Editor’s Note: The government of Nigeria has not increased the pump prices of petrol across the country. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, disclosed this in a statement issued by his senior adviser on media and communication, Horatius Egua: “There is no reason for President Muhammadu Buhari to renege on his earlier promise not to approve any increase in the price of petroleum motor spirit (PMS) at this time.”

The federal government of Nigeria has once again ‘quietly’ increased petrol pump price to more than N185 per liter, over 8.8 percent lift from the previous price of N170.

The increase, which also saw ex-depot prices shoot up from N148 to N167 per liter, comes amidst persistent fuel scarcity that has forced an increase in transport fares across the country.

In a notice to fuel marketers on Wednesday, the government directed that the new price should take immediate effect. However, N185 is for Lagos only, while other regions of the country have different prices to pay per liter. The price per liter is N190 within the Southwest, South South and North Central zones, N195 per liter in the South East, FCT and North West zones, while the commodity is expected to sell for N200 per liter in the North East.

The increase has stirred different reactions across the country. Fuel has been on sale for N200 to N300 per liter since last year, despite subsidy payments that gulped N6.4tn from  the 2022 budget.

The National Operations Controller, of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Mike Osatuyi, said his members lift the product at N240 per liter.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration had fixed June 2023 to totally remove fuel subsidy, a move that has been advocated as a panacea to fuel scarcity.

Critics believe there has been largely no difference between the price of unsubsidized fuel and what Nigerians are paying now for it. On Thursday, the Lagos State Government announced a plan to regulate the activities of petroleum marketers in the state. The move, which will see filling stations selling fuel from 9:00 a.m to 4:00 p.m, is geared toward curtailing perennial traffic congestion that has been unleashed in the state by long queues of motorists looking for fuel.

Another effect of the fuel scarcity is the high cost of goods and services, stoked by the increase in transport fares.

It is expected that the new pump price will be resisted. Organized Labour has expressed its disappointment over the increase, describing it as “shocking.” Vanguard quoted a top labour official who spoke on anonymity, urging Nigerians to resist it.

“It is shocking that this government has decided to add to the suffering of Nigerians in the midst of unbearable hardship occasioned by anti-people’s policies of the government.

“This increase is totally rejected and unacceptable to organised labour and the entire suffering Nigerian masses.  We see this increase as the last kick of a dying regime and Nigerians are not ready to die with the regime.  We cannot continue on this lane. The government cannot continue to use its failures to punish Nigerians.

“We have an understanding that we are not going to talk about any of the issues until the local refineries are functioning.  It is wicked, insensitive and the height of provocation.

“We are not only going to resist the Nigerian masses, but the Nigerian workers and the ordinary Nigerians will also express their frustration at the polls. The increase has reinforced the belief that Nigerians must take our destinies into our hands,” he said.

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has repeatedly led other trade unions to resist attempts by the government to hike pump price through strikes. It’s not clear if the unions will embark on industrial action this time.

Volume of Petrol Drops

He said the country is in a complex situation owing to the burden of subsidy that the government is carrying which is no longer sustainable.

He noted that the importation of petroleum products by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), Limited affects the government’s revenues.

“Sometime in July and August, the volume of lifting we had and what we have today has dropped by about 40 per cent or 50 per cent,” Mr Mustapha said.

He noted that the lingering presence of queues at fuel stations across the country could be due to the high cost of the subsidy.

Alphabet, Google’s parent company has announced it’s cutting 12,000 jobs worldwide, the latest company in the series of layoffs that have characterized the tech industry over the past one year.

The cuts were announced by CEO Sundar Pichai in a memo to employees, which was later published on the company’s blog.

“I have some difficult news to share. We’ve decided to reduce our workforce by approximately 12,000 roles,” he said, adding that affected employees in the US have been informed.

The tech industry is grappling with economic headwinds that have forced many companies to cut workforce. Microsoft announced days ago it’s laying off about 10,000 workers, joining others like Meta, Twitter and Amazon, forced to reduce headcount.

The 12,000 employees account for 6% of Alphabet’s global workforce. Pichai said the change, which cuts across many areas of the company, was orchestrated by the decisions earlier made based on the dramatic growth of the past two years. To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today, he said.

“I am confident about the huge opportunity in front of us thanks to the strength of our mission, the value of our products and services, and our early investments in AI,” he said. “To fully capture it, we’ll need to make tough choices. So, we’ve undertaken a rigorous review across product areas and functions to ensure that our people and roles are aligned with our highest priorities as a company. The roles we’re eliminating reflect the outcome of that review. They cut across Alphabet, product areas, functions, levels and regions.”

Pichai said employees in the US will receive the following support: payment during the full notification period (minimum 60 days); severance package starting at 16 weeks’ salary plus two weeks for every additional year at Google, and at least 16 weeks of GSU vesting. He said they’ll be paid 2022 bonuses and remaining vacation time, and will be offered 6 months of healthcare, job placement services, and immigration support for those affected.

“Outside the US, we’ll support employees in line with local practices,” he added.

The American tech sector is facing a different reality from when many companies, spurred by thee pandemic-induced economic growth, made the decision to expand their headcounts. Global economic downturn, compounded by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, has severely dented the industry’s economic outlook.

Among the many challenges currently facing the sector is rising interest rates as countries tighten economic policies to battle inflation over the past year. The result has been consequential to the industry’s growth as tech shares take pounding, forcing advertisers to cut back on online ad spending.

As CNBC noted, the gloomy macroeconomic climate has in turn piled pressure on those companies, forcing them to cut their workforces.

Update: This is how Apple has avoided job losses unlike other big tech: “As layoffs sweep across the tech industry, Apple has so far managed to avoid workforce cuts. But how? There are many factors, The Wall Street Journal writes, but some of them are simple and straightforward. Apple didn’t hire at the same clip as its rivals, and it “tends to run lean,” with fewer employee perks than elsewhere in Silicon Valley. The iPhone maker hasn’t emerged from this difficult period unscathed, however. Next month it’s expected to report a decline in quarterly sales for the first time in more than three years, WSJ reports.”