Travel News

  By Panarat Thepgumpanat, Chayut Setboonsarng

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand will receive its first foreign vacationers when a flight from China arrives next week, marking the gradual restart of a vital tourism sector battered by coronavirus travel curbs, a senior official said on Tuesday.

The first flight will have about 120 tourists from Guangzhou, flying directly to the resort island of Phuket, Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Yuthasak Supasorn told Reuters.

Thailand has kept coronavirus infections low with just 3,559 cases and 59 deaths, but its economy has taken a hit from a ban on foreign visitors since April and is expected to contract 8.5% this year.

Government spokeswoman Traisulee Traisoranakul expects 1,200 tourists in the first month, generating about 1 billion baht ($31.55 million) in revenue and 12.4 billion baht over one year, drawing in 14,400 tourists.

Nationalities permitted to enter will be from countries deemed low risk by the government, which will keep tabs on them.

“We are not opening the country, we are limiting the number of entries and will manage with wrist bands, apps to follow them,” Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters.

The government predicts just 6.7 million foreign visitors this year after a record 39.8 million in 2019, whose spending made up about 11.4% of GDP, or 1.93 trillion baht.

Thailand in January was the first country outside of China to detect the coronavirus, in a visitor from Wuhan.

“Tourists will be on a long stay visa, starting Oct. 8 and will stay in alternative state quarantine for 14 days,” Yuthasak said.

Visitors need health insurance and a negative coronavirus test 72 hours before travelling and will be tested twice in quarantine.

“Thailand’s protection system can prevent a second wave,” government spokeswoman Traisulee said.

“We have prevented local transmission for 100 days before,” she said, adding that had made Thailand attractive for visitors wanting to avoid infections.

($1 = 31.7000 baht)

By SHOLA ADEKOLA On Sep 28, 2020

In this piece, SHOLA ADEKOLA spoke with stakeholders in the sector on how Nigeria can key into the opportunities abound in the dynamics created by the pandemic to help develop its domestic airlines. Many of the key players are putting the government on the alert to urgently put on its thinking cap on how it intends to support and back its airlines particularly the ones that have displayed the capacity to fly into any part of the world to bring in these drugs. While mounting pressure on government to give attention to its indigenous carriers, the airlines also are being urged to consider diversifying into cargo business by positioning some of their aircraft for cargo flights.

Is Nigeria ready?

Feelers coming from the different key players in the sector are that of uncertainty as to if Nigeria and its domestic airlines will be able to tap from the benefits inherent in the COVID-19 opportunities.

To many people, countries with strong airlines will no doubt benefit mostly in terms of revenue generation and access to the coronavirus vaccine as the issue of transporting the quantity to such countries required will not be a big deal.

Certainly, Nigeria does not belong to this class for obvious reason of long time of negligence of the indigenous airlines by the Federal Government.

Presently, of all the airlines the country can boast of; Aero, Arik, Dana, Azman, Max, Overland and Air Peace, only one may fit into a flag carrier Nigeria may fall back on to represent it when time comes for Nigeria and other countries to begin to access the vaccines as the pandemic still continue to ravage through the globe.

Obviously, airlines like Aero, Arik beside Air Peace have all what it takes to key into the opportunity but for lingering crisis tearing the two down without much attention from the government except their management by the government organ, AMCON.

Other airlines like Dana, Azman and Max are bleeding to remain afloat without help coming from the government to bail them out despite the negative impact of the pandemic.

From all indications, stakeholders are of the view that but for Air Peace that the foreign airlines will have as usual make the hell of money out of Nigeria while stepping into the lacuna the absence of Air Peace would have created.

Reactions

Mr Olumide Ohunayo is a director at the Zenith Travels and a member of Aviation Round Table, a non government body consisting of various aviation professionals. According to him, there is no other time better than now for government to prepare to build its domestic airlines so as not to be at the mercy of foreign carriers when countries around the world are using their own carriers to fly in and distribute the COVID-19 vaccines.

