Counting the cost of a Greek gifthttp://news2.onlinenigeria.com/news/general/132041-counting-the-cost-of-a-greek-gift.html

By Staff06/01/2012 13:38:00
By Charles Kumolu

ISAIAH Danmaliki (not real name) works with one of the Federal Government parastatals in Lagos State. But for the recent increment of the national minimum wage he lived on a monthly salary of N18,000 before now.

Following the 2010 salary increase his whole activities in Lagos were now benchmarked on his new wage, which is now about N23,000 higher. Instructively, his monthly take home after tax is about N42,000. On a daily basis, the level three civil servant, whose office is located on Lagos Island, spends N600 and N400 on transportion and feeding respectively. Baring other unforseen expenses, the father of three, spends about N30,000 monthly on transportation and feeding at work.

This amount, however, did not include the money expended to run his family of four and his younger brother, who lives with him in his Abule Egba home. For Danmaliki, residing  in this outskirt where a room apartment goes for N3,000 monthly was borne out of the harsh reality, that houses within the city are  beyond his ability to pay. But the decision is also a challenge to him, as living far away from work implies that he usually pays more to work from his meagre income.

This combination of high cost of living and poor remuneration, has left the Kaduna State born civil servant without life savings, given that his take home can hardly be described as subsisting. With the recent removal of fuel subsidy and its multiplier effects, the forty three year old Secondary  School Certificate holder is contemplating quitting his job and moving back to his village.


*Labour coalition against the removal of fuel subidy by the government

He told Vanguard at a newspaper stand in Satellite Town, Lagos: “How can I cope with this, I am happy that you are a news man and you know the implications of what we are going through currently. I am just an ordinary level three civil servant, I have given you the breakdown of how I survive on what  the Federal Government pays me, if the general price hike does not go down, I will move my family back to the village.”

Nura’s story speaks volume about the fate of the average Nigerian, following the over hundred percent rise in cost of living as a result of the removal of subsidy on petroleum products. From the creeks of the Niger Delta to the savannah  regions of the North, prices of petroleum products and good and services have hit the rooftop. In fact since this announcement through a statement  by  the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, socio-economic activities  have witnessed high level of inflation.

Short term inflation

Although, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Governor, Lamido Sanusi had in December last year, said that the planned removal of fuel subsidy would not trigger high inflation rate in the country, events of the last six days have proved the apex bank governor  wrong. “If inflation remains at about 10.5 per cent and if subsidy is removed, we expect it to be at about 12.5 per cent, which is just an addition of two per cent,” Sanusi said at the third Bankers’ Committee retreat in Calabar.

He said the apex bank was aware of consequent inflation as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy, “but most of what is said is exaggerated,”adding that “inflation impact will be present in the short term, but over the long term the benefits of the removal will outweigh it.”

Whether the rate will be temporary or not, does not matter to Nigerians, who have been going through untold hardship accentuated by poor leadership and alleged  institutionalisation of corruption as government policy before the  January 1, 2011 removal of subsidy, Vanguard gathered.

Already, the  worst hit is the transport sector, where commuters and transporters are  experiencing hard times.

Most affected in this regard are commuters, especially those, who travelled for the Christmas break. As at the time of this report, millions of people who departed their cities of residence for their various villages to celebrate the Yuletide season, are stranded.

Activities yet to pick up in Lagos: This have led to availability of few people in most cities across the country. A drive round Lagos metropolis revealed that people are yet to come back from their festive trips. even those who had managed to come back rarely come out because of exorbitant fares.

The situation is unlike in the past when normal activities pick up in Nigeria’s economic hub from January 3 of every year. Similarly, reports from Abuja indicated that most civil servants and workers in federal ministries, departments and agencies are yet to resume at their duty posts. Most of them are reportedly stranded in their hometowns after the yuletide festivities owing to the prevailing hike in fares.

It has made nonsense of minimum wage: In like manner, further investigations indicated that prices of foodstuff have equally skyrocketted. A  bag  of  rice  now  goes for  N10,500 against the previous N7,000  and  N7, 500.

Other items like tomatoes have gone up with a big basket selling for N19,500 and N18,000 as against the former price of between N8,500 and N9,000. Prices of fruits like oranges, pineapples and banana have risen with a bag of oranges now selling for between N7,000 and N7,500 from the  previous N4,000 and N5,000.

