Continuous payment of subsidy on fuel consumption by the government of Nigeria has been likened to economic banditry that works against the interest of Nigerians except few rich ones who can cope without the subsidy.
This is contained in a series of social media posts released by a former aide to the Speaker of Osun State, Rt Hon Najeem Salaam, Akinyemi Oluwaseye via his Twitter account @cyberseye05.
The post reads:
“In Nigeria, subsidy payments manifest in huge revenue drain as well as in massive economic banditry.
The skewed pricing mechanism encouraged by way of smuggling across the borders, made it possible that our country does not get all the petrol it pays for.”
“The subsidy goes to helping mainly the rich, who can cope without the subsidy. Truth is the fuel subsidy debate in Nigeria has been tainted with elite manipulations and conspiracy.
The statement goes ahead to encourage Nigerians to accept President Bola Tinubu’s decision as it would rather be “financially advantageous to subsidise production and productivity” as is being done in economically viable nations across the world than to continue with the subsidy payment.
“Nigerians need to understand that continuing petrol subsidy works against their interest.”
“It would be financially advantageous to subsidise production and productivity, which is what has happened in successful economies, than to subsidise individual consumption – which is what we do in Nigeria with petrol subsidy.”
It will be recalled that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu made the bold call on the 29th of May, 2023 that subsidy on fuel consumption can no longer be sustained by Nigeria economy and is therefore “gone”.
This has led to many reactions from several stakeholders across the country with some giving reasons why the subsidy payment should be continued while the president has also enjoyed backing from majority of Nigerians.
Many Nigerians are, however, expecting a proper deployment of accrued resources from the removal and Akinyemi expressed same optimism in his post.
“I support President Tinubu’s administration’s bold decision to end subsidy and I am hopeful that the long term gains of this removal will outweigh the short-term pain.”
The removal of subsidy could save Nigerians up to 6trillion Naira annually. A sum that has been regularly financed by loans and revenues that would have been used for developmental projects in infrastructure, job creation and other investments.
Oluwaseye is a media aide to the former speaker of Osun State house of Assembly, Rt Hon Najeem Salam.
1 Comment
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