The Nigeria Labour Congress has said it will
mobilise Nigerians for nationwide protests to
resist the plan by the Federal Government to
sell strategic assets under the guise of using
the funds to be generated to get the country
out of recession.
The President of the NLC, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, said the
consequences of the proposed sale of the strategic assets
would be more grievous if Nigerians did not stop the
government from carrying out the policy.
He made the comment on Monday in Abuja while
inaugurating a think-tank of the NLC and the
Academic Staff Union of Universities, entrusted with
the responsibility of leading the intellectual engagement
with the Federal Government on the contentious move to
sell the country’s assets.
According to him, the NLC is making preparations to
battle the Federal Government in courts to prevent the
planned sale of the assets, explaining that the congress
had secured the services of 20 volunteer lawyers, who
had offered their services to the NLC on the issue.
The members of the 10-man NLC’s ‘Think-Tank on
Socio-Economic Issues’ are a former President of
ASUU, Dr. Dipo Fashina; Prof. Toye Olorode, Dr.
Mohammed Aliyu, Dr. Mustapha Usman and Dr. Isaac
Nwogugu.
Other members of the committee are Dr. Yemisi
Bamgbose, Mr. Issa Aremu, Mr. Sonny Atuma, Dr.
Peter Ozo-Eson, and Mr. Auwal Mustapha, who is the
secretary.
Wabba stated, “While it is important to rescue our
country from the current economic recession, sale of our
commonwealth and strategic assets is certainly not a
move in the right direction, and all Nigerians must have
the courage to oppose it.
“All the (national) assets are under threat depending on
the interest of who is speaking; the NLNG, refineries, all
the assets are presently under threat. If we work
together, then we can try to defend these assets. It will
take the effort of all of us to stop them.
“Nobody will buy what is not profitable. That is why
people are looking in the direction of the most
profitable.”
Wabba stressed that the problem with Nigeria was
corruption, which had become endemic in both the
private and public sectors, and not the economic model to
use.
The NLC president believed that politicians, who stole so
much money and had been hiding the loot, were looking
for ways to buy the assets with their looted funds.
Wabba assured Nigerians that organised labour was
united in the quest to preserve the nation’s strategic
assets for Nigerians and future generations.
“We are sure of ourselves; this is of concern to every
citizen. We should not allow the bidding of those few
who don’t mean well for the country. On the issue of
selling out, we are on the same page, we will do
everything possible to try to work together.
“We shouldn’t be discouraged because of the fact that
we envisage sabotage or an effort to undermine the
struggle. In every struggle, there would be moves to
sabotage such,” he added.
ACF, economists oppose sale of national assets
Meanwhile, opposition against the plan of the Federal
Government to sell some national assets continued to
mount on Monday as the Arewa Consultative Forum and
the Nigerian Economic Society condemned the proposal,
asking the Federal Government to rescind its decision to
sell the assets.
The NEC stated that the decision of the government did
not make economic sense in the face of the current
challenges.
It faulted the argument by the government that the
proceeds of the sale would be used to fund the 2016
budget, noting that the sale of the assets would further
widen the level of income inequality in the country.
The President, NES, Prof. Ben Aigbokan, stated this in
an interview with journalists on the forthcoming national
conference of the society on Monday in Abuja.
Aigbokan described the approach being adopted by the
government as “generationally irresponsible”.
The conference, scheduled to commence on Tuesday
(today), has as its theme ‘‘The developmental state and
diversification of the Nigerian economy’’.
The NES president added, “It is an irony that the
government is planning to sell some of our national assets
at this time because it is a contradiction of one of the
policies of government, which is sustainable development.
“The economics of selling national assets now at a time
of economic recession is very poor because we will not get
a good value for these assets, because people understand
that the county is in need of money.
“If you sacrifice our national assets now because we are
in need of money, what do you leave for the future
generations?
“So, generationally, it is irresponsible to sell these assets
without subjecting the decision to a referendum because
all Nigerians have a stake in them.”
Also, the ACF on Monday argued that it was needless
for the Federal Government to sell off national assets to
bail out Nigeria from its current economic woes.
The pan-northern socio-political organisation, through
its National Publicity Secretary, Muhammadu Ibrahim,
argued that the bloated allowances of public officers,
which he said accounted for 40 per cent of the national
budget, should be converted to capital allocation to boost
the economy.
The ACF argued that selling off national assets to
service the economy was completely “unwise” as such
move never yielded the desired results in the past.
The statement read in part, “The growing calls by some
prominent politicians and business tycoons on the Federal
Government to consider the selling of strategic, viable
national assets as an option to take the economy out of
recession at this material time are inappropriate.
“Past privatisation did not yield the desired result in
terms of judicious use of proceeds by the government or
management of the assets by the new owners. Moreover,
the amount to be realised is not worth the exercise.
“Government enterprises like the Nigeria Airways,
Nigeria National Shipping Line, Ajaokuta Steel
Company, NITEL, PHCN, etc, that were sold to selected
Nigerians and their foreign collaborators in the spirit of
privatisation, only succeeded in converting public
enterprises to private ones, and some later became
comatose. The ones that survived, their service delivery
cannot be said to be better.
“ACF therefore considers it unwise for the Federal
Government to contemplate the selling of our major
national assets like the crude oil refineries, federal
airports, NLNG, while we can use them as security
against needed funds to boost the economy, as the
recession is considered to be temporary.
“In addition, ACF wishes to suggest that unnecessary
allowances of public officers and overhead cost that form
over 40 per cent of our annual budget should be
converted to capital allocation to boost the economy.
“This is the time for national sacrifice in order to
bequeath an enduring legacy to the next generation.
Positive change usually comes with painful necessary
sacrifice.”
On its own, the National Union of Textile, Garments
and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria has cautioned
President Muhammadu Buhari against the sale of the
nation’s assets.
A member of the National Executive Council of the NLC,
Mr. Issa Aremu, in a statement in Kaduna on Monday,
said Nigeria was not short of resources, arguing that
the nation lacked “genuine resourceful leaders at all
levels”.
