The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Wednesday condemned Emir Mallam Muhammadu Sanusi II’s position on naira devaluation and fuel subsidy, describing the position as anti-people and should be ignored.
The former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria and now Emir of Kano has been widely reported by some newspapers to have openly canvassed the devaluation of the national currency, the Naira as well as total removal of subsidy on petroleum products by the Federal Government.
But the NLC in a statement yesterday believed the Emir was expressing his private opinion and not speaking for the traditional institution or his emirate where industries have totally collapsed leaving the emirate with one of the highest population of victims of anti-people policies powered by neo liberal interests.
The congress in the statement signed by the president Ayuba Wabba said the eminence of his position as an emir should not be rubbished with constant proclamations or campaigns for policies that has proven over the years as not only damaging to the national economy but targeted against majority of the people who flounder in abject poverty.
The traditional institution, the congress said should speak for and protect the poor; and must not be turned to outposts of neo liberal institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank and their cohorts who imposed policies such as the Structural Adjustment Programme under which the Naira was devastatingly devalued while production halted with the near total collapse of industries.
As an import driven country, the congress said the effect of devaluing the national currency is more on the quality of life of ordinary Nigerians who bear the brunt of high cost of goods and services given the fact that the exchange rate of the Naira to the dollar has gone record high from N154 to a dollar to over N225 to one dollar.
It maintained that the purchasing abilities of both industries and individuals has incredibly dwindled and may affect jobs in the long run.
The congress said the statement clearly speaks only for international finance capital who are the direct beneficiaries of the pains of the poor in countries that have been unleashed with policies rammed down the throats of visionless and unpatriotic leaders blinded by the overbearing strengths and blackmails of the Breton Woods institutions.
According to the congress, these institutions have added no value to the national economy as they have used previous Nigerian governments to decimate the lives of the people as they gaggled the national economy to doldrums.
In several countries, including Europe, the congress said the citizens have reacted against the pains of these policies through mass protests while in some other countries these anti people policies ignited changes in government.
It therefore advised the Federal Government to ignore in its entirety, the reckless anti people outbursts of Emir Sanusi who it must also advise should concentrate all his energy on policies and programmes that can reduce or eliminate poverty in his emirate by generating efforts to reindustrialise Kano.
The issue of subsidy removal, the congress maintained has been subject of public discourse for more than two decades and the position has not changed.
The congress said it not only opposed to it, but has provided written details of how the petroleum industry can be managed to the benefit of the collective interests.
It said the success of the strikes and mass protests against previous attempts to remove subsidy on petroleum products indicates mass rejection of the policy and it believed the Buhari government will not yield to pressure from those who insist on privatising the collective wealth by removing subsidy on petroleum products.
The congress quoted President Buhari to have publicly said his government will not remove subsidy on petroleum products adding that the congress fully support his government on the clear commitment of the regime to serving the interests of majority of the people rather than submit to the pressure of unpatriotic few who have continuously diverted public funds to their private interests with so much latitude.
The congress said it is ready to mobilise Nigerian people against any attempt to remove the subsidy should the government decide to yield to the pressure of people like Emir Sanusi who prefer to serve the interests of foreign institutions against the Nigerian people.
It recalled that the last national strike and mass actions against partial removal of petroleum subsidy in January 2012 did not only expose the rot in the petroleum industry, but also uncovered the high level of corruption in the industry where government officials and their cronies made the entire industry their private preserve.
The congress expected government to revisit the reports of all the panels and committees that probed the industry following the 2012 mass protests, especially the reports that indicted individuals and firms that diverted subsidy funds to private interests.
It said all the stolen funds must be recovered while those indicted must be prosecuted and appropriately punished.