“Come to think of it, during the COVID-19 , what determined the power of carriers worldwide was their ability to support their countries, support the industry and support most importantly the health sector in providing supplies needed, carriers all over the world used cargo, converted their scheduled passenger planes into cargo plane and some just improvised as cargo aircraft so as to convey these health materials and other services during the COVID-19, Nigeria was not an exemption as the only airline that stood firmly and flew our flag, our flag carrier during that period was Air Peace which did supply to places like China, evacuated citizens of Nigeria, evacuated non citizens like Israelis, Indians, Chinese and it was able to do it successfully.

So invariably, our situation as at today is that Air Peace is the only airline that is ready to take on international partners and it’s an area that we need to look at and say yes that we have an airline on ground and this airline can take on the rest of the world if well supported.

Unfortunately, these opportunities that abound during this COVID-19 dynamics cannot be used because immediately the government came up with guidelines for resumption of international flights which included restricting entry points, restricting frequencies and not approving some foreign airlines coming into our airspace, I thought that would have been an opportunity for any Nigerian operator on the European route to take an advantage of but unfortunately we were not there before the COVID-19 and we cannot suddenly be there because what you are seeing now are those who operated before COVID-19 who are working on the existing Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASA) and this is not like a bus for you to just jump into. At the international scene there are so many documentations you have to present at the country you are operating into which takes time to approve. Look at the South African route now, Nigerian indigenes are yearning to come back to Nigeria using other carriers, unfortunately, no Nigerian carrier is on that route. These opportunities that abound are being blown away by the Nigerian airlines while the government of Nigeria is not using such aero political effort to get a Nigeria carrier on that route. I just hope we use this opportunity to build maximum of two or three airlines that can operate on these international routes. We need to build our own airlines and the time has come.”

For group Captain John Ojikutu (retired), a onetime Military Commandant at the Murtala Muhammed Airport and presently, the Managing Director of Centurion Security Services “Any compliant strides made by any of our domestic airlines particularly under the international and national COVID-19 guidelines deserve commendation and support of government but not the unilateral support or the discredit of any political office holders.”

With the COVID-19 pandemic, every country has formulated its own guidelines and directives from International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and World Health Organisation (WHO) and they are not the same for every country, just the way the United States Federal Aviation Administration safety standards are modified higher standard to International Civil Aviation Organisations (ICAO), so we should not blame countries that issue permit into their countries airlines from countries that meet their standards as against those that do not.

In his reaction, Mr Sheri Ayuba Kyari, an aircraft engineer and the Managing Director of Finuum Aviation Services, things can only be better if only the government can support the domestic airlines in times like this.

“Let truth be told. Every die hard aviator knows this fact, that had Nigerian indigenous airlines been supported all these years, the industry would have been a lot better and contributing to our economy many times over. The lack of support has kept the industry where it is today. I pray that we, as a nation, will have a change of heart and start to recognise and give our airlines due support to grow the industry and provide jobs for the younger ones. Our ministry must sit up and do the needful as we pull through the COVID-19 quagmire.”

Many key players are of the opinion that with the present state of the domestic airlines coupled with the lack of goodwill coming from the government that the country may be in for another embarrassment of going cap in hand begging foreign airlines to assist in flying critical medical facilities like the CORONAVIRUS vaccines when ready.

All hope is not lost

According to the key players, while the domestic airlines have their own self made problems, the bulk of the blame goes to the Federal Government for failing to back up the few airlines struggling to fly the flag of the country.

To this group, if government had shown more support, airlines like Arik, Medview and Aero would still have remained strong on the foreign routes they were initially operating to.

While urging the government to use the opportunity thrown at it by the COVID-19 dynamics, stakeholders are arguing that all efforts should be put on ground to give total support to Air Peace airline as the only domestic carrier that has the capacity to serve as the flag carrier that can be used to carry out such essential services like flying of medical facilities on behalf of the government.

Air Peace as an airline has built capacity and equipment over time that it can comfortably beat its chest when it comes to operations domestically and on the West Coast regions but waiting to explore the international market if it has the support of government.

Calling on government to draw its domestic airlines closer and prepare Air Peace and any of the airlines still operating ready for the role of helping to fly in the COVID-19 vaccines and other medical supplies when the need arises, key players have cited how the airline had during the peak of the pandemic had its aircraft dispatched to China on behalf of the government to fly in medical aids.

