·
We call on NLC, TUC, NUEE, SSAEC, etc to declare
24-hour strike and protests
Press Statement
The Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN)
condemns in absolute terms the latest obnoxious hike in electricity tariffs by
the government in collusion with the private owners of electricity companies.
According to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), a new
tariff regime will start from June 1, 2014, which will see tariffs increasing
between N2 and N5. This is aside the recently-introduced service charge that
ranged between N750 and N1, 500. By the latest announcement, a kilowatthour
tariff will go up to as high as N13 as against N4 in 2012.
We consider the latest hike as
insensitive and callous. This hike is coming on the heel of two previous hikes,
which have brought more darkness to Nigerians than ever. If allowed, the latest
hike will further worsen the living conditions of the working and poor people
of Nigeria, as it will engender rising cost of living, which will further erode
the meager values of the poor incomes of working and poor people. On the other
hand, it will lead to more profits for the private buyers.
Consequently, we call on all Nigerians,
especially working people and the poor across the country to mobilize to reject
this latest round of attack on their living conditions. More importantly, we
call on the labour movement, especially the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the
Trade Union Congress (TUC), and in-house unions in the electricity sector,
National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and Senior Staff Association of
Electricity Corporation (SSAEC) to mobilize for mass action to reject this
hike. While we commend the labour movement for rejecting this hike, we call on
them to go a step further by mobilizing the mass of workers and the poor to
oppose this latest onslaught on working people’s living conditions. An
important step in this direction should be a declaration of a 24-hour warning
general strike backed up with mass protests across the country. Surely, the
only language the ruling class understands is that of mass struggle of workers.
Had similar hike been met with this kind of mass actions, the bankrupt ruling
class and its big business backers, will not be contemplating a new hike now.
Moreover, we call on labour movement to
use this opportunity to oppose privatization, especially privatization of Power
Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), and demand immediate reversal of this
fraudulent sale. If there is any lesson that should be drawn from the latest
hike in electricity tariff, is it that privatization, as against lies of its
proponents, is actually meant to defraud Nigerians. It has not and will not
improve the horrible state of electricity generation and supply, but rather, as
we in the SPN have consistently maintained, worsen the sorry state of
electricity. Events have proved this more than correct. With less than nine
months into privatization, government, through the NERC and in collusion with
the private buyers, has hiked electricity tariffs two times. At the same time,
there has been more system collapse than before, while generation and supply
are at lowest levels. Reflecting the clear inability and disinterest of private
investors to improve power generation and supply, several thousands of
electricity workers, including thousands of technicians and engineers, trained
with public funds, have been sacked. Meanwhile, just a thousand megawatts rise
in electricity generation and supply should normally require engagement of more
staff to the existing staff strength prior to privatization. The simple
implication of this is that there is no plan to improve power supply, as more
workers are sacked, even when more are needed.
The argument of NERC and the government
that privatization, and by extension hike in tariff will engender more
investment has now been torn into shreds. Most of the investors in the
privatization rackets are portfolio investors, who relied on bank loans,
secured with property values of electricity companies being bought. Therefore,
Nigerians are only being used to service the profit quest of banks and
portfolio private investors.
The arguments of NERC for the latest
increase in electricity tariffs are indeed ridiculous and shameful. NERC had
hinged the increase on the excuse that under the Multi-Year Tariff Order
(MYTO), there will be increase in tariff when inflation reduces. This is
patently absurd. It is clear reality that more people are finding it difficult
to make ends meet more than ever. Over 120 million Nigerians are classified as
poor, while unemployment rate is put conservatively at 40 percent by
government. Moreover, basic cost of living has increased for most families as
cost of feeding has increased. Education, especially public education, is being
priced out of the reach of working class families, while fuel prices have been
fraudulently and unofficially hiked. Meanwhile, working people’s incomes have
stagnated. For instance, the N18, 000 minimum wage fought for and won by
workers as early as 2011, has not been fully implemented by any government.
Even if fully implemented, it cannot cover for the aforementioned rise in cost
of living. It is very shameful that the government that could not compel
private ‘investors’ to improve supply is quick to help them inflict more pains
on Nigerians. By the end of June, the second directive of President Jonathan
for improvement in power supply will lapse, with nothing to show that the
situation has improved or will improve.
All this shows that the Nigerian
government is acting in concert with the private big business to rip off
Nigerians, in order to guarantee unhindered wealth for private businesses. This
is not unexpected as the so-called political officers are themselves big time
capitalists, many of whom are directly involved in the privatization scam, as
buyers, front for buyers or supporter of buyers. Indeed, it is the same ruling
class, through mismanagement and corruption, who run aground PHCN and other
hitherto thriving public corporations. Having milked these corporations dry,
they are now selling the better parts to themselves and their cronies in order
to extract more profits by inflicting more hardship on Nigerians.
This is why we call on the labour
movement to reject privatization. The failure of the private buyers to improve
the lots of the electricity companies shows that there is no way out of
privatization. On the contrary, labour movement should demand renationalization
of PHCN and other privatized public corporations, under democratic public
ownership and control. With management of PHCN put under democratic public
control of workers, consumers and relevant professionals, it can be possible to
ensure proper and judicious use of enormous wealth of the country to provide
adequate and constant power supply to all Nigerians. However, this in itself
should compel the labour movement to draw the necessary conclusion that the
current pro-capitalist, corrupt ruling class cannot move the country forward,
as its interest is tied to that of the capitalist big business that is holding
the country at the jugular. This is the time for labour movement to begin the
process of crystallizing a new political formation of the working and oppressed
people with clear-cut anti-capitalist and socialist programme.
Segun
Sango
National Chairperson
No comments:
Post a Comment