Barely 72 hours to the imminent shut down of the Nigerian economy by organized labour,huhuonline.com understands that government has a set aside “slush fund” of over N4billion to work against the planned strike by the labour unions.

 According to sources that are privy to the scheme, government intends to use the slush fund to buy political favours.To which end, traditional rulers, opinion leaders, media organizations and influential people in Nigeria and the diaspora are currently being mobilized with the intent to bribe them to oppose the viewpoint of labour unions on the removal of fuel subsidy.

Against this backdrop, Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has foreclosed meeting with representatives of the government over its demand to reverse the price of petrol from N143 to N65 per liter

In the words of Owei Lakemfa, NLC scribe, “Labour leaders are busy mobilizing for the indefinite strike action and mass protests which commence from Monday 9, and have no time for frivolous, unsustainable and unproductive ‘dialogue’ with the Presidency or any of its committees”.

“These stories of meetings with Federal Government are mischievous and part of government’s strategy to break the fuel hike protest”.

“The negative impact of the increase in petrol price is there to see; astronomical rise in the cost of transportation, school fees, medical bills, food and services”.

“The Nigerian people, unlike those in government are independent minded and cannot be bought by any group be they marketers, IMF or World Bank.”

In the same vein, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP has asked the Organized Labour, Civil Society organizations, Student Associations and Nigerians in general to exercise restraint in their utterances and actions over the recent government policy on the deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.

The PDP urged Nigerians, especially the organized labour, Civil Organizations, Students Associations and other interest groups to embrace the dialogue option already offered by the Federal Government in order to resolve any issues arising from this laudable policy”.

Prof. Rufai Ahmed Alkali, National Publicity Secretary of the People Democratic Party at a press briefing in Abuja, said, “while it is conceded there is bound to be legitimate fears and concerns over every new government policy, we should all be mindful of some anti democratic forces who, for their own selfish reasons are trying desperately to take advantage of this situation to undermine the unity, peace and security of our nation”.

“The fact of the matter is that, the deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry is a patriotic decision taken by government in the overall interest of all Nigerians. The initial accompanying pains will definitely be diminished by the long term benefits of the policy to each and every Nigerian”

“We should do everything possible to support President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in his deep commitment and determination to transform Nigeria into one of the leading nations in the world”.

Source: Huhuonline.com