Besides flying in medical aids for government, the airline was also made to fly in the Chinese medical doctors. It was the same airline that was engaged by countries like Israel, China and India to help evacuate their stranded citizens in Nigeria back home.

It is on this premise that key players are challenging government to support its own airlines adding that if more airlines are designated on the foreign routes and enjoy the support of the government, the hitherto bruised dignity of Nigeria will be greatly reduced.

Role of FG

To many stakeholders, the federal government needs to realise that airlines designated on any route outside Nigeria  is the flag carrier of the country and hence, deserve the aero political and diplomatic cover and must therefore, not left to swagger  at the mercy of the designated countries.

“Equally, the government agencies should emulate the foreign affairs ministry which during the pandemic ensured Nigerian airlines had right of first refusal in the evacuation flights. We expect the ministries and agencies to use our airlines for future charter flights while we also work towards a phased implementation of the Fly Nigeria Act,” Olumide Ohunayo, a director at the Zenith Travels in Lagos declared.

Conclusion

Not very pleased with what they termed the government’s failure to support its own airlines both within and outside the country as witnessed in the hostile aero politics being thrown at the Nigerian airlines by many foreign countries, key players are of the opinion that time has come for government through the ministry of aviation to ensure more airlines are designated and empowered to fly the flag of the country around the world. Equally, all energy should be diverted by the government into ensuring that Air Peace that is for now the only carrier in Nigeria that has all what it takes to compete with the foreign airlines are not abandoned in the cold.

Many who spoke to Nigeria Tribune have warned against allowing the same problem that reared its head when the Federal Government jettisoned its domestic airline by choosing foreign carriers to do the job Nigeria’s airlines like Air Peace would have done cheaper to evacuate stranded Nigerians in places like UK, US, Canada and UAE.

According to the stakeholders it will be a disaster for government not to encourage Air Peace in particular to take the slot of the country to fly into the country the anti COVID-19 drugs once they are ready to be distributed.
https://tribuneonlineng.com/pr...

“Things are getting back to normal, even though it will never be like it was before,” says a relieved Petunia Maseko, relaxing in a bar in South Africa’s Soweto township.

Africa has weathered the coronavirus pandemic relatively well in terms of infections and deaths, though its economies have been badly ravaged.

While many nations ease their COVID-19 measures and citizens dare to breathe a little easier, experts are warning against letting the continent’s success lapse into complacency.

There was plenty of celebrating at The Black and White Lifestyle Pub in Soweto on Friday as the first weekend of spring coincided with South Africa’s transition to its lowest level of lockdown.

The continent’s hardest-hit nation, South Africa has reeled under one of the world’s strictest lockdowns.

“It was tough staying in for six months without socialising,” said Maseko, a 21-year-old engineering student wearing a brightly coloured Ndebele traditional outfit.

But virus measures were followed, with masked revellers getting their temperatures checked at the bar’s entrance.

Sanitising gel in hand, 26-year-old DJ Tiisetso Tenyane was delighted to finally play in front of a live audience after months of live-streaming shows.

“I’ve been craving to play for the people again,” he said.

He said that face masks are “the only sign left that there ever was a pandemic”.

On the rest of the African continent, daily life varies vastly between strict observance of health measures and total relaxation.

– ‘Back to our habits’ –

“We don’t care about corona,” Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara said, oblivious to listening microphones, when he kissed a party official last month in front of thousands of people in clear defiance of virus restrictions.

Although masks are still compulsory, that rule is “not respected anywhere or almost anywhere” in Ivory Coast, a health worker said on condition of anonymity.

“The hysteria is gone and the state no longer communicates much about the subject”.

In DR Congo’s capital Kinshasa, taking temperatures and washing hands are still the norm in the residential district of Gombe, which is also the city’s diplomatic and economic centre.

But in working-class communities, masks are being pushed down to the chin and people are shaking hands again.

For many the latest buzz phrase is “corona eza te”, which translates to “there is no corona” in the local Lingala.

In West African’s Burkina Faso, 43-year-old fish seller Ousmane Ouedraogo said he can’t wear a mask forever.

“We tried to wear it every day but it was the authorities who set the example by acting as if the disease was over. So we’re going back to our habits,” he said.

