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Hardship, Petrol Price Hike: FG Gradually Pushing Nigerians to Revolt, Labour Warns
The Organised Labour has warned that the latest hike in petrol pump price is pushing Nigerians to the limit.
It also warned the Federal Government against what it described as a surprised and unexpected reaction of the people to the frequent hike in the price of the product.
Labour equally advised the government to be wary of the silence of Nigerians in the midst of excruciating hardship and misery being inflicted on them, saying even a goat can bite when pushed to the wall.
In the same vein, an employer group – Chemical and Non-Metallic Products Employer’s Federation (CANMPEF) – said the petrol price increases, occasioned by subsidy removal, has led to an increase in transportation/logistics, production costs, the decline in household income and purchasing power.
Labour’s warning came on a day the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) said its members wait for days to load petrol from Dangote Refinery in Lagos, despite paying N40 billion to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
It also said Nigerians can pay less for the product if marketers are allowed to buy directly from the refinery.
One of the labour leaders, who attended the October 16 meeting with the Federal government at the office of the Secretary to the Government of Federation (SGF), reportedly said that government officials are gradually pushing the masses to revolt against the establishment.
He said: “We had thought that the Federal government will halt the incessant increase in the pump price of petrol after our October 16 meeting, where we made the government representatives, led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation understand the level of frustration, hunger, misery and general restiveness across the country.
‘’Sincerely, we thought the government would give the people a breathing space and suspend the increases. The government is testing the patience of Nigerians. I can tell you that government is pushing the citizens to a boiling point.
“This latest increase of Tuesday, October 29 is one increase too many and a bitter pill to swallow. The increases are pushing the citizens to the limit.
“Government should not be surprised if the people of Nigeria decide to react in an unexpected way that will shock those in government. The people are really angry, frustrated, hopeless and are moving to a point where they may vent their anger in an unusual way that may be difficult to curtail.
‘’You cannot continue to flog a child and tell him not to cry. Hunger is everywhere, apart from the people in power or their friends and relations.
“The frustration and suffering in the country were also highlighted a few days ago during the meeting of the 19 Northern governors, alongside traditional rulers, among others. Across the country, people are just waiting for something to ignite the fire.
“Increasingly, the government is providing the fuel that will ignite the fire. What is probably left is someone to light the matches. We (Labour) have been urging the government to jettison the anti-people policies and lessen the pain, suffering, hunger, poverty and frustration to no avail.
“We have been cautious, thinking the government will allow common sense, empathy and the reality of the mass suffering of the citizens to drive its actions and inactions. Unfortunately, the reverse has been the case. It is getting to the time when the bubble will burst. Even a goat can bite when pushed to the wall.
“Today, the nation’s macro-economic indices are all heading down south without any letting.
Electricity tariffs have gone up, making power almost inaccessible to a greater number of our citizens.
“Petrol prices have gone through the roof and are nearly impossible for an average Nigerian to afford.
Transportation has become difficult, leading to levels of food scarcity and hunger never seen in the country before now.
‘’That unfortunately, has become our lot and that has become what majority of Nigerians look up to us to ameliorate.
“We need your unity and your strength if we are to creatively engage these forces and make governance work for the greater number of workers and people. As it is today, our choices are very limited. It is either we find a way to collectively overcome the forces that are bent on keeping us down as a people or we completely surrender to them and wallow in hopelessness.
“The forces of neo-liberalism must be challenged and the trade union movement remains the only viable force in Nigeria and in the world that can creatively engage it and mitigate its stranglehold on our nation.
“We must offer strong counterpoise to their prebendal logic and proffer newer arguments to triumph over their quest for profit at the detriment of the social will. It is only by remaining strong and united that we can hope to achieve that.
“It is sad but we cannot afford to keep our public refineries shut while still importing refined petroleum products. We demand a review of our salaries instead of its eroded values. We must together demand the re-commissioning of Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries in keeping with the agreement we had with the Federal Government on October 15, 2023.”
Employers’ group laments
Speaking in a similar vein, the Chemical and Non-Metallic Products Employer’s Federation (CANMPEF), an employer group, said the petrol price increases occasioned by subsidy removal had led to an increase in transportation/logistics and production costs and a decline in household income and purchasing power.
