Nwabueze, Dafinone, Adedeji: Remove subsidy, invite unrest

The Federal Government's plan to remove the subsidy on petroleum products should be shelved because it would further impoverish the masses and could lead to social unrest in the country, leaders of The Project Nigeria Movement said in Lagos yesterday.Constitutional lawyer Professor Ben Nwabueze, Second Republic Senator David Dafinone and former Secretary General of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Professor Adebayo Adedeji all spoke at the end of the Project's quarterly meeting. The Project Nigeria Movement is an emerging political movement.Prof. Nwabueze, who spoke on behalf of the group, said successive governments had promised to provide infrastructure when subsidy was removed but that the results had always been creation of hardship and suffering for the people. He said the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo had based its frequent increases in pump price of petrol on subsidy removal with nothing to show for it. He also said Nigeria is bedevilled with different problems which could only be solved through a democratized constitution and not by the 1999 constitution produced during the military era.Deputy President of the Nigeria Labour Congress Comrade Joe Ajaero wondered why the federal government, which said it earmarked N240 billion for fuel subsidy, later turned around to say it spent over N900 billion on subsidies. 'The National Assembly should explain to Nigerians how the N900 billion expenditure was incurred,' he said.Another leader of the movement, Dr. Kunle Olajide, said 'Subsidy is same song since 1999. Nothing was achieved with previous subsidy removal. The more they remove subsidy, the more corrupt our officials become. Government officials should appreciate the fact that Nigerians are suffering. The moment you are in government, you become shielded from hardship of the common man.' He urged the government to have a rethink on the issue because according to him, it will further impoverish the masses. He said the organized labour would not hesitate to cripple the economy which may have negative effect in the long run.Olajide also said Nigeria is yet to be democratized based on the fact that the constitution governing this country's democracy was written by the military.Others present at the meeting were Dr Lakin Akintola, Director of Muslim Concern, Senator Sulaimon Salami, Chairman, Action Alliance Party and Rev. Moses Ilo.
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