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The Federal Government’s plan to transfer N8,000 per month to 12 million poor Nigerians families to cushion the effects of the recent petrol subsidy removal will further impoverish them. With the sudden and uncritical removal of fuel subsidy and the subsequent high cost of petrol, the prices of food items have increased astronomically by more than 100 percent. The unification of the exchange rates without adequate supply of the dollar has weakened the naira before other currencies. The inflation rate is so high that value of the naira has depreciated the more. The government should save the naira before it loses its value. With the situation on ground now, not many Nigerians can access the dollar through the much advertised Investors and Exporters (I&E) window, which is always closed to ordinary poor Nigerians. The Aboki forex window remains the only option for most Nigerians shut out of the I&E window due to undue documentations and waste of time. The Aboki forex window is the most pragmatic. I wish the I&E window can emulate the Aboki forex market. If the national minimum wage of N30,000 per month cannot take care of a family of two or three, I wonder how the N8,000 monthly stipend can take care of a poor family of six or more people? How did the government arrive at the figure of vulnerable 12 million Nigerian families? The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said that 133 million Nigerians are multidimensionally poor. The number of poor Nigerians might have risen to over 140 million since the removal of the fuel subsidy in one fell swoop by the Tinubu administration. Some of the policies of the new government, especially those being endorsed left and right and centre by the World Bank and its sister, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), are not pro-people. When the so-called subsidy was in place, we didn’t witness what we have passed through since the abrupt removal of the fuel subsidy. If the Tinubu administration really wants to alleviate the hardships of Nigerians at this point in time, he should increase the subsidy palliative to at least N30,000 per month for 60 million Nigerians. The current misery and agony Nigerians are passing through now cannot be justified by the so-called gains of the removal of the corruption-ridden petrol subsidy regime. What have we gained since the removal of the so-called petrol subsidy? Put differently, what exactly shall the common man gain from the removal of the fuel subsidy? Nothing. Absolutely, nothing. The poor man in the street will absolutely gain nothing from the deal. The over-taxed and highly pauperized Nigerians will gain nothing from fuel subsidy removal. It is still them and them. It is still their usual business. The rich will always gain from the skewed Nigerian system and nothing for the poor masses. The Nigerian system is tailored to benefit the rich and their cronies. The poor masses are put at great disadvantage by our transactional politics. There is nothing wrong with granting of subsidy for some goods or food items. Outside our shores, food items are subsidized by the government to enable the farmers produce them in large quantities as a way of ensuring food security. This is the case in the United States and some other countries abroad.
The worst of it is that we lack social security system which is available in the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), Canada and other countries. But the little subsidy Nigerians are enjoying from petrol which God gave us, the World Bank and IMF would insist that it should be removed before we develop. They should come and see that the bitter pills they are recommending for us will instead of healing the economy, worsen it. If American and British citizens enjoy some kind of subsidy, I believe strongly that Nigerians will be entitled to some kind of subsidy as well. If theirs is food or whatever, ours can be fuel, because God gave it to us in abundance. We didn’t buy the crude oil from any market. It is our own and we must enjoy it. Nobody should deny us that privilege. It is our laziness, the laziness of our leaders that make us to sell raw crude and import refined petroleum products. Poor country, poor thinking. Those of us taking the pills can no longer bear its excruciating pains any longer. No country develops if its citizens cannot have adequate means of transportation, functional water supply system, good education and health systems. No country can develop when the majority of its citizens cannot afford three meals in a day. No country can develop when many of its citizens cannot afford petrol for fueling their cars and generators.
In a country with erratic power supply, many Nigerians depend solely on small generators or ‘I better pass my neighbour’ for their electricity. Since the removal of petrol subsidy, millions of Nigerians can no longer afford daily meals, they can no longer afford the rising transportation fares. Some trek to work every day. Some Nigerians now live in their offices from Monday to Friday on account of rising fares. If 12 million Nigerians will receive a paltry N8,000 per month for the six months the dole will last, how can the government explain allotting N70 billion to the members of the National Assembly?
Do NASS members deserve any palliative? The answer is capital NO. They don’t need it. They have enough. They should not be over-pampered. Their jumbo salaries, allowances and perks of office are enough for them. They don’t need any addition. They should have mercy on millions of poor Nigerians who voted them into office. Members of the NASS and their support Staff are not up to 1,000. Why should they get N70 billion palliative when over 133 million Nigerians live below $1 per day? One senator came on a national television on Monday to rationalize the N70 billion palliative but could not convince any Nigerian. I pitied him as he struggled to make his points. This is why some Nigerians have called for unicameral legislature as well as the legislative duty being on part-time basis as obtains in some climes. Why should the NASS members buy Toyota Landcruiser and Toyota Prado vehicles when there are local alternatives? Innoson Motors and others can meet their vehicle needs. At a time Nigerians are calling for sacrifice from the political leaders, the allocation of N70 billion to NASS for whatever purpose is callous, insensitive and not in consonance with the mood of the nation when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has urged ordinary Nigerians to make more sacrifices for national development.Again, what is the judiciary doing with N35 billion when the health sector is dying along with the education sector? Is it to aid its slow dispensation of justice? This obtains in a country being ravaged by rising insecurity and where over 20 million children are outside the classroom. Unfortunately, nobody cares about bringing them into the classroom.
President Tinubu should not make Buhari’s regime to be better than his by the anti-people policies the administration is pursuing with vigour and propaganda. It is not late yet to reexamine some of his policies and make amends where necessary. The economy under his watch is collapsing. It will soon die. Manufacturers have told him so. Other stakeholders have also raised the alarm. Things are not okay in Nigeria. Things are not okay for Nigerians. The people are groaning and suffering. Nigerians are dying. Many companies are divesting from Nigeria and relocating to other neighbouring countries. What is the government doing to bring them back? This is a million dollar question which those in government should answer immediately.
Bola Tinubu should stop copying Muhammadu Buhari. He should name his ministers so that together all of them chart the way forward for over 200 million Nigerians. The honeymoon is over. This is the time to work, work and work. Governance at the federal level is far beyond the expertise and understanding of one man. Our government should not revolve around one man. We have indeed passed that stage. Having ministers in place will at least show where the government is moving Nigeria to. It will show that government is really in place. For now, the road ahead is not so clear. It is so cloudy and bumpy.