A big bunch of banana now goes for N1,5000 and N2,0000 from the previous N700 and N1,000 while the price of water melon has increased from N400 to N600. Prices of frozen fish, and vegetable oil have also increased. The cost of frozen fish has increased with a medium sized fish selling between N300 and N450 as against N150 and N200, previously.

Regretting  this development, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Emeka Ngige said: “The destiny of Nigerians is on their hands. From what is happening, you don’t need a soothsayer to tell you that people might protest in the days ahead.

The situation is so bad that it is affecting everyone. As I am speaking to you, I experienced the ugly side of this subsidy removal today. When I got to the village, I wanted to buy tyre for my car before Christmas and was told that it was N18,000, I didn’t buy it then because I wanted to buy it after Christmas when I would be leaving the village, but surprisingly, when I went to buy it today, we discovered that the price is now N25,000.

So, you can see how bad it is. If they are claiming that subsidy removal would not bite hard because of the new minimum wage, that does not make sense. This policy has even made nonsense of the minimum wage.”

Imposition of death penalty

The position of  Ngige was also substantiated by Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, in Nigeria. Festus Okoye, Executive Director of Human Rights Monitor, noted the removal of  the subsidy on petroleum products, was described as insensitive, callous and a declaration of war of starvation on the Nigerian people.

Okoye said: “The decision has left thousands of Nigerians who travelled home for the Christmas and New Year holidays stranded in their hometowns and villages in different parts of the country. This is because most of them cannot afford the increase in rates being charged by motorists.

It has also left the Nigerian people despondent, afraid and nervous at what the future holds for them given the irresponsibility of the political elite and their penchant for aggravated mismanagement of the Nigerian economy.

“The decision of the President to remove the subsidy on Petroleum products can lead to generalized lawlessness and endanger democracy and a democratic Nigeria.

Government has been and continues to be insensitive to the plight of the ordinary people of Nigeria by asking citizens who have been groaning under increased and increasing hardship to make additional and back breaking sacrifices while government officials wallow in obscene opulence and are not called upon to make similar sacrifices in the form of reduction in their salaries, allowance and other perquisites of office.”

While stating the position of the CSOs on the issue, Okoye maintained that, “civil society groups and the Nigerian people will hold the President, his kitchen cabinet and the cabal around him personally responsible and accountable for the current deaths and destruction of properties across the country.

Civil society groups and organisations will join forces with all democratic forces to make sure that the imposition of the death penalty on the Nigerian people through the withdrawal of subsidy on petroleum products does not stand. We call on organised labour to take the lead and organise the Nigerian people to massively resist the current imposition of hardship and death on the Nigerian people.”

Reports across the states

Meanwhile, reports across the states, have shown that the multiplier effect of this policy, is bitting harder by the day. From Gambarou Ngala border town in Bornu State to Nembe creeks in Bayelsa State, the story is the same. Suffering  is the word.

Lagos: In Lagos, fares to most parts of the state were increased by over 100 per cent. Fare from Oshodi to Mile 2 was increased from N100 to N200 and N250. Same also is Oshodi to Ojota, which jerked from N100 to N200. Transportation between Ikeja and Yaba now costs N250 instead of the previous N120; Obalende to Oshodi which used to be N70 is now N200.

Ojodu to CMS is now N400 from N150. Commuters travelling to Abuja from Lagos now pay between N9,000 and N8,000. At the Mazamaza Bus terminal,  fare to Port Harcourt is now N7,000 from the previous price of N2,500. Many Lagosians are reportedly staying indoors due to the increasing transportation costs.

Ebonyi: Reports from Abakaliki and its environs revealed that most filling stations in Ebonyi State witnessed long queues, as they sold the product to motorists between N150 and N200. per litre. There were long queues in filling stations that sold the product at N150, while those that sold at N200 per litre recorded low patronage.

The situation had led to increase in transportation fares in the state, and made some travelers to be stranded. A journey from Abakaliki to Enugu, which cost N300, now cost N1, 000, while Abakaliki to Afikpo, which was formerly N250, now cost N900.

Bauchi: It was gathered that from Bauchi to Abuja now costs N2,500 from N1,300, while Bauchi to Jos is now between N800 to N1000 from the previous price of N500. Intra city transport, especially in Bauchi metropolis which is mainly by taxi, buses and Achaba (commercial motorcycles), the fares has increased to over 100 per cent.

Kano: In Kano, fares rose as okada riders  now charge a minimum of  N100 instead of N50, while transport from Bata to Gidan Murtala in a taxi now is N200 and Gwarzo to Kano is now N400 instead of the previous N200. Kano to Kaduna is now N2,000, Abuja is now 4,000.

