Govs, ministers, others crave support for subsidy removal

Posted by admin Latest Politics, Oil Politics Sunday, January 8th, 2012

FROM some eminent Nigerians, including governors, ministers and leaders of civil society groups has come an appeal that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) shelve its nationwide strike planned to begin today over removal of petrol subsidy, urging Nigerians to support efforts at repositioning the country.

Those who craved support for the Federal Government’s deregulation in the oil industry that led to subsidy removal include Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Amaechi; Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole; his Imo State counterpart, Rochas Okorocha; Women Affairs Minister, Hajia Maina; Minister of Water Resources, Sarah Ochekpe; Minister of State for Health, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate and the President of the National Council for Women Society (NCWS), Mrs. Nkechi Mbah.

Governor Amaechi who spoke yesterday during an interdenominational church service at St. Barnabas Anglican Church, Port Harcourt, to mark this year’s Armed Forces Remembrance Day, appealed to all Nigerians to support the removal of petrol subsidy, saying “we need to support President Goodluck Jonathan on the issue of fuel subsidy withdrawal. Believe me, things will change and things have got to change.”

At the 15th edition of the yearly Auchi Day celebration in Etsako West Local Council of Edo State at the weekend, Oshiomhole appealed to Nigerians to support President Goodluck Jonathan in his efforts, including the reform in the oil sector, to reposition Nigeria.

The governor, who noted that Nigerians have lost confidence in the political class, which could be responsible for the opposition to removal of subsidy on petrol, said:

“Those who want to protest and go on strike should ensure it is not against individuals and private properties because they are not the initiators of the policy, it must not be against fellow victims.”

Governor Okorocha who offered to assist the Federal Government offer unannounced palliative measures, said he had weighed the withdrawal of subsidy and found out that Nigerians needed to make more sacrifice for the betterment of the “future children of this country.”

Also, Nigerian women at the weekend threw their weight behind the subsidy removal, saying it is in the best interest of the country.

At a town hall meeting organised by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, the women urged the NLC and other bodies to call off the mass protest billed to start today.

Earlier, the Minister of Women Affairs, Maina, had appealed to the women to support government’s deregulation policy, adding that the decision to remove the subsidy was to enable government put in place critical infrastructure across the country and create jobs for the teeming youths.

The minister, who said the town hall meeting was called to clarify the ‘conflicting information’ about the subsidy removal likened, the petrol subsidy to breast cancer, which cannot be allowed to remain in the body but must be removed.
She noted that Nigeria is into a lot of debts as a result of the huge amount the government is paying to subsidise the price of petrol. “If we don’t remove the subsidy now, in the next five years, we won’t be able to sustain this country again. Only about 200 out of the 167 million Nigerians are benefiting from the subsidy so what’s the essence of retaining it if all of us cannot benefit from it,” she queried.

The President of the NCWS, Mbah said the association would carry out more enlightenment campaign in all the local councils in the country to ensure that women are well informed on the gains of the subsidy removal even though they will pay a little higher price for now.

President of Market Women Association, Mrs. Felicia Sani, observed that the entire economy suffers whenever there is a crisis, hence her group’s resolve not to partake in the proposed strike.

Minister of State for Health, Pate, and Executive Director National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Ado Mohammed, said the health sector would aggressively pursue reduction in maternal and child deaths as part of efforts to cushion the effects of the petrol subsidy removal.

Pate who said pregnancy is not a disease, yet many pregnant women die needlessly in the process of giving birth, explained that “the Federal Government’s subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SUREP) will invest in scaling up frontline health workers presence in rural areas through midwives, community health workers and village health workers. Rural primary health facilities will receive improved equipment and essential drugs for reducing maternal and child deaths, such as misoprostol.

Minister of Water Resources, Ochekpe, urged NLC to exercise some restraint in its proposed strike. Ochekpe stressed the need to forestall a situation where the strike could be hijacked by enemies of Nigeria and unscrupulous elements to unleash terror on the citizens. Ochekpe spoke as the Deputy National President of the National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Mines (NACCIMA), Mr. Bassey Edem, faulted the NLC, Trade Union Congress (TUC) and their allies over the planned strike.

Edem, who spoke with newsmen in Calabar at the weekend, however, berated the government for the abrupt removal of petrol subsidy, saying it should have brought in palliative measures first to cushion the effect on Nigerians before the actual removal.

A group, Grassroots Initiative of Peace and Social Orientation, faulted the NLC’s decision to embark on strike today. The Executive Director, Mr. Akinaka Richard, told newsmen in Calabar, the Cross River State capital on Saturday that such action would only have been necessary if the Federal Government had failed to do what it promised to do with money saved from the removal of the subsidy.

Former Commissioner of Police, Federal Capital Territory, Mr. Lawrence Alobi, cautioned Labour over the planned mass protest across the country today. Alobi, who spoke during an aborted meeting between NLC and some concerned Nigerians led by the National Orientation Agency, yesterday in Abuja, warned that organising a mass protest might heighten the security situation in the country.

Speaking from experience, he warned that hoodlums might exploit the opportunity to loot while the Boko Haram group may also carry out their attacks under the guise of mass protest.

-Guardianwp_posts