By Caleb Ayansina

ABUJA – National Association of Seadogs, NAS, weekend, said those fighting against removal of fuel subsidy were ignorant, noting that there was nothing like subsidy in the first place.

The Management Consultant, Typhoon Blasted Seadogs, Chief Emeka Okengwu, who stated this at the annual end of year party for children in Abuja, also described the recent call for mass action against government by workers’ unions over subsidy removal as a way of enriching their pockets.

He noted that there had never been any subsidy on petrol, as those who championed the issue did not even understand what it was.

Okengwu said: “It is a grand design of some cabal to drain the country’s resources.”

According to him, the money involved in the kind of scam that is going on in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, was enough to solve the country’s problem, wondering “how possible is it for the country to consume 40 million litres of petrol every day? No reduction no increase.

“Nobody knows the millions of barrels of crude oil taken by oil firms outside the country’s shores. The government is not fighting this one genuinely, because there are some charlatans that are taking kick-backs at the expense of Nigerians.”

Okengwu said what government should be concerned with was how to refine fuel locally in optimal capacity.

He said: “The issue of fuel subsidy is that of fraud. Not criminal fraud, but fraud of ignorance. Those who championed the issue did not even know what it was.

“How come the fuel we produced locally is the same as the imported one. Removal or keeping of fuel subsidy is still not going to bring down the cost of petrol, the government should begin to produce our petrol locally.”

He maintained that the recent call by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC and other workers’ unions are not genuine and they are not doing it in the interest of the masses but in their own interest.

He said: “Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, is even worst than Jonathan. How many times has the labour got it right?

“When they call off strikes, do they seek the consent of the masses? Do they come to us before they say ‘yes’ to government?”