The Gani Fawehinmi Memorial Organisation has condemned the high cost of fuel caused by the removal of subsidies by President Bola Tinubu.
The chairman of the governing council of the group, Babatunde Agunbiade, said the solution to the country’s political and socio-economic problems does not lie in the continuous increases in petroleum prices but in the establishment of good governance.
Speaking during a press briefing heralding the 14th Annual Memorial Celebration of the Transition of the late Gani Fawehinmi, Agunbiade said bad governance had brought the nation to the point it is today.
He said, “It is bad governance that has led us to the present situation we find ourselves in.
This recent increase in petroleum products must be resisted by all legal and constitutional means in order to save our people from the shackles of continuous misgovernance by leaders who are isolated from the people, so as to allow the poor to breathe
“The primary duty of any government is to promote and not to degrade the economic well-being of its citizens. In Nigeria, virtually every administration has shirked this responsibility. The more the increase in petroleum product prices, the more the poverty of our people.”
While identifying lack of employment as one of the indicators of poverty in the country, Agunbiade said no increase in the price of petrol in Nigeria since October 1, 1978, had helped to increase employment.
He added that the situation had become worse and was compounded by a lack of social security, even while unemployment benefits were being given out in Europe and America.
Describing the theme of the event, “State of the Nation,” as appropriate, Agunbiade said if the late Fawehinmi was alive, he would have taken legal steps and fought for the masses against the ‘unjust’ decisions of the government.
Agunbiade, however, noted that a systemic change was the only way to take Nigeria out of poverty.
This is because he also called on the president to restore the commercialization status of the sectors across the country.
He said, “The sectors that have been privatised should be public-owned again. The management of the sectors must be run by civil servants.
Nigeria’s masses cannot sit back and allow bureaucrats to run society, and we expected a change.
Part of the systemic change we demand is that the privatisation of sectors is returned to commercialization. We want a complete shift from what we are having today.”
The event is scheduled to be held in Lagos on Tuesday, September 5.
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