Nobody uses the hand-washing station at the entrance to Guillaume Traore’s restaurant in Burkina’s capital Ouagadougou.

“When you remind a customer, he tells you that the coronavirus does not exist,” he said.

In Chad and Gabon, many wear masks low down, covering only the mouth or just the chin, only to hastily lift them up when they come across the police.

In churches, mosques and markets, people jostle into each other. In the evening, however, a strict curfew remains in place.

– ‘Be very careful’ –

In the megacity Lagos of Africa’s most populous country Nigeria, civil servant Isiaka Okesanya said he now regularly forgets to wear his mask.

“It’s like God has helped us to get rid of the disease. We no longer read about those big figures of deaths,” the 41-year-old told AFP.

But Emmanuel Akinyemi, director of Lagos-based Estate Clinic, said that “coronavirus is real and is still very much around us”.

Health Minister Osagie Ehanire said last week that while Nigeria’s daily infection figures have been trending downwards, “we, unfortunately, cannot afford to rejoice or speak of success”.

The World Health Organization’s Africa regional director Matshidiso Moeti said the continent has been spared “an exponential spread of Covid-19 as many initially feared”.

However, John Nkengasong, director of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, warned that “we also have to be very careful that we do not over-project any successes”.

In West Africa’s Senegal, life has almost returned to normal since June.

This is in stark contrast to Rwanda, where one of the strictest lockdowns is still in place and police make arrests for “not wearing masks properly”.

In northern Africa, Morocco remains in lockdown, especially economic capital Casablanca, where large neighbourhoods are tightly sealed off.

Eastern Africa’s Kenya is meanwhile reopening its bars and allowing restaurants to sell alcohol again as infections drop.

“We are the most vulnerable and fragile at the moment where we think we have won,” President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Monday.

“If we have won one battle against Covid-19, we have not yet won the war.”

AFP

LONDON (Reuters) - British university students will be able to return home for Christmas despite the impact of local COVID-19 lockdowns that are already impacting students in large parts of the country, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said on Tuesday.

“We are going to work with universities to make sure that all students are supported to return home safely and spend Christmas with their loved ones if they choose to do so,” he told lawmakers.

“There may be a requirement for some students to self isolate at the end of term.”

Reporting by Sarah Young, Writing by Paul Sandle, editing by William James

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday he remained a supporter of attracting talented people from around the world to Britain after the migrant advisory committee reported shortages of workers in certain occupations.

“I remain very, very open to this country being a beacon for scientific geniuses who want to come here, talented people who come and make their lives here. That’s very, very important and we’re going to continue to do that,” he told reporters.

“But obviously we also want to have control over our immigration system ... and above all we want to ensure that people growing up in this country get the opportunities and skills that they need.”

Reporting by William James, writing by Elizabeth Piper

Lufthansa airline cancels all flights to India

German airline Lufthansa has cancelled all flights to India between September 30 and October 20.

This followed a dispute with the Indian aviation authorities over the number of flights it is allowed to operate.

Lufthansa said: “Due to the Indian government’s rejection of Lufthansa’s flight schedule for October, Lufthansa will now have to cancel all planned flights between Germany and India between 30 September and 20 October, unfortunately”.

The DGCA (Director General of Civil Aviation) said the number of weekly flights being operated by Lufthansa (as part of the air bubble between India and Germany during the pandemic) is 20.

Indian carriers, meanwhile, operate between three and four flights per week.

The DGCA has said this means domestic carriers are at a “significant disadvantage”.

The government proposed limiting Lufthansa’s flights to seven per week, which the airline rejected. Negotiations between both sides are continuing.

Qatar Airways made its first passenger flight to Ghana with Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which officially commences its four weekly flights to Accra, Ghana via Lagos.

This commencement makes it the fourth destination to be launched in Africa by the national carrier of the State of Qatar.

Speaking at the Launch of the Airline’s operation in the country, the Minister for Aviation, Joseph Kofi Adda said, “the emergence of Qatar Airways just a few weeks since Ghana reopened the Kotoka International Airport, signals the confidence gained from international airlines amid the coronavirus pandemic – there is something we are doing right.”

