• Says petrol price hike, hardship won’t be permanent
• Opposes N70b as palliatives for N’Assembly

A retired Deputy Director of the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources, Sunday Adebayo Babalola, yesterday, urged the Federal Government and organised labour to avert impending strike.

Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has given the Federal Government a seven-day ultimatum to reverse all perceived anti-poor policies, including recent hike in pump price of petrol, or face an indefinite nationwide strike from August 2.

Babalola, in an interview, said the strike threat by NLC, if not averted, could plunge the country into deeper economic woes and hardship. He said it would further dislocate businesses, lead to unquantified financial losses, and reduce Gross Domestic Product. He urged the Federal Government and labour to dialogue, stressing that labour should not go ahead with the strike.

Babalola, who is a former Kwara State governorship aspirant, told Nigerians that the current hardship will not be permanent, urging them to only spend on essentials and cut costs.

He said: “We should be patient. This hike will settle itself out. When they removed the subsidy on diesel, three or four months ago, we were buying diesel for about N1,000 per litre. But right now, it has come down to N600 per litre. So, it will be moving up and down. Nigerians should also be sure that whatever is happening now is temporary. It will abate. I want to assure Nigerians that hard times never last but tough people do.

“I want to advise Nigerians to cut costs on things that are sincerely not necessary. You want to discuss something? Call the person on the phone. There is a saying that ‘talk is in the eye.’ You do not need to see the person before you talk. So, cut unnecessary expenditure.”

“If you do those things that are truly necessary, everything will eventually stabilise. It is better for us to go through this than pretend we are doing subsidies, whereas a few are embezzling the nation’s treasury.

“Marketers should import refined products. It is now an open system. I want to advise everybody that this thing is not a one-way traffic. So many things will be affected by what we are doing now. The exchange rate will affect it, oil prices will affect it.”

He added: “The government should just be focused and do the right thing. They have the facts. They have the data. My advice will be based on what we read in the newspapers and hear on television. But the real advice is: if you have the raw data and you analyse it, then you can give proper advice. But on the surface, they should be focused.”