THE Precision, Electrical and Related Equipment Senior Staff Association (PERESSA) has called on the leadership of organised labour to mobilise workers and the Nigerian masses for a resistance against the lingering scarcity of fuel in many parts of Nigeria leading to incremental rise in the petroleum products’ prices.
In a press release by Comrades Rufus Olusesan and Dele Ojo, PERESSA president and General Secretary respectively, the senor staff association said fuel scarcity has a debilitating impact on all sectors of the economy and had been causing great suffering for the Nigerian working people.
PERESSA, an affiliate of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria decried the current situation where motorists and other consumers struggled to get fuel at less than N200 after queuing endlessly at filling stations, with many others buying the product far above the official price.
The union said its members were finding it hard to report to work on a daily basis as a result of the scarcity, high prices of PMS and increased transport cost, adding that some workers now trek to work on a daily basis, a situation which the release described as unacceptable.
The press release, entitled: “Lingering fuel crisis: PERESSA decries scarcity amidst hike in price,” reads in full:
“The Precision, Electrical and Related Equipment Senior Staff Association (PERESSA) observes and decries the lingering scarcity of fuel in many parts of Nigeria even as the price of fuel continues to rise unpredictably. While some motorists and other consumers struggle to get fuel at less than N200 (two hundred naira) after queuing endlessly at filling stations, others buy fuel at about N300 (three hundred naira) as it is being sold by many filling stations across the country – far above the official price.
“We note that the fuel scarcity has a serious debilitating impact on all sectors of the economy and is causing great suffering for the Nigerian working people, as petrol is a primary source of energy for both commercial and domestic endeavors in the country. Our members are finding it hard to report to work on a daily basis as a result of the scarcity, high prices of PMS and increased transport cost. Some workers now trek to work on a daily basis. This is not something we can tolerate any further.
“As a union, we hereby demand immediate reversal of the hiked price of PMS to the official price and firm measures to halt hoarding and guarantee the availability of petroleum products at affordable prices for the sake of Nigerian workers and the poor who can hardly afford the increase in transport fares due to the scarcity and high price of PMS.
“It has come to our attention that President Buhari has set up a committee to look at the issues causing the scarcity. As far as we are concerned, this is a step that is too little and too late. We do not need a committee to know where the problem lies. Much before now, organized labour as well as civil society have dissected the problems of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector and put forward recommendations which have been largely ignored by successive government in the country.
“For us, the explanation linking the lingering fuel crisis to logistics and foreign exchange problems – as contained in the statement of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and as explained by some government officials – is untenable, and we maintain that the blame for this crisis must be placed on the reckless handing over of the oil and gas sector to local and multinational profiteers and at the doorstep of the successive capitalist governments that continued to stick to pro-rich energy policies that have converted Nigeria’s endowment in oil and gas resource to a curse.
“We note that the domination of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector by private profiteers, just as in the privatization of power and other sectors, have only led to one crisis after the other, as against the false promise of improved quality and access to petrol and other associated products during the privatization process. Rather than take a cue from past experiences and invest in the resuscitation of the nation’s public refineries, the present government is hinging its hope of resolving the crisis on the completion of a refinery owned by Aliko Dangote – a die-hard capitalist whose sole purpose of building it is to amass as much profit as possible. Such false hope is baseless!
“To guarantee availability of petroleum products at affordable prices, we call on the government to end the domination of the oil and gas sector by private interests whose unbridled profit-motive, corruption and government inefficiency are the reasons for the perennial crisis of fuel scarcity and hike in prices. In addition, we demand the public ownership of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector under workers and consumers democratic control and management.
“Also, it is important to link the struggle to end a recurring fuel crisis in Nigeria with the need to wrestle power from the thieving capitalist elites and cause a socialist transformation in the country. This is because the fuel crisis is not due to lack of potential resources to efficiently run the sector, but because of capitalist philosophy and the drive for private profit that it promotes, which cannot but continue to result in general attacks on social needs. As a trade union, it is our firm belief that socialist programmes capable of transforming Nigeria needs to be implemented by a government that genuinely represents working people and not any of the rival factions of the ruling class. This, for us, is the way to ensure that resources are mobilized to provide for the needs of the entire society, as against the greed of a few – and thus end the fuel crisis and other crises of capitalism.
“There is at this moment, as further revealed by the fuel scarcity, a dire need for the trade union to forge a radical leadership and mobilize the rank and file of workers and poor masses for resistance against the continued privatization in the various sectors of the economy and the consequential unleashing of suffering and agony on the citizenry. This is why we want to challenge the organized labour movement and civil society to come out of their silence which has gone on for far too long and to be prepared to mobilize Nigerians out for a sustained mass struggle that would involve general strike and mass protest until the government is compelled to listen and end this suffering.”
