FUEL SUBSIDY

''Fuel subsidy'' the latest word in every Nigerian mouth since the 1st of January 2012. And yet the President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is causing more problems than the past leaders who we thought have done the worst that would ever happen to our country. Protest have started
accross the country against  the fuel  subsidy  that  has  
influenced several fuel stations who have taken advantage of the situation to increase the fuel price especially the P.M.S known as petrol from #65 to #140 naira which is affecting  the  masses.

In Abuja, the Lagos, Ibadan, Kaduna and other parts of the country, Nigerians of diverse classes and economic status reacted angrily to the removal even as the price of petrol fluctuated between the N141 maximum price prescribed by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency and N200.

Starting from the morning on Monday, protesters gathered at the Eagle Square in the Federal Capital City to sign a register to reject the removal of subsidy and the consequent hardship. The protesters were mobilised by a group known as Nigeria Unite Against Subsidy Removal, led by a former member of the House of representatives, Dino Melaye.

Soldiers from the Presidential Villa under the command of the Commander of Brigade of Guards, Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Atewe, however, dispersed the protesters and arrested their leaders, including Melaye.

Others arrested with Melaye were a journalist with Daily Trust, Abdulwasiu Hassan; Eze Nwagwu, Mbasekei Obono, Nasiru Magaji and Kalid Ismail.

In Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, students, under the aegis of National Association of Nigerian Students and National Association of Kwara State Students trooped out to protest the subsidy removal. Coordinated by the duo of Basambo Kabir and Akorede Kabir, the students said the fuel subsidy removal was an insensitive action by President Goodluck Jonathan and asked the Federal Government to reverse the removal.

Policemen, however, arrived the scene and dispersed the students before the protest could turn violent.

In Kaduna, Balarabe Musa, a former governor of the state, described the subsidy removal as “imperialist” and warned of “looming anarchy.”

Musa said, “The imperialist guided unilateral, vulgar and mindless removal of oil subsidy by the President of Nigeria, even if the subsidy existed before, has opened the floodgate of anarchy.

“It is also so unfortunate that the president did not have the executive and moral capacity to redirect the outcome associated with the decision.

“As it stands, the National Assembly, the civil society and labour should immediately take up the mandate of leading the people back from the anarchy that is looming. Any one of the above that takes up the mantle first should be supported by others. If not, what is going to happen in Nigeria will be a child’s place to the Arab Springs.”

Cheapest petrol

Amidst the protests, the Presidency on Monday insisted that the cost of petrol in the country remained the cheapest in spite of the astronomical hike in its pump price.

Presidential spokesman, Reuben Abati, in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Monday, accused opponents of the removal as either mischievous or playing politics with the development.

Abati said that Ghana also removed the subsidy on fuel last week without controversy. Asked if government considered the effect that the hike in fuel price would have on Nigerians who had travelled to their home states for the Yuletide, Abati said that leadership was not about populism.

He said, “This particular announcement had been foretold. Government had prepared the peoples’ mind that in 2012 there will be no subsidy on PMS. The thing has been discussed on the radio, in the market and has been a topic in the public place.

“Government did not say it will put the safety nets before removing the subsidy. What government said is that the N1.4 trillion that will be rescued from the budget will reduce borrowing, create revenue and that the money, when rescued will be used in the areas stated in the documents.”

Eagle Square protest

Our correspondent reports that soldiers from the Presidential Guard and men of the State Security Service sealed off the Square to stop the protest.

Unknown to them, however, Melaye and some journalists had already entered the car park.

As soon as those who were to sign the register started trooping to the car park, Atewe, who came in a Hilux vehicle with registration number BG 247 BWR, made some calls. Soon after, several soldiers came in a green army colour vehicle with an inscription “Brigade of Guards.”

Atewe, who dressed in a brown French suit, was accompanied by other soldiers, among who was a captain.

About 30 minutes after Atewe and his men arrived, some police officers, led by J.O. Eribo and Haruna Garba, both Chief Superintendents of Police, arrived.

Atewe and the police officers tried in vain to disperse the crowd. When their efforts failed, they invited the Commissioner of Police in the Federal Capital Territory, Mike Zuokumor, who arrived with more senior officers of the command.

The commissioner, also dressed in a mufti, later invited about 25 policemen from the Anti-Terrorism Squad.

When the policemen and the soldiers did not allow those who wanted to sign the register to enter the park, Melaye moved out to give them the register.

Before then, the security men had barricaded the entrance to the park with buses from the Brigade of Guards.

While addressing the protesters, Melaye described Jonathan’s decision to remove subsidy as “wicked”.

He said, “We open a register to protest the removal of oil subsidy. We believe it is wicked. It is satanic. It is nefarious, barbaric and no amount of intimidation or blackmail will stop us from entering.

“You can see soldiers, police, SSS, barricading the Eagle Square as if there is a war.

“It will not stop the mobilisation of people to protest and we are going to protest within the ambit of law. No amount of intimidation will stop us from fighting this course.

“The battle to salvage Nigeria and fight for this removal is a battle of no retreat no surrender. We are ready to sacrifice our lives, we are ready to do anything to make sure that by the special grace of God, Nigerians are defended.

“When the President promised fresh air, we did not know this is the type of fresh air we are going to breathe in. it is very wicked for the Federal Government even to have done this on the first of January.

“It shows that the President and the Federal Government indeed have graduated from being a weak government to a wicked government.”

Mass rally

Meanwhile, organised labour and some civil society groups have scheduled a protest rally for Lagos on Tuesday (today).

The rally, THE PUNCH learnt, was intended to sensitise Lagosians, preparatory to the mass protests that Labour had christened “mother of all rallies”. The mass rally, sources in Labour said, had been scheduled for Thursday.

As part of the preparations for the Thursday rally, the two main labour bodies in the country, the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress, have scheduled emergency meetings of their respective national executive councils for Wednesday (tomorrow).

While the NLC will hold its NEC meeting in Abuja, the TUC is scheduled to hold its meeting in Lagos in accordance with its constitutional provisions.