Newly-sworn in Nigerian President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had thrown caution to the winds on Monday, 29 May 2023, with his ”fuel subsidy is gone” declaration during his inauguration speech. But the response that came from most Nigerians was quite unexpected.
Rather than an applause for having the guts to take the bold decision that his predecessors could not summon the courage to take for many years, as the country continued to bleed, what followed Tinubu’s declaration was shock, surprise and even condemnation in some quarters as the country was almost shutting down, embarrassingly, right from his first day in office.
The reality of that ”infamous” declaration, however, dawned on all Nigerians two days after with the announcement of a new fuel price regime by the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, and it clearly passed the message that, indeed, the era of the controversial and fraudulent fuel subsidy is finally over.
While some unofficial public parole of the government tried to steal the show by explaining the rationale for the decision as the President was yet to announce the appointment of any of his personal aides, the Managing Director of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, had no choice than to take up the challenge to explain to Nigerians that the time to face the new reality is now.
He even went further to inform Nigerians that the NNPCL had been funding the subsidy regime with a whopping N400 billion monthly as support to the Federal Government, stressing that the government was still owing his company N2.8 trillion as it provided the government with N6 trillion in 2022 and another N3.7 trillion in 2023 for the subsidy payment.
Although it is a painful decision to make at this point in time in our national trajectory, we want to commend President Tinubu for having the courage to do this now given the implications on his new administration that is still warming itself into the hearts of Nigerians. While acknowledging the initial pains and multiplier effects on every aspect of life of the average Nigerian, we must all note that there cannot be any gain without pain as we urge everyone to see this as the price to pay to realise the Nigeria of our dreams.
We also commend the Federal Government for consolidating its position in pushing the new policy through with the scrapping of the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF), as well as the national transport allowance for oil marketers by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) .
We implore the government to effectively monitor the new policy to ensure that Nigerians are not unnecessarily exploited by unscrupulous oil sharks who might want to abuse the liberalisation of the market.
We also urge the government to listen carefully to every concern being raised as it continues with the implementation of the new fuel price regime and handle the negotiations with labour with every sincerity. The much-promised palliatives must not be delayed and must be distributed evenly under strict monitoring to avoid a repeat of the experience with the COVID-19 palliatives that were cornered and hijacked by officials of the immediate past administration.
We also call on the Federal Government to beam a searchlight on some indirect subsidies being given to the rich, business and political elite at the expense of the poor Nigerians if government is really sincere about its intentions of putting a stop to subsiding the rich – a reason given by the NNPCL boss for the government’s decision to stop fuel subsidy.
Some of these indirect subsidies include duty waivers worth N16 trillion that had been given to businesses with nothing to show for it; N13 trillion given to electricity companies that are supposed to be privately run and the N5.4 trillion loan owed by over 380 debtors to banks that are being managed by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, since 2015.
We have no doubt about the genuine intention of the Tinubu Administration to turn Nigeria around for good and restore the glory of the country. While acknowledging that this is a very daunting task, we believe that this is not impossible if the government shows sincerity of purpose in all its policies and this would be complemented by full cooperation and support of all Nigerians.
