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Organised labour under the aegis of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has kicked against the recent call for partial sale of the Nigerian Liquefied and Natural Gas Limited; government’s shares in upstream oil joint venture operations; stake in financial institutions including: Africa Finance Corporation as well as privatisation and concession of major/regional airports and refineries.
Alternatively, the Congress observed that the investment made by some OPEC countries that invested their oil revenues heavily in the acquisition of sovereign assets, both domestically and internationally, are less vulnerable to fiscal crisis occasioned by fall in oil revenues.
Ayuba Wabba, NLC president who gave the charge in Abuja, while reacting to the call on Federal Government to reduce its shareholding in some critical sectors, argued that such OPEC “countries today are deriving a steady stream of earnings from those assets.”
In a related development, the House of Representatives, at yesterday’s plenary session, emphasised the need for the Federal Government to prioritise the revitalisation of moribund industries across the country.
The call followed the adoption of a motion raised under matters of public importance titled: “Urgent need to revitalise industrial core projects as catalyst for Nigeria’s industrialisation,” sponsored by Chris Azubogu.
The lawmakers specifically called for immediate government’s intervention to revive Iron and Steel Plant Ajaokuta, Steel Rolling Mills Kaduna, Aluminium Smelter Industry Ikot-Abasi, Machine and Tools Industries Sagamu and Ozobulu, Petro-Chemical Industry in Warri, Kaduna and Port Harcourt as well as Paper/Pulp Industries, Iwopin and Oku-Iboku, and Defence Industries of Nigeria (DICON).
In his lead debate, Azubogu, who lamented that 56 years after independence, Nigeria still “run an extractive economy whereby all our agricultural produce, solid minerals, liquid/gaseous mineral are exported as primary raw materials with no additional value.
“The House is convinced that we can run a productive economy by processing and manufacturing our abundant resources into finished goods ready for local consumption and export to international communities.
“If we develop our local technology and capacity, we can become competitive especially in the areas of comparative advantage thereby building a sustainable economy through genuine activities that will bring about Economic growth and job creation.”
The NLC helmsman, who noted that the recent call by Aliko Dangote for the sale of the national share holdings in the LNLG and the suggestion by the Senate president that the shares, along with other sovereign assets in the oil and aviation sectors, should be sold as a way of stemming the current economic recession, however urged President Muhammadu Buhari to jettison the counsel as they were “unacceptable” to Nigerian workers.
He argued, “Investments in the LNLG and joint venture oil upstream operations are profitable and represent potential sources of revenue into the future.
“For example, it was the accrued dividend payments from LNLG shares that provided the resources for the first bail-out to states when many states could not pay salaries under this present regime. It is on record that dividends, in excess of one billion dollars, have accrued annually to the national coffers from the gas company over the past 12 years.
“These calls are more worrisome when one considers the history of sovereign assets divestiture in the past. Where are the proceeds from sales of the assets in the power sector for instance? With the benefit of hindsight, it is obvious that these assets were distributed to favoured individuals and surrogates of the ruling elite without any appreciable benefits to Nigerians.”
While acknowledging the dire need to stem the dwindling fortunes of the national economy, the NLC chieftain expressed optimism that the proposals in question will further weaken the revenue capacity of government in the future and weaken the economic base of the nation.
“Inter-generational considerations require that we build on these existing investments by identifying other profitable endeavours to invest in. What we need is to leverage on the stream of potential earnings from these investments in seeking to turn around the economy.
“We, therefore, call on Nigerians to resist these new scheming by those waiting and wishing to lap up these lucrative national assets. We need to preserve these assets for our children and future generations.
“On our part, we are ready, in partnership with other progressive and nationalist forces in our country, to resist the further attempt to plunder our common patrimony,” Wabba vowed.
