Gabriel Dike
The Joint Action Front (JAF) and over 18 civil societies will on Wednesday, September 16 start the mobilisation of Nigerians against recent fuel hike, electricity tariff and increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) preparatory for mass protest nationwide.
Addressing newsmen on the forthcoming nationwide mass protest, JAF Secretary, Abiodun Aremu and the Deputy Chairman, Achike Chude, said JAF and civil societies have met to fine-tune the mass protest against fuel hike, electricity tariff and increase in VAT.
Achike said the meeting is the third of such independent activities in the past nine years that JAF would rally nationwide resistance of labour, CSOs and the suffering majority of Nigerians against hikes in prices of fuel and electricity.
He disclosed that the meeting recalled that fuel price was increased from N86.50 to N145 on May 11, 2016 and the latest increase from N145 to N150 and now N162. JAF condemned and reject the latest increases in prices of fuel, electricity tariffs and VAT, and contended that it is a product of the capitalist neo-liberal policies of privatisation and deregulation.
JAF and civil societies called on Nigerians, masses, students, traders, professionals, women, unemployed youth, farmers, artisans, muslims, Christians and faith based organisations to prepare to use mass actions to reject, resist and defeat the latest imposition of hardships by the Buhari administration on Nigerians, which if not resisted, would compound the miserable existence of the vast majority of Nigerians, who are still groaning with the attacks of the coronavirus pandemic.
It urged Nigerians to hold mass meetings and sensitisation rallies to reject the latest hikes and to struggle to defeat it, preparatory to the commencement of mass actions, which would commence Wednesday, September 16, 2020.
The group demanded for immediate and unconditional reversal of the hike in petrol price from the N160 to the N86.50, stating ”government has a responsibility to make our refineries to work and build new ones in order to ensure that availability of petroleum products (petrol, diesel, kerosene, aviation fuel, etc) at cheaper and affordable prices to all.
JAF also called for total reversal of the capitalist policies of privatisation and deregulation, which have been responsible for improper functioning of the local refineries, looting by government officials and fuel marketers through fuel importation and subsidies; and the collapse and fraudulent hand over to private profiteers of public enterprises, such as PHCN, NITEL, Nigeria Airways, Nigerian Ports Authority, Ajaokuta Steel, Osogbo Steel Rolling Mill, Itakpe Iron and Ore, Tafawa Balewa Square, National Arts Theatre, Trade Fair Complex, ALSCON, Nigerian Newsprint Manufacturing Company (NNMC), Daily Times.”
On his part, JAF scribe, Abiodun Aremu said the meeting agreed to continue engagement with labour partners – NLC and TUC for a joint programme of resistance to the latest hikes and resolved to commence independent course of actions with groups that are ready to struggle for the unconditional reversal in prices of fuel, electricity and VAT and also to struggle.
Aremu said government is implementing International Monetary Fund (IMF) policies and observed that the local refineries would not work because of importation of fuel by few cartels. He said the group does not need the permission of the police to hold mass action.
Representative of Nigerian Liberation Party (NLP), Prof Odion Akhaine said the Buhari administration is churning out cooked figures on cost of fuel to deceive Nigerians and stressed that government cannot break the cartels involved fuel importation.