Labouring in Buhari’s vineyard

Last week’s announcement of the “removal” of fuel subsidy and the “deregulation” of the petroleum sector by the government has opened the eyes of many to so many things.
It is now obvious that Nigeria is broke and in serious financial quagmire. That is why the government is looking for money and believes taxes could be the only way to finance the more than N6 trillion budget recently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The current problem is not really about subsidy removal. It is about Nigeria is broke. Pure and simple,” Information and Culture Minister, Lai Mohammed, said last Wednesday in Abuja after a meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
“Nigeria is like somebody who has been earning N100,000 a month and is faced with a situation where his employer says henceforth you will be earning N10,000 a month.
“He would need to make some very painful decisions and some very painful adjustments. That is the situation with Nigeria today .…
“We appreciate … the decision is going to affect everybody. We appreciate what we are going through, but Nigerians should also know that the government has the responsibility at times to take very difficult decisions.
“So it is not always about popularity.”
We are now witnessing a bungled industrial action by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), which leadership has been polarized since last year, with a faction loyal to Ayuba Waba and another to Joe Ajaero.
I use the words removal and deregulation with inverted comas because over the years those in position to know have argued that the government’s claim that it was subsidising fuel was a blatant and mischievous lie.
Former Petroleum Minister, Tam David-West, challenged those claiming there was fuel subsidy to come forth for a debate.
Shoddy best describes our brand of deregulation because the government still fixes prices for operators in the petroleum sector instead of allowing the forces of demand and supply that govern the market all over the world to apply.
While announcing the new fuel price, Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, after rambling with the word modulation, said consumers will pay N145 per litre at any filling station apart from those owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Petrol will sell for N143 per litre at NNPC stations nationwide.
After putting a price tag on the product, Kachikwu spoke about removal of subsidy and the need for dealers to operate in line with the forces of demand and supply.
Nigerians have since questioned the rationale behind the deregulation where the minister solely fixed the price without recourse to the board of the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) which has the statutorily responsibility. The board is yet to be constituted.
A few things struck me when Kachikwu made his price modulation statement that dwelt on two key issues: subsidy and deregulation.
One. We are again out on the street for the usual stabbing of the air with our hands while shouting alluta continua over fuel price hike and which will not assuage our suffering or help better the lot of the masses.
Two. The opportunity had provided itself for the government led by the All Progressive Congress (APC) to sustain its excuses on why it has not made any good economic scratch since it came to power a year ago.
Three. Nigerian workers will continually be robbed by their so-called leaders because the strategy of former and succeeding leaders is the template of lies, lies, and more lies to justify their failure to deliver on electoral promises.
In years past, Labour leaders fought as a team against fuel price hike regardless of whether their struggle would yield desired result.
But signs that the NLC leadership had been infiltrated started showing last year.
And by the time the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, held a meeting with the two factions last week it was obvious that workers, whom NLC leaders claim to lead, are on their own. They can as well be said to be labouring alone.
Yes, the government has removed the fuel subsidy which even Nigerians doubt benefitted them. It has also proposed full deregulation.
The lot of workers today is hardship on all fronts. No food. No light. No water. No money. Movement from one point to another is problematic. No hospitals. No good schools. No roads. Life, for the average worker, is brutish.
A united Labour would have demanded to know from the government why it should fix prices if convinced that deregulation had been rightly instituted.
A united Labour would have persuaded the government to think of subsidy in other sectors of the economy or lifestyle like in education, agriculture, or even industries, rather than in the petroleum sector where the rich were subsidised for years.
That NLC factions led by Waba and Ajaero danced naked and pursued selfish interests in meetings with the government instead of putting aside their differences to seek a common cause in the interest of workers speaks volumes of the calibre of people who masquerade as our leaders in every sphere of national life.
Did Plato not say that “the price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men”?
The weak, vulnerable, devastated, poor Nigerian workers serving the lord of the manors called their leaders have come face to face with evil men as their leaders.
More regrettable is that even within workers’ ranks are more evil men than there are in government establishments.
With or without Waba or Ajaero, let workers see the struggle as that of their life. They should think of Lenin’s saying that “despair is typical of those who do not understand the causes of evil, see no way out, and are incapable of struggle.”
Nigerian workers are not against government policies that would better their lot. Not even subsidy and deregulation. They appreciate the country is broke, as Mohammed said – not due to their fault but because of the propensity of leaders to steal everything trusted in their care, even the ones that bother on our future.
The difficult pill workers cannot swallow, and should not be encouraged to swallow, is to fold their hands and watch this same government and its leaders tread a lifestyle that differs from what they expect ordinary Nigerians to lead.
There is nothing to suggest that key members of this government have not jumped into the same boat that those in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) they are blaming for all the woes in this country jumped into.
For instance, Mohammed said recently that he does not owe Nigerians explanation for the N13 million he was said to have borrowed to go on a trip to China with other officials.
What can be so nauseating a comment from someone who calls himself a public servant supported with the tax of the masses?
It reminds one of the position taken by former Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, when asked to explain the huge amount his administration spent on building a website.
It also brings to mind the recent report that Buhari’s daughter travels first class by air when he is advising Nigerians to rethink their taste because of the economic woes.
I do not anticipate Uhuru for workers. Not now, not in the nearest future. Not even when the ranks of their umbrella union are messed.