Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, halt the vandalism of the public sector and bring the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries back on stream.

According to the union,this should not be done as a favour, but as a right of Nigerians to save them from the war involving the United States and Israel against Iran that has sent shockwaves through global oil markets.

It subsequently demanded an immediate wage award and a Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) for all workers to cushion the high cost of living, stating that current wages are mere starvation stipends.

However, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr Muda Yusuf, has challenged the government to act decisively and adopt a number of strategies to mitigate the impact of the energy crisis and its effect on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and industries in the country.

While demanding a timeline for the full-scale operationalisation of all public refineries, the NLC also demanded that the Nigerian state be held accountable for the billions of naira spent on turnaround maintenance (TAM) of the facilities.

NLC President, Joe Ajaero, in a statement yesterday, voiced the collective anguish of millions of Nigerian workers bearing the brunt of a global capitalist crisis they did not create, which has pushed petrol prices in Nigeria from about N800 to as much as N1,300 per litre.

Lamenting that it was a direct assault on the Nigerian people, he said while imperialist rivalries play out with bombs abroad, the country’s working class was bombarded with poverty and hunger because “we have refused to make our public refineries operational.”

He also lamented that the cost of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) has made transportation a noose around workers’ necks.

According to him, food inflation is galloping, and meagre wages are being swallowed by the induced scarcity, saying that when a “worker cannot afford to go to work, the economy stops. When a family cannot afford three meals a day, society sits on a keg of gunpowder.”

Ajaero frowned at the brutality of the crisis, exposing the fragility of Nigeria’s downstream sector, tearing off the mask of those who claimed local refining made the nation immune.

He warned of the danger of sabotaging the nation’s refineries to create a monopoly, calling it a wake-up call for the managers of the economy.

“The Dangote Refinery has adjusted its prices in lockstep with global volatility, passing the burden directly to the masses. This makes a lie of comfortable narratives about meeting domestic demand. As long as we remain dependent on a market-driven pricing structure tied to global vicissitudes and refuse to bring our public assets to life, we will remain hostages to wars and speculators. No nation achieves economic freedom by exporting jobs and importing prices,” he said.

Labour demanded an expansion and overhaul of cash transfers to ensure transparency, noting that they reach the most vulnerable and are increased to match inflation.

It also demanded immediate tax relief for workers and a halt to all regressive taxes on low-income earners, including the proposed tax on the informal economy.

“Taxing the minimum wage is extortion. Nigerian workers are being pauperised and massively suffering. We are not a statistic; we are the engine of this nation. When the engine overheats, the entire vehicle crashes,” the NLC said.

Ajaero stressed that the about N30 trillion oil windfall forecast by the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) that is expected to accrue to Nigeria, as a result of the Middle East war must not grow wings like the Gulf War oil windfall, but should be invested in Nigerian people, and used to cushion the negative effects of the crisis.

“The government must engage in sincere social dialogue with Nigerian workers and the broader citizenry. Using the Middle East war as an excuse to further impoverish Nigerians is unacceptable. The primary duty of the government is to ensure the welfare of the citizenry. We demand action. We demand justice. We demand survival,” he said.

IN an advisory note, Yusuf said the surge in global energy prices, driven by escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, intensified cost pressures for businesses, and that in Nigeria, the impact was especially severe because enterprises depend heavily on petrol and diesel to power operations amid persistent electricity supply challenges, while also facing rising transport and distribution costs.

The combined effect, he said, is a significant escalation in operating expenses, mounting pressure on profit margins and heightened risks to business sustainability, particularly for MSMEs.

“Businesses are already contending with multiple macroeconomic pressures, including high inflation, elevated interest rates and weak consumer purchasing power. The latest escalation in energy costs, therefore, compounds an already challenging operating environment. Without deliberate adjustments by businesses and supportive policy interventions from government, rising energy costs could significantly erode profit margins, weaken business sustainability and dampen economic growth,” he said.

Urging businesses to improve energy efficiency; diversify energy sources by exploring alternative energy solutions such as solar; improve logistics and supply chain efficiency; adopt flexible pricing and cost management strategies; strengthen cash flow and adopt stronger financial management and leverage cluster-based solutions, he said these strategies would help businesses withstand temporary cost shocks, improve operational efficiency and maintain operational stability.