More than one week after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, during his inauguration, pronounced the removal of fuel subsidy, Nigerians are still waiting patiently for the federal government to reconsider its stand or mitigate its attendant effect on the people at least, since it does not seem like the government of President Tinubu will bend in its resolve to completely do away with subsidy on petrol.
Following the development, different groups including the organised labour, have continued to cry out as the implication of the move dawns on the citizens. With a nearly 200 per cent increase in fuel price as announced by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, transportation fares have skyrocketed accordingly.
Since the bulk of commuters are civil servants, it is understandable that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had insisted on a reversal of fuel price to status quo, while the Trade Union Congress (TUC) is requesting for increased pay. According to them, it is impracticable for Nigerian workers to cope with the current realities, without a review of their earnings.
Whereas some stakeholders are calling for palliatives and other measures to be put in place, to cushion the effect on the masses, a public affairs analyst, Mr. Uche Mike have called on state governments to rise up to their responsibility of making life better for their citizens.
He said, “State governments should not always fold their hands to wait or watch the federal government do everything or implement whatever policy it deems necessary. That’s moronic. With the kind of political system we operate in Nigeria, every decision made at the centre impacts the citizens directly and bounces back on the state, or vice versa.
“Remember that it is the duty of every state government to protect the interests of its own citizens. For instance, during the cash swap saga, some state governments challenged the federal government’s decision in court, and they later won. That’s what federalism is all about. It is not for state governments to be rubber stamp to the federal government.”
Commending the move by some state governments in reducing the number of workdays for civil servants in their states, from 5 to 3 per week, Mr. Mike called on other governors to emulate Governors Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara and Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, in order to ameliorate the plight of civil servants in their states.
“Other states should also consider reviewing the workdays for their civil servants as well. Again, I commend Governor Obaseki for his resolve to pay Edo workers ₦40,000 minimum wage. Let’s not forget that some states are yet to implement the ₦30,000 minimum wage. Imagine what will be the fate of workers in such states if they continue going to work everyday, with what the price of fuel is today.
The analyst also suggested other ways through which state governments can tackle the situation. “Other things that state governments can do on their own, to cushion the effect of this fuel subsidy removal on their citizens are: provision of alternative transportation means at non-commercial rate, salary increment and payment of incentives and palliatives.”
Now that the organised labour has suspended its planned strike action to continue negotiations with the federal government, for how long will Nigerian workers continue to grapple with this mismatched reality of same income, higher expenditure, in the course of discharging their duties? Let the state governments do their parts.
