, the government must first put in place the fundamentals, such as employment, good roads, housing and improved electricity supply, among others.<\/span><\/p>\n Aremu said Nigerians do not trust the government because of the way the fuel subsidy was handled in the past.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He disagreed that the money to be realised will be spent to the benefit of the masses, pointing out that experience had shown that removal of subsidy had always led to increase in prices of food stuff, transportation, housing and other goods and services.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat we are fighting for is governance in its real term. We would fight to re-invent our society,\u201d he said, adding that the government should build more refineries to accommodate the daily fuel consumption in the country.<\/span><\/p>\n Agbakoba urged government itself to make sacrifice by cutting cost in some areas as against removal of subsidy, adding that the cash to be saved on subsidy could be generated internally.<\/span><\/p>\n To Agbakoba, the government has not really provided enough information to convince Nigerians that subsidy removal is necessary. He said government should discuss exhaustively with the various strata of the society, if subsidy must be removed.<\/span><\/p>\n Falana berated the Federal Government for giving TAM contracts to those he described as \u201cpolitical contractors\u201d, instead of the companies that installed the refineries.<\/span><\/p>\n In his view, there is the need for the government to identify the cabal in the petroleum sector and deal with them \u201cdecisively\u201d. They are responsible for the inefficiency in the sector, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n Falana counselled the government to listen to alternate suggestions by maintaining existing refineries and building new ones to produce more petroleum products for local consumption as against subsidy removal which, he said, would bring untold hardship or the people.<\/span><\/p>\n Murray-Bruce was applauded when he preceded his speech by singing the late Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti\u2019s song about lack of water, housing, electricity, roads and inadequate food.<\/span><\/p>\n The showbiz promoter said it is regrettable that the Nigerian populace do not trust those in government because government officials do not practise what they preach. \u201cWe have been subsidising the rich while we do nothing to subsidise the poor,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n He asked government to give hope to the people, adding that \u201cthey should give us good roads, education, housing, water, efficient transport system. Then, we can sit down to discuss removal of fuel subsidy\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n Oshiomhole urged President Jonathan to wield the big stick and prosecute those who contributed to the failure of the refineries.<\/span><\/p>\n He said the President needs to build trust in the people of his commitment to reforms, stressing that \u201cwhen a government begins to dwindle, it lacks the trust of the people\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n To him, leadership is the ability to manage the carrot and the stick, hence President Jonathan should urgently arraign those responsible for mismanaging the nation\u2019s refineries.<\/span><\/p>\n Oshiomhole urged Nigerians to give the President the benefit of the doubt.<\/span><\/p>\n The Governor, who threw his weight behind the fuel subsidy removal, hoped that the proceeds will be utilised to impact positively on the masses.<\/span><\/p>\n He said: \u201cNigerians have to accept and at least commend this government, that for the first time in five years, fuel price has not been increased. It is on record that the last President that increased the prices of petroleum products was the President before Yar\u2019Adua. \u00a0Besides the price of petrol, which other price has remained as it was five years ago? So, we can\u2019t argue that every other thing increases, except the price of petrol.<\/span><\/p>\n