THE Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN) has faulted planned removal of fuel subsidy, increase in PHCN tariff and change of vehicle plate number, urging government to address these critical issues considered as the bane of national development.Addressing journalists on yesterday in Lagos, the President of the Association, Mr. Segun Ajanlekoko submitted that failure on the part of the government to reconsider its stance on these issues would cause extreme hardship and more crises by the year 2012 and other subsequent years.He explained that if fuel subsidy is removed, it would increase production cost, cause inflation, which would worsen the rate of unemployment in the country.He argued that a review of previous removal of fuel subsidy in the past showed that the expected positive impacts such as prevention of oil bunkering and development of infrastructures were not realised.The APBN boss, therefore, suggested that the economy should be diversified to give more focus on agriculture.'Agriculture should be seriously promoted in schools, colleges and universities especially faculties of agriculture. These institutions should be given annual targets of agricultural products production based on the local agricultural climates. Unemployed graduates and school leavers generally should be engaged in farming through establishment of various agricultural schemes established by local, state and Federal Government.'He added that this would enhance food production, generate revenue, while the actual amount of refining and producing oil internally, compared to the cost of doing same abroad would be determined.On the increase in PHCN tariff, he noted that such increase done over the years has not been beneficial to the populace, even as the people continue to witness incessant power failure which has forced most businesses to relocate to the neighbouring countries due to lack of stable power supply.He called for the replacement of analogue meters with pre-paid meters, noting that this would ensure that electricity consumers are billed accordingly.He, however, lauded the introduction of Sovereign Wealth Fund while urging government to ensure the safety and application of the fund.Concerning the changing of vehicle plate numbers and driving licence by the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), he said, 'changing or upgrading of statutory documents such as drivers' licence, number plates for vehicles etc in any country is a normal phenomenon. However, the way this idea was conceived for implementation in Nigeria will bring serious hardship to Nigerians.'Drivers' licence and number plates could be reviewed or upgraded but should not be linked to one another . The number plates could be linked to the owner of the vehicle but not to the drivers' license. Similarly, the drivers; license should be linked to the owner of the licence as currently done but should not be linked to a particular vehicle number plate,' he suggested.
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