Addressing members and guests at the 45th Annual General Meeting, AGM, of CANMPEF in Lagos yesterday, the President of the employers’ federation, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, lamented: “Following the liberalization of the foreign exchange (FX) market, PMS importers are embattled with looming scarcity and sourcing challenges of FX which continues to increase the selling cost of PMS.
‘’The price adjustments led to an increase in transportation/logistics, production costs, decline in household income and purchasing power.
“There is optimism surrounding the possibility of an energy transition that will reduce the industry’s dependence on expensive diesel and PMS. However, significant investments are required to make renewable energy viable for manufacturing operations.’’
According to him, the spillover of the increases in the petrol price, and floating of the naira has worsened the crises facing the manufacturing sector of the nation’s economy.
“For the manufacturing sector to reach its full potential, government’s intervention is critical. If priority attention is given to manufacturing as a strategic value-adding sector, capable of driving economic transformation, then the country can earn its position among industrialized nations.
“To unlock the potential of Nigeria’s manufacturing sector, the government must commit to the following investments: History has shown that protectionist policies can have a profound impact on local industries.
“A notable example is Nigeria’s 2007 cement policy, which restricted imports by companies without local manufacturing investments.
“In just 15 years following the policy, cement production in Nigeria grew from 7 million metric tonnes to over 60 million metric tonnes per annum. Expanding such policies to sectors like agriculture, petrochemicals, basic chemicals, electronics, and tools manufacturing could set Nigeria on the path to becoming an industrial giant.
“Declare a state of emergency in the manufacturing sector: The sector requires immediate attention, and this can be achieved through policies that promote growth, investment, and innovation. A clear declaration of urgency by the government would demonstrate its commitment to revitalizing the sector.
“Subsidise consumption through manufacturing: By offering tax reliefs and removing tariffs on key agricultural and manufacturing inputs, the government can reduce operational costs and encourage growth.
“These subsidies will also have a profound impact on job creation, especially for Nigeria’s youth, who will be gainfully employed in productive industries. The social and security benefits of such a move are immeasurable and far reaching.
“Create a favorable business environment: Ensuring ease of doing business is essential for long-term sustainability in the manufacturing sector. This requires a combination of administrative and legal reforms to eradicate bureaucratic barriers and other inefficiencies that hinder industrial growth.”
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expelled Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike, its suspended National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, and former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose.
Their expulsion was announced on Saturday at the party’s National Convention in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has insisted that there is Christian genocide ongoing in Nigeria, hence demanding end to the alleged Christian killings.
Speaking on Thursday after an emergency executive meeting of the Fellowship held at its national headquarters in Lagos, PFN President, Bishop Francis Wale Oke, said the body would no longer remain silent while Christians are “targeted, killed, raped, and displaced” across the country.
He said: “There is Christian genocide going on in Nigeria. If we call it by any other name, it will bring Nigeria down. We are crying out to our international friends, beginning with America and Donald Trump. Whatever you can do to help our government put an end to it, come quickly and get it done. When on Christmas Day, Christmas Day was turned a bloody day in Benue State, and hundreds were massacred. And we are to be conducting mass funerals when we are not in open conflict. What do you call that? And this is different from individual cases.
“Let us call a spade a spade. There is Christian genocide ongoing in Nigeria,”Bishop Oke declared.
“Even while we speak, killings are still taking place in Borno, Plateau, and Benue states. When 501 Christians were massacred in Dogon Noma in Plateau, what do we call that? When Christmas Day turned into a bloody day in Benue, with hundreds massacred, what name should we give it?
While noting that the United States President Donald Trump spoke the truth, the PRN President cited the case of Leah Sharibu who was abducted alongside other Chibok girls and has since remained in captivity.
“Like the case of Leah Sharibu. Where is Leah Sharibu? Like the case of Deborah that was lynched and burned alive in Sokoto? What about that? And several of our girls were kidnapped and forced, given out as wives by force without the consent of their parents and their Christian parents. And the Christian parents would not see them for years.And this has been going on. We have been talking and we are not taking it seriously. And it has been going on again and again, until Donald Trump now spoke. And Donald Trump spoke the truth. There is Christian genocide going on in Nigeria.