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner features 22 seats in Business Class and 232 seats in Economy Class. To ensure travelers can plan their travel with peace of mind, the airline has extended its booking policies to offer even more choice to its passengers.

The airline will allow unlimited date changes, and passengers can change their destination as often as they need if it is within 5,000 miles of the original destination.

The airline will not charge any fare differences for travel completed before 31 December 2020, after which fare rules will apply.

All tickets booked for travel of up to December 31, 2020 will be valid for two years, from the date of issuance.

According to the Group Chief Executive of Qatar Airways, His Excellency Akbar Al Baker, the choice of Ghana’s capital is due to its “fame for local hospitality and highly sought-after agricultural exports”.

“We look forward to working closely with our partners in Ghana to steadily grow this route and support the recovery of tourism and trade in the region,” he added.

With an immeasurable investment potential in Ghana, Chief Executive of the Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC), Yoofi Grant, is confident that Ghana is well positioned to attract both angel and foreign investors to the country’s tourist and economic development.

“It’s been two years of fruitful engagements with the State of Qatar. The investment potential is huge and indeed, Ghana is opened for business,” he added.

By Abdullateef Aliyu

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said African air travel fell by 90 per cent in August, with a forecasted 66% drop in global travels by 2020 compared to 2019.

The previous estimate was for a 63% decline.

In its report on Tuesday, it said the 90.1% drop in African air travels was better than the 94.6% recorded in July.

The capacity of African airlines contracted 78.4%, and load factor fell 41 percentage points to 34.6%, which was the lowest among regions.

But worldwide, the association representing some 290 airlines carrying over 80 percent of global traffic, said August passenger demand continued to be hugely depressed against normal levels, with revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) down 75.3% compared to August 2019.

This was only slightly improved compared to the 79.5% annual contraction in July.

IATA's Director General, Alexandre de Juniac, said, "August's disastrous traffic performance puts a cap on the industry's worst-ever summer season.

"International demand recovery is virtually non-existent and domestic markets in Australia and Japan actually regressed in the face of new outbreaks and travel restrictions.

"A few months ago, we thought that a full-year fall in demand of -63% compared to 2019 was as bad as it could get.

"With the dismal peak summer travel period behind us, we have revised our expectations downward to -66%."

BY  Idris Momoh 

Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki, has made a case for extension of the Itakpe-Warri standard gauge to link the Benin Industrial Park in Ologbo, Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of the state.

The governor made the appeal on Tuesday in a goodwill message at the virtual inauguration of Goodluck Jonathan Railway Complex in Agbor (Owa-Oyibu), Delta State, by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said an extension of the railway line to Ologbo would help in the movement of goods from the industrial park, adding that the railway line would be a critical infrastructure to easily convey products from the Benin Industrial Park, when completed, to the northern part of the country.

“We are excited in the state. As a government, we are going to be working with you to ensure that we utilise the infrastructure we are privileged to have. We appeal to the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi to work with us as a state to extend the rail line to the Industrial Park which we have commenced in the state to enable us freight the things we produce to the northern part of the country,” Obaseki said.

The governor congratulated President Buhari for completing the Itakpe-Ajaokuta railway line project.

“It is quite fortuitous that few days to our 60th independence anniversary as a nation, our president has achieved this feat of completing this critical infrastructure required for our development as a country and in our region,” he said.

 The interim Coordinating Committee of the Alliance on Surviving Covid-19 And Beyond (ASCAB) has written a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, debunking the claim that fuel subsidy was removed because it benefits only the rich and not the masses. The group went ahead to pulverize the lack of funds argument, listing areas where N94 trillion is trapped. 

The group, in an open letter, dated 28 September and signed by Mr Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, lamented that petrol prices had increased for three straight months, rising from N122 per litre in June to N142 in July, N150 in August and now N163! , saying there is no good reason for this!!

In March and April of this year the Government, the Committee went ahead, reduced the price of fuel by about 15%, but it has now increased the price again so the new price is now about 12% higher than it was last year (N145). “The new price of fuel does not make any sense in terms of the global price of crude oil and the exchange rate of the naira and the dollar.”

