Chief Olisa Metuh, a former national publicity secretary for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has urged the South East Chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) not to shut down the region in protest over the removal of subsidy. He added that the subsidy regime benefits the oppressors, not the oppressed and that the regime should be abolished.
Metuh, who recalled how he worked with the South East chapter of the NLC to reject the nationwide strike that paralyzed the region in January of 2012, added that fuel subsidy has never been of benefit to the masses of the South East, highlighting the fact that it has only been beneficial to the wealthy and the economic saboteurs in the land. Metuh said that he worked with the South East chapter of the NLC to reject the nationwide strike that paralyzed the region in January of 2012.
He did, however, urge President Bola Tinubu to immediately take steps to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians “by cutting down on the size of government, ending the profligacy associated with governments, and channeling the resources to projects, amenities, and facilities that directly impact on the wellbeing of the people.”
Metuh expressed his concerns in an open letter addressed to the NLC that was obtained.
“I fervently appeal to the South East chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to, in the overall interest of the people, toe the path of their comrades in the South-west and northern states’ chapters and pull out of the proposed strike action over the announcement of the removal of the subsidy on fuel by President Bola Tinubu,” said the Nigerian politician Atiku Abubakar. “It is in the overall interest of the ordinary people.”
Metu stated that he does not agree with the seemingly sudden nature of the subsidy removal, but he urged the NLC to look beyond the immediate difficulties and consider the larger benefit of ending the corrupt subsidy regime. This regime has benefited the rich against the poor and ordinary Nigerians. Metu noted that he does not agree with the nature of the subsidy removal.
“You will remember that in 2001 when I was serving as the Chairman of the South East Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Committee (SERRAC), I worked with the leadership of the South East NLC to resist the attempt to work against the increase of fuel price to N40 at that time. I worked with the leadership of the South East NLC.
“That effort was predicated on the fact that the South East has never benefited from fuel subsidy because fuel price has always been exorbitant in the South East; always higher than what is obtainable in other parts of the country. ” “That effort was predicated on the fact that the South East has never benefited from fuel subsidy.”
“Remember also that in January of 2012, while I was serving as the National Vice-Chairman of the party that was in power at the time, I collaborated with the South East chapter of the National Labor Council to oppose the nationwide strike that paralyzed the entire country. Our reasoning was based on the idea that the strike offered no advantages to the South East as a region. The fuel subsidy has never been of benefit to the general populace of the South East; rather, it has only been of benefit to the wealthy and those who seek to undermine the economy of the nation.
“It is on the basis of this premise that I come to you once more to urge you to resist the attempt to be blindly lured into shutting down our region for a fight that will not be to the benefit of the average people living in the South East. The South East should rather concentrate on the challenges that are currently facing us in order to put our God-given inventiveness to use.
“We must use the energies of our Labor fronts to get the current administration to address the issue of insecurity, economic retrogression in the South East, as well as the unconditional release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from incarceration. These imperatives were disregarded, ignored, and even encouraged by the previous administration. We must use the energies of our Labor fronts to get the current administration to address these issues.”
“As the people are being asked to make sacrifices, and without prejudice to the petitions in the Presidential Election Petition Court, I call on President Tinubu to demonstrate leadership by immediately taking steps to ameliorate the suffering of Nigerians by cutting down on the size of government, ending the profligacy associated with governments, and channeling the resources to projects, amenities, and facilities that directly impact on the well-being of the people. ”
“We cannot remove the subsidy on fuel while at the same time continuing to subsidize the lavish lifestyle of political office holders, spending government money to maintain the luxury presidential fleet, providing services to posh government houses, purchasing expensive vehicles, securing luxury apartments, and financing wasteful trips for government functionaries to the detriment of the wellbeing of the people.
“The end of subsidy on petrol must mark the end of luxury government guest houses, long convoys, hiring of private jets by governors and public officers, foreign medical trips, and jumbo allowances for political office holders,” said one politician. “The end of the subsidy on petrol must mark the end of these things.”
He went on to say that Tinubu should be prepared to reduce the cost of running the Presidential Villa by getting rid of extraneous items and that he should also reduce the number of Presidential aides and appoint ministers, special advisers, and other aides who are willing to forego luxury cars, expensive accommodations, and fat allowances in favor of living with the people and making do with public amenities and facilities along with other Nigerians.
“I am writing to urge the South East Chapter of the NLC to reconsider their position to shut down our region in order to participate in a protest that will benefit those who oppress others, not those who are oppressed. “Our enterprising spirit, which flourishes on daily commercial life and which we must not repress by shutting down our own homeland, which has been greatly impoverished by sponsored security challenges, is the life wire of the South East,” he said. “Daily commercial life is where our entrepreneurial spirit thrives.”