Anambra: Apart from the NNPC mega stations that sold at N141 per litre, other independent marketers, including OANDO, Mobil, Texaco and Conoil sold at N145 and N150 per litre in Awka, Onitsha, Nnewi, Ihiala, Ekwulobia, Aguleri and other towns.

In all the major towns in Anambra State, fares have increased by 100 percent. Taxi drop from Awka to Enugu which used to cost N600 is now N1000, while Keke NAPEP has increased from N30 to N60 per drop within the town.

Plateau: In Plateau state, commuters travelling to Lagos from Jos now pay between N7,000 and N8,000 depending on the type of car they want to board. Jos to Kano is now between N1,500 and N2,000, up from N1,000. Jos to Yola is also now N3,000 from the previous fare of N2,200.

Also, Jos to Abuja now costs N1,500 from N1,000 and Jos to Bauchi is now N1,000 from the previous price of N500. For intra city transport, the widely used Okada now take a minimum of N50. The previous minimum was N30. Taxis plying the Jos to Bukuru axis now charge between N100 and N120 while the buses charge between N80 and N100.

Abuja: In the Federal Capital Territory, fare from Suleja to Abuja which hitherto ranged between N150 to N200, is now  between N300 and N350; Suleja to Zuba is now N150 from N50; Area one to Jabi is now N100 from N50; Apo bridge to Kabusa is now N200 from N100 and Berger to Jabi is now N100 from N50.

A bus ride from Area 1 in Garki to Berger, Arab and Jabi which used to cost N40 naira now costs N100 naira. A taxi drop from the Federal secretariat to Wuse which before now cost N200, now costs N400 or more, depending on the time of the day. Fares from Zuba to Lokoja, Okene and Edo now stands at N1,500, N1,700 and N3,000 respectively. These prices represent a double of the former fares.

At  Jabi Park in Abuja, cost of transport from Abuja to Kano is now N2, 500 as compared to N1,500. Abuja to Bauchi now costs N2,000 as against N1,150. A trip from Abuja to Lagos now cost N6, 500 as against N4, 400. At the Peace Mass Transit Park, a trip from Abuja to Aba which cost N1, 800 during the festivities now goes for N2,800. Abuja to Enugu is now N3,500 as against N2,500. The subsidy has reportedly reduced  the tempo of economic activities in the state.

Zamfara: The situation is not different Gusau. Gusau to Abuja which was previously N2,500 is now N3,000; Gusau to Kano is up to N1,500 from N1,000; Gusau to Kaduna is now N1,500 from N900 and Gusau to Jos is now N2,500 from N2,000. Passengers to Lagos from Gusau now have to pay N5,500 instead of N4,000 and N4,500 to Ibadan from the previous price of N3,500.

Bayelsa: In Bayelsa, taxi drivers now charge N600 against the former price of N400 between Yenagoa and Ogbia. Yenagoa to Sagbama which was N350 is now between N500 and N600 while Yenagoa to Port Harcourt is now N1,500 against the former price of between N800 and N1,000. Yenagoa to Lagos is now N3,500 from N2,200.

Fuel stations were not helping matters as some of them sell between N150 and N180 per litre. For commuters using riverine transportation, boat drivers now charge N2,000 and N2,500 from Yenagoa to Brass and Akassa against the old fare of N1,500 and N1,800. The southern Ijaw axis now goes for as much as between N3,000 and N3,500 against the former prices of N2,000 and N2,500.

Niger: The cost of travelling from Minna in Niger State to Kano is now N2,000 from N1,200. Minna to Abuja is now N1,500 from N1,000; Minna to Kaduna is now N2,000 from N1,200 and Minna to Lokoja is now N2,200 from N1,500. Minna to Jos is now N2,500 from N1,700 and Minna to Makurdi is now N2,500 from N1,500.

Kaduna: Bus fares have been increased from N50 to N100 in Kaduna. Taxi fare from Kaduna to Abuja is now N1500 as against N1000, Kaduna/Kano route N1200 as against N800 before the removal of the subsidy. Also, Kaduna to Sokoto now costs N3200 as against N2000 while Kaduna to Jos now goes for N2000 from N1,300.

Comments are moderated. Please keep them clean and brief.

Chuksxp:

I need help, please. Does anyone know where I can get transport motors in Lagos that travel to Niger state or Minna.

