*As citizens in Lagos lament untold hardship
By BASHIR ADEFAKA
Journalists in Nigeria, under the aegis of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), have described as an over-kill, decision of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to suddenly increase the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol.
The DEFENDER reports that Nigerians in Abuja woke up to reality of brief queues at the NNPCL filling stations in Abuja, signaling a fresh issue until it was found out the queues occurred as handlers of the stations had to adjust pump price from N537, N539 to N617 per litre. In Northern Nigeria, fuel now sell for over N700 per litre.
Price at the level of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) will naturally be higher, we gathered in Lagos last night as some motorists complained that they bought between N568 per litre (major marketers stations) and N650 per litre (others).
According to a car owner, one of the many private and executive cars that now have to carry passengers from Iyana Oworo at the foot of Third Mainland Bridge to various destinations in the state, due to the new phase of poverty being created by hatsh economy in the country, “the price the way I see it will hit N1,000. We are tire,” he pathetically screamed to our reporter among others without knowing a journalist was on board.
The untold hardship being afflicted on citizens as a result of the subsidy removal policy without adequate arrangement for paliatives has led to the Journalists’ apex body in the country crying out to authorory especially the NNPCL.
The NNPCL was yesterday Tuesday July 18 exonerated from blame by a market source, who told The DEFENDER that neither President Bola Tinubu nor NNPCL but foreign exchange should be blamed.
While some Nigerians agreed with not blaming the NNPCL because, as private business, it has to make profuts abd not fail, they have insisted that Tinubu should be blamed for making subsidy removal topmost on his heart without thinking about realistic way of amelioration the adverse effects it will have on the masses.
They argued that the government at all levels worsen the situation by their insensitive about conditions of the masses of the Nigerian people. They said government only attending to palluatives for workers reneges on their constitutional responsibility of equal treatment of all Nigrians as, according to them, the civil servants in Nigeria are not up to five percent of the entire population that must also be cared for.
In a statement made available to newsmen by the National Secretary, Mr. Shuaibu Usman Leman, on Tuesday, the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) noted that the development had already triggered astronomical increases in transportation costs, with prices of food items soaring almost beyond the reach of many citizens.
It further lamented the increase in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from N539 to N617 and N568 per litre by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in Abuja and Lagos, respectively, and called for its immediate reversal, while adequate measures are put in place to lessen the effects on ordinary Nigerians.
“We are saddened by the fact that today most people can hardly commute to work or other places of business without too much stress because the embarrassing sudden surge in petrol prices has made it so.
“We believe that this sudden decision is an over kill and we urge that the situation should be reversed immediately while adequate measures are considered and put in place to lessen the effects on ordinary Nigerians,” it said.
