Labour and Civil Society Coalition on Wednesday accused the Federal Government of causing “artificial” fuel scarcity in the country in order to deceive Nigerians into accepting the deregulation of the downstream sector.Skip to next paragraphBayoor Ewuoso.Workers and rights activists during a rally at Alausa, Lagos... on WednesdayBayoor EwuosoNational Secretary, Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. John Odah, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola; and his deputy, Mrs. Adebisi Sosan, at the event.LASCO, at its one-day rally attended by over 10,000 workers and rights activists in Lagos, said it was regrettable that Nigerians benefited nothing from the huge revenue made by the Federal Government from oil boom.The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. Abdulwaheed Omar, who led the peaceful rally, added that the government was unserious about refining petroleum products locally.Omar said, ” We must say no to deregulation.The fuel scarcity is artificial and it is designed to deceive us into accepting deregulation as the solution.“We enjoyed fundamentally nothing in terms of infrastructure and improved living standard from almost one decade of oil boom, which reached an all time high of $147 per barrel last July.“Those who want to buy our refineries are parasites. They have been issued licences since 2002 to build their own private refineries, till today, none has been built. Now they want to buy our refineries, of course with looted funds. We must resist the daily robbery on our collectively owned property.”The labour leader also took a swipe at the Federal Government for allegedly doctoring the report of the Justice Muhammadu Uwais-led National Electoral Reform Committee.He reminded the government that the recommendations, as presented by the ERC, had painstakingly addressed the problems facing the country‘s electoral system.NLC president said, ”President Umaru Yar‘Adua identified and said that the election that brought him into office was flawed. For that reason, he promised setting up an electoral reform committee, which he did. Fortunately, the committee, led by Justice Uwais, did a thorough job, but the Federal Government bungled the report and removed vital aspects.”We know that it is only when a leader is genuinely elected by the people that things can work properly in this country. When leaders are imposed on the people, they will work for those who imposed them, and pay deaf ears to the yearnings of the people. We therefore, say no to the pilfering of the ERC recommendations.”We call for electoral system where the vote of the people counts, and hence the supremacy of the electorate in the choice of their leaders.”The NLC, he added, had opened a register at its various offices in the country, where the signatures of 20million Nigerians would be collected for the purpose of sending a bill adopting the recommendations of the ERC to the National Assembly.He said pushing for the full implementation of the ERC recommendations was a must for the country if the rot in the electoral system must be addressed.On the N52,200 per month minimum wage, which was one of the three issues that necessitated the rally, the NLC boss said the increment had become imperative in view of the present economic realities.He added that as a result of government‘s failure to provide basic infrastructure, electricity and water, the workers had deemed it imperative to demand for the increment so as to be able to survive.The labour leader later presented a letter containing LASCO’s grouse to the Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola, for onward transmission to President Umaru Yar’Adua.Omar said the group had chosen to send the letter through Fashola because it believed that he (Fashola) was one of the governors in the country who emerged through a credible election.Also speaking, President of the Trade Union Congress, Mr. Peter Esele, said the rally would be a continuum until LASCO’s demands were met.Esele said, ”We must all stand up to the responsibility of being a Nigerian citizen. At the bottom of all these problems is that we cannot choose who will lead us. Our votes must count; it is left for us to rise up since our country is at the cross-roads.“From this moment onward, we will ensure that our votes count, rebranding the country is not just all about their gimmicks. We know we have good people, but we have bad leaders in this country presently.”The rally which took off from the National Stadium, Surulere, through Ikorodu Road via Awolowo Road to Alausa in Ikeja was done under tight security.Riot and regular policemen were drafted from different formations in the state command to ensure maintenance of peace and order while the rally lasted.The police team was led by the command‘s Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr. Lateef Junaid, on the directive of the Commissioner of Police in charge of the command, Mr. Marvel Akpoyibo.The command‘s spokesman, Mr. Frank Mba, told our correspondents that the heavy security presence was aimed at stopping social miscreants popularly called ‘area boys’ from hijacking the rally and unleashing mayhem on innocent citizens of the state.Nobody was arrested throughout the protest described by police authorities as peaceful.Offices, markets, shops and motor parks were all opened for normal business activities in all parts of the metropolis.But the popular Ikorodu Road witnessed a chaotic traffic situation during the protest as many motorists and commuters were stranded in the gridlock that was experienced during the rally.
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