It went further: “Last year the price of crude was about $60 a barrel and the dollar was about N360. Now the cost of crude is about $45 and a dollar is worth about N390. So, last year the cost of barrel of crude oil was about N22,000 a barrel and now it is only N17,500 a reduction of about 20%.

Why is the Government forcing us to pay 12% more for fuel than last year when the cost of oil has significantly reduced?

Unconstitutionality and illegality of deregulation of fuel price. Mr. President, your officials and representatives argue that your government has decided to remove ‘fuel subsidy’ because it benefits only the rich and not the masses.

We reject this argument, as you rejected it during your pre-2015 electoral campaigns, when you argued correctly then that any government that said there was fuel subsidy was a fraudulent government. We agree and adopt your argument then that what is being subsidised is corruption, inability to fight corruption, incompetence and inefficiency in the oil sector.

Mr. President, your electoral promises to the Nigerian people was that the Federal Government under your watch would subsidise production and not importation, that you would make the refineries work and in fact build more refineries so that apart from satisfying domestic demand, your government would also export petroleum products.

Unfortunately, your Government has failed to fulfil these electoral promises. Mr. President, your pre-election electoral promise remains the only solution. The ordinary people of Nigeria continue to reject any other measure as fraudulent, anti-poor people and pro-oil dealers.

The policy of fuel price increases hurts the masses. There is a relationship between the price of fuel and the prices of all other goods and services. The masses rely heavily on road transportation; once there is a rise in transportation costs, the prices of all ither goods and services are bound to rise simultaneously. Therefore, the policy of fuel price increase is a conscious policy to directly impoverish the poor.

Mr President, when the N30,000 National Minimum Wage was passed into law, that rate lagged behind the rate of inflation. With the increases in electricity tariffs since 2016 and the recent increase by about 100%, coupled with increases from about N120/litre of fuel in June 2020 to N162/litre in September, the rise in VAT from 5% to 7.5%, devaluation of the currency among other policies, only a conquered people with slavish mentality would not resist the punitive economic policies your government has imposed on them. Nigerians have been driven to the wall and now have no choice but to resort to section 40 of the Constitution to peacefully protest policies that seek to annihilate them.”

Below is ASCAB’s letter to Buhari:

 28th September, 2020

The President

Federal Republic of Nigeria Office of the President

Aso Rock Presidential Villa Federal Capital Territory Abuja.

Dear Mr. President,

Open letter to Mr. President:

GOVERNMENT POLICIES MAKE THE DOWNTRODDEN POORER

Introduction

This letter has been authorised by the interim Coordinating Committee of the Alliance on Surviving Covid-19 And Beyond (ASCAB) on behalf of the teeming masses of Nigeria on the main issues of unprecedented and sharp increases in fuel price and electricity tariff.

Mr. President, in comparing the burden any past government has heaped on the masses with the agony the masses go through today under your government, the public perception of the effects of public policies under your government is akin to the Biblical verse, which says:

“My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions” (1 Kings 12”14).

The over 80 subscribing organisations to ASCAB had resolved to support the nationwide strike and mass protests called by organised labour and backed by their rank and file members.

Despite the calling off of the strike, ASCAB will still be supporting protests to achieve the aims of the strike of a reversal of the prices of fuel and electricity. We will continue to support the strike by ASUU for proper funding of the education sector. We will also support the unions in the health sector for proper funding for that sector. Finally, will continue to support protests and strikes for the implementation of agreements with the Government in the education and health sectors and for the full implementation of the minimum wage of N30,000 in all states.

We will also be campaigning for another increase in the minimum wage next year.

 The argument that ‘fuel subsidy’ because it benefits only the rich and not the masses

Mr. President, your officials and representatives argue that your government has decided to remove ‘fuel subsidy’ because it benefits only the rich and not the masses.

We reject this argument, as you rejected it during your pre-2015 electoral campaigns, when you argued correctly then that any government that said there was fuel subsidy was a fraudulent government. We agree and adopt your argument then that what is being subsidised is corruption, inability to fight corruption, incompetence and inefficiency in the oil sector.

Mr. President, your electoral promises to the Nigerian people was that the Federal Government under your watch would subsidise production and not importation, that you would make the refineries work and in fact build more refineries so that apart from satisfying domestic demand, your government would also export petroleum products.