“Like you will have picked in the news, even since this narrative began, killing was still going on in Borno, in Plateau, in Benue, up until yesterday. What are we saying? When 501 Christians were massacred in Dogonaya in Plateau State, what do we call that? And for no offense other than they are Christians.”
Oke recalled that the Christian community had repeatedly called the attention of the government to the alleged genocide with no decisive action from the authority.
The cleric expressed his backing for President Trump’s intervention, adding that Trump only echoed what Nigerian Christians had been saying for year
“I was part of the team that went to see the immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari. We spoke very strongly about this and the President listened to us, but he completely ignored the main issue we came for, If we came and spoke with such vehemence, with such passion, and then you pick the peripheral matter and left this matter alone, I knew that day that his government was complicit in what was going on,” he added.
Oke alleged that the killings across parts of Nigeria were systematic and targeted on Christians, lamenting that the killings had continued unchecked despite repeated appeals from the Church.
“The evidence is all over the place. There is nothing anybody can say that can whitewash it. It is evil, it is blood shedding, it is mass murder and it is genocide. The time to stop it is now. That is what the church in Nigeria is saying with one voice.
“Christians in this nation must be free to practice their faith in any part of Nigeria as bona fide citizens of Nigeria.
“These armed bandits, Fulani herdsmen, Boko Haram, ISWAP, all of them using Islam as a cover. We have been living in peace with our Muslim brothers for a long, until this violent Islamic sect came up with an intent to make sure they impose Sharia on all Nigerians,” Oke said.
Bishop Oke called on President Bola Tinubu to decisively overhaul the nation’s security architecture, and ensure justice for victims of religious violence. He questioned why those responsible for notorious attacks—such as the killing of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto and the abduction of Leah Sharibu and the Chibok schoolgirls—remain unpunished.
“The government should prove by action, not words, that it is not complicit,” he said. “When hundreds are buried in mass graves and the whole world sees it, who can deny it? Why should we play politics with the blood of Nigerians?”
The PFN urged President Tinubu’s administration to rebuild trust by ensuring that the security architecture of the country is not infiltrated by those sympathetic to extremist ideologies.
Oke further condemned the government’s rehabilitation of so-called “repentant terrorists,” describing the move as a grave security.
He assured Christians that the PFN would continue to speak out until the killings stop. “We are not going to keep quiet. We will keep raising our voices until justice is done and every Nigerian, regardless of faith, can live in peace. The truth may be suppressed for a time, but it cannot be buried forever,” he said.
The meeting, which drew PFN leaders from across the country, reaffirmed the body’s commitment to national unity, peace, and the protection of fundamental human rights, while urging the media to “side with the oppressed” and report the truth without fear or bias.
US President Donald Trump has signed a federal spending bill, officially ending the longest government shutdown in American history.
The legislation, passed by the House of Representatives in a 222–209 vote, followed narrow approval in the Senate just two days earlier. The bill restores funding to federal agencies after 43 days of closure, bringing relief to millions of government employees and citizens affected by halted services.
Speaking after signing the measure on Wednesday night, Trump described the deal as a political victory, asserting that Democrats unnecessarily prolonged the shutdown.
“They didn’t want to do it the easy way. They had to do it the hard way, and they look very bad,” he said.
The temporary funding bill maintains government operations only through 30 January, creating a new deadline for lawmakers to negotiate a long-term budget solution.
As part of the agreement, Senate leaders committed to an early December vote on Obamacare subsidies, a key priority for Democrats during the shutdown standoff.
In addition to reopening federal offices, the bill provides full-year funding for the Department of Agriculture, military construction projects, and several legislative branch offices.
It also ensures retroactive pay for federal workers affected by the shutdown and allocates funding to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, which helps about one in eight Americans access food.
The shutdown, which began in October, forced the suspension of many government services, leaving an estimated 1.4 million federal employees either furloughed or working without pay. It also disrupted food assistance programmes and caused widespread delays in domestic air travel.
With federal operations now resumed, attention in Washington has turned to whether Congress and the White House can reach a longer-term funding agreement before the new deadline at the end of January.
