Removal Of Fuel Subsidy Is A Welcome Development But So Sudden 

While the removal of fuel subsidy, if properly managed, would save the country from the existential wastage that past governments had expended huge resources on over the decades. But the timing and approach adopted by the  Tinubu|Shittema Administration forced the masses to see them as being insensitive to the plight of suffering Nigerians. Good leaders use their public speech to inspire hope into the people and rekindle confidence by their words of assurances, and that was what we expected from our dear President. Regrettably, it was during his inaugural speech that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu made the announcement of the  fuel subsidy removal, thereby, paving way for opportunitist black oil marketers to cash into the situation to rip Nigerians off.

Just the same way and manner in which the past Buhari Administration mishandled the Redesigned New Naira Notes Policy without adequate provision of the new notes into circulation, having systematically withdrawn the old notes from the market. Many families suffered untold hardships as businesses were almost on the verge of being shutdown. It was a collective national loss.

I know our President, as an agent of structural and infrastructural development, meant well by the removal of fuel subsidy which gave some of us the impetus to support the idea, but the bad elements among the oil marketers are the major problem.

As a concerned Nigerian and critical stakeholder in the downstream oil sector, I completely align with our President when he maintained that there was no justification for spending Nigeria’s scarce resources on subsidy that only benefits the rich, adding that his goverment will rather channel the resources to fix critical sectors that will benefit the masses than being shared among a few power brokers in the system.

For instance in Abuja, you see one  politician or a Federal Government contractor moving on convoy of about 20 exotic cars. But with the current market price, they will either reduce the number of their fleet of cars or buy according to their budget. Let them fuel their cars by paying the real market price. Enough of subsidizing the rich at the expense of the poor that are consuming less than 5% of the whole subsidy scam.

Funny enough, since that singular pronouncement, petrol marketers have gone into frenzy, hoarding petrol they had in stock, which they bought at a subsidied rate, and hiking the pump prices to as high as N500 and above. This is a disservice to nation-building and man’s inhumanity to man as the poor masses suffer it the most.

However, the subsidy removal, which took many Nigerians by surprise as the new government had not made any plans for a smooth process, has worsened the cost of transportation in the country as commuters now find it difficult to afford the high fares.

Transport fares have suddenly risen by about 100 per cent, with workers who are still crying to be paid their N30,000 minimum wage, which was approved many years ago, now have to contend with the new challenge.

Of course, the purchasing power and  standard of living of most average people will reduce as the cost of transportation may eat up the monthly salary of the civil servants and other low income earners as the economic frustration and its attendant hardship continues to go unabated.

Finally, let me cease the opportunity this medium has created to passionately appeal to independent oil marketers to show some sense of patriotism and nation-building, rather than keep fueling the already bad situation through indiscriminate hike in fuel prices and artificial scarcity.

While the meeting between the  leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the representatives of the Federal Government is still ongoing, I urge Nigerians to embrace the new petrol marketing regime and reduce their fuel consumption, as I pray  the government should put in place appropriate palliatives to cushion the effect on the most vulnerable citizens.