Unfortunately, your Government has failed to fulfil these electoral promises. Mr. President, your pre-election electoral promise remains the only solution. The ordinary people of Nigeria continue to reject any other measure as fraudulent, anti-poor people and pro-oil dealers.

The policy of fuel price increases hurts the masses. There is a relationship between the price of fuel and the prices of all other goods and services. The masses rely heavily on road transportation; once there is a rise in transportation costs, the prices of all ither goods and services are bound to rise simultaneously. Therefore, the policy of fuel price increase is a conscious policy to directly impoverish the poor.

Mr President, when the N30,000 National Minimum Wage was passed into law, that rate lagged behind the rate of inflation. With the increases in electricity tariffs since 2016 and the recent increase by about 100%, coupled with increases from about N120/litre of fuel in June 2020 to N162/litre in September, the rise in VAT from 5% to 7.5%, devaluation of the currency among other policies, only a conquered people with slavish mentality would not resist the punitive economic policies your government has imposed on them. Nigerians have been driven to the wall and now have no choice but to resort to section 40 of the Constitution to peacefully protest policies that seek to annihilate them.

Petrol prices have increased for three straight months, rising from N122 per litre in June to N142 in July, N150 in August and now N163! There is no good reason for this!!

In March and April of this year the Government reduced the price of fuel by about 15%, but it has now increased the price again so the new price is now about 12% higher than it was last year (N145). The new price of fuel does not make any sense in terms of the global price of crude oil and the exchange rate of the naira and the dollar.

 Last year the price of crude was about $60 a barrel and the dollar was about N360. Now the cost of crude is about $45 and a dollar is worth about N390. So, last year the cost of barrel of crude oil was about N22,000 a barrel and now it is only N17,500 a reduction of about 20%.

Why is the Government forcing us to pay 12% more for fuel than last year when the cost of oil has significantly reduced?

Unconstitutionality and illegality of deregulation of fuel price

  Mr. President, as far back as 19th of March 2013, Honourable Justice M. Bello of the Federal High Court, Abuja Judicial Division gave Judgment in the case of Bamidele Aturu v Minister of Petroleum Resources & ors. The court declared that the policy of deregulation of petroleum products is unconstitutional, illegal, null and void. Specifically, the court granted reliefs to the effect that:

 the policy decision of the Federal Government to deregulate the downstream sector of the petroleum industry by not fixing the prices at which petroleum products may be sold in Nigeria is unlawful, illegal, null, void and of no effect whatsoever being in vicious violation of the mandatory provision of: section 6 of the Petroleum Act, Section 4 of the Price Control Act, and Section 16(1)(b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 which provides that the Government shall control the national economy in such manner as to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every citizen on the basis of social justice and equality of status and opportunity.

 The Court then gave the following orders:

 An ORDER restraining the Federal Government and its agencies from deregulating the downstream sector of the petroleum industry or from failing to fix the prices of petroleum products as mandatorily required by the Petroleum Act and the Price Control Act, and AN ORDER directing the Defendants to fix and publish regularly prices of petroleum products.

We are not aware that the judgment of the Federal High Court has been appealed. Therefore, deregulation of petroleum products in Nigeria today is not only illegal but also unconstitutional.

ASCAB, along with organised labour and the masses of Nigeria are determined to defend this judicial victory. Ultimately, the price levels would be determined by the outcome of the struggles in the coming period between the masses and the state institutions. The big question is: on whose side would history record Your Presidency – on defence of the masses’ interest or against the

 interest of the masses and in defence of the interest of oil and electricity dealers? We, in ASCAB, are determined to stand with the masses of Nigeria.

On electricity tariff

  Electricity prices have always been on the rise even against court orders that directed reversal.

 The prices shot up again from 1st September. This comes three months after the tariff hike

 implementation slated for July 1 was called to be halted by a resolution of the National Assembly

 on account of issues related to Covid-19.

 When the Federal Government privatised PHCN they promised a steady supply of electricity

 within six months. The private companies have taken over, but electricity generation has not

 improved. Why should we have to pay even more to the private companies when they have

 hardly been able to increase the amount of power they provide above the meagre levels provided

 by PHCN?