Short term inflation

Although, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Governor, Lamido Sanusi had in December last year, said that the planned removal of fuel subsidy would not trigger high inflation rate in the country, events of the last six days have proved the apex bank governor wrong. “If inflation remains at about 10.5 per cent and if subsidy is removed, we expect it to be at about 12.5 per cent, which is just an addition of two per cent,” Sanusi said at the third Bankers’ Committee retreat in Calabar.

He said the apex bank was aware of consequent inflation as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy, “but most of what is said is exaggerated,”adding that “inflation impact will be present in the short term, but over the long term the benefits of the removal will outweigh it.”

@ Topic, Marginally OK

Taxi, Buses and Bike added #10 to the Original Price,

Taxi, from 40-50
Bus from 20 to 30

Occupy Nigeria http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kwei-quartey/occupy-nigeria_b_1219798.html

Posted: 01/23/2012 6:51 pm

On January 1, 2012, Nigeria's fuel regulator announced that the government was immediately discontinuing its fuel subsidy to help cut government spending, causing an overnight spike in fuel prices from $1.70 to $3.50 per gallon. Such a hike would be outrageous even for Americans. But for a drastically poorer country like Nigeria -- where 70 percent of the population of 160 million lives below the poverty line -- it was insufferable. Cheap fuel is one of the few benefits Nigerians enjoy as citizens of Africa's largest (and the world's 10th-largest) oil producer.

Nigerians responded swiftly to the announcement. Demonstrations, protests and violent clashes broke out, followed by a nationwide strike inaugurated on January 8. The strikes were set to go into a second week when they were called off after the president announced an immediate 30-percent drop in gas prices.

Nigerians took their cue from the Arab spring and Occupy Wall Street, establishing Occupy Nigeria in protest against the gas price jump. "Nigerians have been very quiet for so long," commented Yemi Adamolekun, executive director of the "Enough is Enough" coalition, expressing the same sentiment behind much of the worldwide protests of 2011: people are sick and tired and are not going to take it any more.

There are other antigovernment movements in Nigeria -- the radical Islamist Boko Haram and various armed resistance groups in the embattled Niger Delta, for example -- but the protests against fuel prices are a separate phenomenon. As in the Arab spring, social media played a role in allowing Nigerians to convey information and express their feelings. And while there has been some head scratching over exactly what Occupy Wall Street wants, Occupy Nigeria expressed clear grievances from the very start, including the demand that the government tackle corruption.

At the time of the 2011 Arab uprisings, I suggested to a fellow Ghanaian that perhaps the same phenomenon could take place in Ghana when people finally get fed up with how the nation's new oil industry is creating a Ghanaian 1 percent. I was surprised by his reply that a "Ghanaian spring" was well nigh impossible because Ghanaians don't know any better. But I disagree. I believe that Nigeria's demonstrations today could be a Ghanaian uprising tomorrow. West Africans -- Nigerians, Ghanaians or otherwise -- can engage in expression of widespread discontent. They, too, can force the hand of government. President Jonathan didn't restore gas prices to pre-2012 levels, but he did climb down from $3.50 a gallon to $2.27 -- despite the the New York Times' assessment that "any retreat now on the subsidy could be interpreted as a sign of weakness, which would be harmful for a leader dealing with internal unrest on many fronts."

Nigeria is no newcomer to protest. Additionally, it has a strong history of protest movements led by women. The Igbo Women's War of November 1929 began when thousands of Igbo women vociferously protested a crippling tax on market women by the ruling British colonials, who had set up an undemocratic system of appointing "warrant chiefs" to rule locally. Traditionally the Igbo people had elected their chiefs.

The dynamic Madam Alimotu Pelewura led anti-tax revolts in the late 1930s and 1940s. During World War II, when the colonial government sought to control the pricing and selling of food, Pelewura led women against what became known as the Pullen Price Control Scheme after A. P. Pullen, the government official who proposed it. Nigerian women led many other movements as well, including the Oil Mill Protests of the 1940s and the Tax Revolt in Aba and Onitsha in 1956. Although instigated by harsh economic conditions, these revolts were ultimately uprisings against the impositions of colonial, imperialist rule.

The film Sweet Crude, directed by Sandi Cioffi, tells of a more recent women-led protest against Chevron Oil in 2002, when massive, peaceful sit-ins staged by women prevented oil workers from leaving their worksite.

Nigeria may be geographically far from the United States, but we live in an interconnected world. Because Nigeria is a major U.S. oil supplier, political unrest in Africa's most populous nation could result in price increases at American gas pumps, which would be at best an annoyance and at worst a hardship. There's another way to look at it, however: Maybe a few cents rise in the cost of gas is a small price for Americans to pay for economic and social justice in Nigeria.

