NLC considers ordering workers to stay at home in response to ongoing petrol scarcity

NIGERIA'S Labour Congress (NLC) has threatened to direct workers to stay at home in response to the ongoing fuel scarcity problem that has crippled the nation and ground most economic activity to a halt.

 

Over recent weeks, there has been a chronic scarcity of petroleum produce across Nigeria, leading to long queues at petrol stations. Airports and flights have also been affected as the limited availability of aviation fuel, while the lack of diesel to power generators has resulted in many industries being unable to operate at usual capacity.

 

Independent petroleum depot owners have shut their facilities to tanker drivers because of the over N200bn (£637.26m) they claim is owed them by the federal government. On May 14, petroleum products’ marketers said they would no longer import products except the federal government settles their subsidy claims.

 

Their last meeting with finance minister Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in Abuja ended in a deadlock with the government putting the subsidy debt at N131bn while the marketers insisted it was N200bn. With the effects of the action biting hard, the NLC is planning action as petrol prices have risen to as high as N350 (£1.13) a litre.

 

Issa Aremu, the deputy president of Joe Ajaero faction of NLC lamented the fact that Dr Okonjo-Iweala, marketers and all state actors were acting indifferent to the crisis. He added that Nigeria is the only country on earth which unacceptably and criminally denied its citizens basic sources of energy, fuel and electricity.

 

Mr Aremu, said; “After several weeks of deliberate deprivations of petroleum products by both the government and marketers, with all the associated hardships, it is time all Nigerians stopped agonizing and rose in unison against the situation.  The current nationwide scarcity of refined petroleum products has reached a crisis point with a litre of petrol selling for between N200 and N600 in many parts of the country, while diesel, household kerosene and liquefied natural gas have also become elusive."

 

Also, with power generation dropping to an all-time low of 1,327 megawatts, most Nigerian households are now living without electricity as they have also run out of fuel to power their generators. Even before the dip in power generation, most Nigerian households had been relying on generators as the main source of their power supply while using the public power supply as a backup.

 

However, the fuel shortages which started over a week ago, have made it impossible for households to even get fuel to power their generators. Although, daily fuel consumption nationwide is about 40m litres per day, it is estimated that a sizeable proportion of the demand goes into fuelling of generators.

 

Already, the situation has started affecting companies with some firms like MTN and Airtel saying that they could not get diesel to run generators at base stations. Several banks too have started limiting their opening hours, with the Guarantee Trust Bank announcing that it will shut all its branches nationwide at 1pm today.