 It is not that Nigerians get cheap electricity. A study of prices in 2011 showed that in Nigeria

 prices were more expensive than most other countries (and this was before the big increases in

 2012). Nigerian electricity was fifty per cent more expensive than most of the BRICS countries

 (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and almost three times the cost in China.

The argument of drop in revenue/no money

ASCAB rejects the argument of no money to provide basic goods for the masses.

The wealth of Nigeria, as measured by the GDP, is now three times higher than it was in 1998, but the minimum wage is only worth half of its value then, and at least eight states have yet to fully pay the legislated N30,000 that was agreed to be paid from July 2019. As a result, the National Bureau of Statistics recently reported that 40% of Nigerian households have to survive on N11,500 a month or less, when the average per capita GDP is now around N75,000 a month.

The Federal Government claims it cannot afford the ‘fuel subsidy’, state governments claim they cannot afford the minimum wage. In contrast, ASCAB has shown that the Federal Government has money owed to it of nearly N95 trillion. Assuming the revised Federal budget for 2020 of N10. 8 trillion is constant, the N95trillion would fund the total Federal budget for over eight years. Annexure 1 to this open letter is the tabulated N95trn revenue leakages. We demand a Committee of representatives of Labour, civil society organisations and government to keep track of the revenue leakages.

Moreover, we argue that in the first quarter of this year, the government’s oil income was the highest since 2014. The second quarter figures were very slightly lower, but the August figures   were 5% higher than the rate in the first quarter of the year. So, state governments have plenty of money to pay a decent minimum wage and fund proper budgets for public education and health.

ASCAB also insists that the COVID-19 Funds, being money mobilised in the name of COVID- 19 pandemic should be used for revamping public education and health.

The minimum demands

ASCAB supports organised labour’s resolve to resist punitive economic measures. Ordinary people look up to labour. We trust the NLC and TUC would continue to provide inspiring leadership to implement the following basic demands of ordinary people:

1. Implement N30,000 minimum wage in all states!

2. No job or wage cuts by governments or the private sector! Wages to rise as inflation rises! 3. Guarantee security of life!

4. Protect the livelihoods of the poor and informal sector!

5. No hike in electricity tariffs, VAT or fuel prices! Reverse all price increases!!

6. Provision of PPE & payment of hazard allowances for medical workers!

7. Safe and conducive environment in schools and universities!

8. Upgrade facilities in public hospitals and prohibit medical tourism by top public officials!

9. Frontal fight against corruption!

10. Implement all previous agreements with trade unions!

11. Federal and state security votes should be used to meet basic needs.

12. A Committee of representatives of Labour, civil society organisations and government to keep track of the revenue leakages.

Unless and Until the above demands are met, we will continue to support the strikes and protests by the downtrodden Nigerian people.

Respectfully yours,

Femi Falana, SAN

Interim National Chair

 Annexure 1

Organisation

Explanation

Amount (Ntrillion)

Government Owned Enterprises

unremitted operating surpluses as at August 2018

10

Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON)

Debts owed to CBN at July 2019

5.5

International Oil Companies in Nigeria

unrecovered share of profits in October 2019

23.560

Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency

non-remittance of operating surpluses in December 2019

1.343

Department of Petroleum Resources

Unremitted revenue of N1. 9tn in 2019. Projected total revenue of N2.3tn in 2021

1.900

NLNG a subsidiary of NNPC

N6.840tn said to have been remitted, between 2004 and 2017

6.840

Illicit Financial Flows

Out of Nigeria 2015 till 2020

36

The Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts (Amendment) Act

Signed into law last year will fetch the country the sum of $1.5 billion per annum with effect from this year.

0.6

Ministry of Transportation

In 2016, the Cargo Tracking Note was terminated.

0.2

Nigeria Immigration Service

CERPAC immigration fees not remitted to the Federation Account

0.02

NNPC

Crude oil stolen from Nigeria by well-known oil and shipping companies between 2011 and 2014.

5

Central Bank of Nigeria

2006, withdrawal from foreign reserves lent to 14 commercial banks.

2.7

NNPC

2009, Exxon Mobil owes for licences of 3 oil blocks. of $1.9 billion.

0.73

TOTAL

94.393