The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has issued an urgent call to the federal government to account for an estimated N30 trillion oil windfall projected to accrue to the nation amid the escalating Middle East crisis, warning that the funds must be used to cushion the severe economic hardship inflicted on Nigerian workers and citizens.
In a press statement signed by President Joe Ajaero and issued on Sunday from its Lagos office, the NLC voiced the “collective anguish” of millions of Nigerian workers who are bearing the brutal cost of a global capitalist crisis they did not create.
The labour union pointed to the military escalation involving the US, Israel, and Iran, which has sent shockwaves through global oil markets, causing petrol prices in Nigeria to skyrocket to between N1,170 and N1,300 per litre.
The NLC described this as a “direct assault” on the Nigerian people, who are being “bombarded with poverty and hunger” while the nation’s public refineries remain non-operational.
The crisis, according to the NLC, has “brutally exposed the fragility of Nigeria’s downstream sector,” tearing off the mask of those who claimed local refining made the nation immune.
The congress noted that the Dangote Refinery has adjusted its prices in lockstep with global volatility, passing the burden directly to the masses, which it says “makes a lie of comfortable narratives about meeting domestic demand.”
“As long as we remain dependent on a market-driven pricing structure tied to global vicissitudes, and refuse to bring our public assets to life, we will remain hostages to wars and speculators,” the statement read.
The NLC warned of the danger of sabotaging public refineries to create a monopoly and described the current situation as a wake-up call. It demanded that the government immediately halt the “vandalism of the public sector” and bring the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries back on stream, framing it not as a favour, but as “a right of the Nigerian people to cushion themselves from a hostile global order.”
Demands for the N30 Trillion Windfall
Citing the latest forecast by the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), which shows Nigeria stands to reap about N30 trillion from the crisis, the NLC issued a stark warning.
“The about N30trn (Thirty Trillion Naira) Oil windfall expected to accrue to Nigeria as a result of the Current Middle East war must not grow wings like the Gulf Oil windfall but should be invested in Nigerian people,” the NLC declared, referencing past instances where oil windfalls were allegedly mismanaged or lost to corruption.
The congress outlined a series of immediate demands to utilize the windfall and mitigate the crisis:
· Immediate Wage Award and Cost of Living Allowance (COLA): The NLC insists that current wages have become “stipends of starvation” and must be supplemented for all workers to cushion the high cost of living.
· Overhaul of Cash Transfers: It demanded an expansion and overhaul of cash transfer programmes to ensure transparency and that they reach the most vulnerable, with increased value to match inflation.
· Immediate Tax Relief: The NLC called for a stoppage of all “regressive taxes on low-income earners,” including the proposed tax on the informal economy, stating that “taxing the minimum wage is extortion.”
· Timeline for Refinery Repairs: It demanded a clear timeline for the full-scale rehabilitation of public refineries, questioning the billions already spent on turnaround maintenance.
Warning of Social Unrest
The congress painted a dire picture of the current situation, noting that the cost of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) has made transportation “a noose around workers’ necks.” It warned that with food inflation galloping and meager wages being swallowed by induced scarcity, “when a worker cannot afford to eat, the entire society sits on a keg of gunpowder.”
The NLC stressed that the government cannot foreclose any action that would offer succor and must engage in sincere social dialogue with Nigerian workers and the broader citizenry.
“Using the Middle East war as an excuse to further impoverish Nigerians is unacceptable. The primary duty of government is to ensure the welfare of the citizenry. We demand action. We demand justice. We demand survival,” Ajaero concluded.
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