BY OKEY NDIRIBE

ABUJA – The controversial debate over the removal of petroleum  subsidy re-echoed yesterday in Abuja as members of Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, NASU, attending the union’s fifth National Delegates Conference, on several occasions, interrupted the speech by representative of the Labour Minister, Chief Chukwuemeka Wogu, for attempting to justify the government’s decision on the matter.

Shouts of No! No!! No!!! rent the air from different sections of the expansive hall at Sheraton Hotel as Mr. Ebere Ugwu, a director in the Department of Trade Union Services of the Federal Ministry of Labour, read the minister’s speech.

In her speech earlier on, President of the union, Ms. Ladi Iliya, had said Nigerians were going through their present travails because the refineries were not working, adding that over the years, a cartel did not want the refineries  to work because its members were benefiting from subsidised importation of fuel.

She  called on the Federal  Government to develop the courage to name members of the cartel since those in  government knew them.

Said she: “After all, it is the government that pays the so-called subsidy to them. If the government fails to name them, then we should hold the government liable as accessory to  the crime before and after commission of the crime.”

Sounding sarcastic, she congratulated public relations consultants who were already  smiling to the banks with the proceeds from the opportunity given them to misinform the nation on the issue through numerous advertisements in the media.

According to her:,“ adverts to this effect are already being placed in newspapers on fuel subsidy by some faceless organisations; one of such is going by the name, Campaign against Waste (CaW).”

In his own remarks on the occasion, the General Secretary of NASU, Comrade Peter Adeyemi, said the union made significant attempts to better the lot of NASU members by securing agreements on a number of welfare packages

Said he: “ Let me quickly add that in the above struggle, our push was hard, our plan sound and our maneuvers deep.  However, notwithstanding the above corporate commitment, we experienced certain impediments coming in the form of dishonoured agreements or partially implemented ones.

“The above challenge cannot be divorced outrightly from the enormous socio-economic and political challenges which regrettably have kept on undermining our nationhood.”