The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, has expressed sadness over Nigeria’s continued importation of petroleum products, urging the government to make petrol available for Nigerians.
In a statement, the body said “The TUC rejects the clamour by some politicians and political office holders to continue the importation of petroleum products at prohibitive costs while simultaneously, campaigning and making moves to stop fuel subsidy. “Politicians who love Nigerians would first return the country to local refining thereby creating mass jobs and making the products cheap, accessible, and available before contemplating the removal of fuel subsidy”.
On privatization, the umbrella body for senior workers in the country said “Irrespective of the nomenclature given or the deceptive garb of efficiency, our experience as a people, shows that privatization is the mere transfer of public wealth into private hands. The example of the electricity sector clearly indicates also that the private sector can be even less efficient than the public sector. Therefore, we not only demand the review of the entire privatization exercise and transparent accountability of its proceeds but also call for the reversal of privatized entities. For instance, in the electricity sector where the new ‘owners’ have failed abysmally or merely engaged in asset-stripping. We believe that anybody or group pushing for further privatization of our national assets does not mean well for Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, the labour body, in a review of 2022, stated: “The year 2022 was quite challenging in virtually all fronts including security, politics, economy, health and social life, but there is hope for a glorious 2023 if we are ready to birth the necessary change and hold our leaders accountable as Nigeria we earnestly desire can only be achieved through collective struggle”.
