Should the NLC embark on another strike to protest the fuel price hike?
Dialogue, Not Strike
11.11.2004
The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has fixed a nation-wide strike for November 16. Labour has hinted that the strike may be indefinite and comprehensive, involving all sectors of the economy. The NLC is protesting the last fuel price hike, (the most recent in a series of hikes in prices of refined petroleum products that have taken petrol price beyond the N53 per litre mark). Labour also objects to government�s rebuff of its demand that prices of the products be reverted to the pre-hike level of N43 per litre. The federal government�s reaction has been to dig deeper into the trenches. It refuses to dialogue with labour and is unwilling to make concessions. It is obvious that the country is headed for another government and labour showdown in a long-drawn strike. The repetitive cycle of price hikes and the instinctive reaction by labour to call a strike is ruinous to the socio-economic well-being of the nation. It must be noted that another strike, particularly one that bodes a shut-down of crude oil production, the jugular of the national economy, will have a debilitating impact on the nation. But the strike and its ugly consequences can and should be averted. To do this, the federal government and labour must shed their hardened positions and return to the round-table to dialogue and find a middle road out of the logjam. Government's unyielding position is informed by the reasoning that hikes in prices of refined petroleum products are inevitable given the ongoing deregulation of the downstream oil sector and the sharp increases in international oil prices. Government�s view is that without price hikes, fuel marketing companies will lose profit margins that drive the business of fuel importation. The consequence of this is fuel scarcity and economic disruption. This appears an impregnable argument. Except that it is doubtful that a market that is awash with crude oil but which is wholly dependent on government-led refined oil importation can be truly described as deregulated. Another issue is why the 70 percent of Nigerians living below the poverty line with scant social safety nets should be subjected to the impoverishing impact of international oil price volatility and the resulting price hikes. These are critical issues that deserve serious attention. Unfortunately government is always reluctant to listen to contrary viewpoints. For example it has taken the federal government over four years to concede that the poor need to be cushioned from the harrowing impact of its economic reform. Even then the palliatives of providing loans for transporters to buy buses appear like mere patronage for political stalwarts. Giving N100 million to each state of the federation to buy buses is wasteful and will not work. The nation�s history is replete with government loans for buses gone down the drain due to inefficiency and corruption. It is also not clear if it is constitutional for the federal government to provide the states with the loans and deduct same from their federation account allocation. It looks suspiciously like the federal government dictating to the states what to do with their share of the national revenue. The government is not making matters any better by rejecting the recommendation of a slight reduction in petroleum products prices by the committee it set up to cushion the effect of its economic reform. Nothing demonstrates government�s approach to policy issues that negatively affect the well-being of the greater majority of Nigerians better than this high level of obduracy. The view of government that it knows best for Nigerians is pretentious posturing and a cause of disaffection in the polity. The people must be part of governance and cannot be force-fed with narrow conclave decisions. To avoid the looming strike, the federal government must get into dialogue with labour. We also call on labour to be more amenable and reach agreements that will save the nation from the agony of another strike. Both sides should use the postponement of the strike due to the Ramadan period to dialogue and find solutions to the benefit of Nigerians.
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