Mohammed Shosanya
The Nigeria Labour Congress,NLC has asked the Federal Government to reverse the new hike in the pump price of petrol it announced on Wednesday.
Its President,Comrade Joe Ajaero,who conveyed this in a statement on Wednesday,lamented that previous increases in the product did not produce any good result,as Nigerians only got poorer.
According to him,the current hike will further deepen poverty as production capacities dip,more jobs will be lost with multidimensional negative effects.
He told the government to be bold enough to tell Nigerians in advance the destination it wants to take the country with torrents of increases in the pump price of the product.
He added:”We are dismayed by the latest increase in the pump price of petrol. It looks like the only thing this government is known for is increase in the pump price of petrol without commensurate capacity of Nigerians or mitigatory measures.
“Even following the logic of market forces , we find it an aberration that a private company (NNPCL) is the one fixing prices and projecting itself as a hegemonic monopoly.
“We challenge the government to go to the drawing board and present us with a blueprint for an inclusive economic growth and national development instead of this spasmodic ad hocism and palliative policy.
“It needs no stating the fact that the latest wave of increase has grossly altered the calculations of Nigerians once again at a time they were reluctantly coming to terms with their new realities”.