[size=16pt]Fuel subsidy removal battle: FG releases millions for pro-deregulation campaign[/size]
By Fidelis Soriwei and Sunday Ojeme
Saturday, 8 Oct 2011

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Amid the widespread condemnation of the proposed removal of petroleum products subsidies in January 2012, the Federal Government may have started taking steps to counter the envisaged opposition to the policy.

A top government official told SATURDAY PUNCH in Abuja on Friday that the FG had set aside a substantial sum of money for the effective prosecution of the campaign in support of fuel subsidy removal.

He spoke on the condition of anonymity because the FG had not authorised him to make the matter public.

The official said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation had been instructed to take the necessary steps to gather support for the subsidy removal, which the FG claimed would free up to N1.2tn of public fund that would be used to address the national infrastructure deficit.

The official said that the media unit of the NNPC was expected to work in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance to sell the government’s idea of deregulation and its benefits to the Nigerian public.

However, the source did not specify the exact amount of money said to have been set aside for the promotion of the deregulation campaign in anticipation of the opposition against the policy and its impact on Nigerians.

“Look, the Federal Government is not joking with this issue of deregulation,” the official said. “I can only advise people to support the government on this issue because they have a point,

“The government is convinced that the subsidy is only going into the pockets of some persons who are bent on resisting its removal.

“Already, the government is involved in strategies to ensure that Nigerians are convinced on the issue of the removal of fuel subsidy.

“They have set aside a huge sum of money for the media unit of the NNPC to ensure that the policy is well projected in the media. That is to tell you that these people are not joking.”

The NNPC Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Dr. Levi Ajuonuma, lamented that Nigerians were yet to understand the benefits of deregulation despite the gains such a decision had brought to the country’s telecom sector. He said the deregulation campaign was not a new thing, adding that it was the people’s right to be sensitised on how the removal of petroleum subsidy would benefit them.

He said, “Some people are saying that the refineries should be fixed before the removal of subsidy but the question is, where is the government going to get the money to keep fixing the refineries when it is spending the same money on fuel subsidy?

“Nobody is asking why investors are not coming to put their money into building refineries. The reason is simple, no investor would want to invest in a refinery and at the end of the day someone else comes out to dictate to him how he should sell his product.

“It is important for our people to get this message. If the government can save the subsidy this year alone, can you imagine how many universities will be well funded, how many roads we can build, not to talk of other social infrastructure? We should allow the private sector to come. It’s taking us too long and we all should know that the world is changing.”

Since the FG made known its intention on Tuesday to remove the fuel subsidies from January next year, the announcement has attracted widespread condemnation from a cross-section of the citizenry.

The leadership of the two umbrella labour bodies in the country, the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress, and the civil society bodies, have come out hard against the government on the planned move.

The President-General of the TUC, Mr. Peter Esele, and the General-Secretary of the NLC, Mr. Owei Lakemka, described the move as a deliberate act to anger millions of impoverished Nigerians.

The labour leaders and their civil society counterparts have vowed to call out Nigerians en masse to resist the proposed removal, which is likely to lead to an increase in fuel prices.

“The FG has been unable to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians,” Lakemfa said in a telephone interview. “The role of the government is to protect and defend the interest of its citizenry, but this government is not doing that. The government is unable to provide the basic necessities of life,” Lakemfa said.


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