Newspaper Editorials On Fuel Subsidy Removal Inconsistent

TEMITOPE AJAYI 

I have read editorial commentaries by three major newspapers this morning, all on the same subject of inflation triggered by the fuel subsidy removal and foreign exchange policies of President Tinubu’s administration. These policies, tough as they are, have been designed to save the country from its current fiscal cliff.

The choice between taking the decisions now and kicking the can down the road is either we bear a momentary inconvenience or the country goes under. To continue with the regime of fuel subsidy is to subject arguably over 200m Nigerians to an uncertain and debilitating future a la Venezuela and Sri Lanka. President Tinubu made the right call by removing the fuel subsidy and the corruption-ridden forex policy.

I find the arguments pushed forward by the 3 Newspapers to be inconsistent, considering the fact that these newspapers, in the not too distant past, harangued the Buhari administration for 8 years for not removing fuel subsidy and for maintaining a command and control forex policy.

Undeniably, these newspapers, television and radio stations offered their platforms to all manner of ‘experts’ who regaled us with their neo-liberal sophistry on how ‘market forces’ is all the cure we need for our socio-economic maladies to disappear for us to live happily ever after. Now that their prescriptions have been applied, the loudest experts and commentariat of yesterday are not willing to bear the side effect of the drug they prescribed.

There is no gainsaying that the current economic situation has further pressured the mass of our people, most especially the most vulnerable among us. What is not in doubt is the determination of President Tinubu to take us through this difficult moment. This is obvious from a series of collaborative efforts and policies put in place to mitigate the impact of this hardship in the short to medium term, from reviewing the national social register to interventions directed at food security, tax relief to businesses, and fund that will be committed to infrastructure. This moment will not be wasted. It will be used as a springboard that will usher in a better and more prosperous Nigeria where citizens will find personal joy and fulfillment. That remains the focus of the President Tinubu administration.