Beaf:

@OP

Crap.

Transport fares have gone up, but it is bearable and increases are marginal compared to the predictions of the failed politicians that sponsored people to die needlessly.

Are Nigerians in Nigeria up in arms? Why should it be those living abroad spreading bad blood, hatred and bitterness? Some gullible people were taken in and some have died as a result. Life is not cheap, it is a very precious thing, so please stop the hate mongering.

koruji:

U are the crap - and u know it too.

Beaf:

I guess thats the best that can come from an unrefined, hate-filled person. You're only ruining your health.

From your abode in some far off land, you claimed to have predicted that transport fares would double. Not stopping there, you went on to claim that your prediction was correct!
It would take some doing for a man that lives abroad to know what the man on the ground is feeling. No?

Well, Nigerians in Nigeria are telling you that your doomsday prediction never came to pass and that Nigerians have absorbed the cost. So why are you still frothing and why are you still wildly red-eyed, don't you think enough people have died yet?

You really need to take a deep breath, calm down and get rational, before you lose it completely.

sheyguy:

Oga koruji, i av gone through your harsh but true post about the effect of subsidy. I tried to warn us b4 the subsidy removal (which has not been fully implemented).
A slight increase in wage and cannot cushion the effect of up to 100% in standard of living.
Concerning transportation, i will suggest use of witch craft powers in flying from point A to B, especially for those who already av it.

efisher:

I drive my own cars so my calculation is based on cost of fueling and maintenance.
Average daily cost of transport is N1,000 and monthly is N30,000. I guess I'm not an average Nigerian.

Fuel subsidy: Public sector workers demand new wage http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2012/jan/31/national-31-01-2012-004.html
By BIMBOLA OYESOLA
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Workers in the public sector have called on the state governors to review their take home pay to reflect the current state of the cost of living foistered on them by the recent increase in the cost of petrol. In a letter entitled: Increasing cost of living and public sector workers’ remuneration, signed by Marcus Omokhuale, national secretary, Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council and addressed to all the state governors, the workers called for urgent opening of a window of negotiations towards establishing a new wage regime for workers that would be in consonance with the current state of their cost of living as a motivator to a higher productivity.

“This is especially in states where the new minimum wage and other salary structures were whittled down, during the negotiation, because of the hitherto lean purse of the various states,” the workers said.

The Joint Council noted that with the income of states now taking a new shape as a result of the increase of PMS pump price from N65 to N97, the governors were implored to fully adopt the new minimum wage in full to shore up workers take home-pay to enable them meet up with some of their immediate responsibilities and reduce the obvious restiveness, as a result of frustration in the system.

The national secretary drew the attention of the governors to the astronomical rise in the cost of living consequent upon the recent hike in fuel pump price and the dire impact on the public servants, whose wages and purchasing power had been drastically undermined.
According to him: “It is a statement of fact that the growth of an economy depends on reasonable purchasing power for effective demand to be actualized in the market. Equally, workers productivity is motivated by their wages.
“Your Excellency is no doubt aware that the remuneration of workers has lagged far behind the inflation rate and this is being worsened by the steep increase in fuel pump prices.”

The Joint Council scribe stated that as Nigerians, the current situation calls for necessary action to raise remuneration as state policies should be seen to impact on the living standards of the creators of the nation’s wealth.
“We are all aware that energy is central to both production and consumption in a modern economy. This is, particularly so, for the movement of prices in a country such as Nigeria, where the level of infrastructural development is abysmal.
“Workers require petrol to power generators, at home as more often than not there is no electricity supply from Power Holding Company of Nigeria
(PHCN).”

The Joint Council believed that it was not an unrealistic demand as governments across the federation, would benefit from the revenue accruing to the Nigerian state from the partial removal of fuel subsidy.
In the same vein, the workers had also condemned the excessive tax (PAYE) being deducted on monthly basis from workers salary.

The PAYE, the council noted, tends to paint a picture of a case of giving with one hand and taking away with another hand.
“For this case, not to look so, there is therefore the dire need for your government to take a serious look into it, with a view to reviewing the existing computation on the basis of which the PAYE is being made,” the council said.

lari03:
@ jp philips
Appreciate the write ups, particularly about the NPDC and if policy makers can implement a restructuring of the company then there will be better days ahead.
Sad to note many poor kids are dropping out of school due to economic challenges to their families.