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A professor of capital markets and senior lecturer at the Nasarawa State University, Uche Uwaleke, has sanctioned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s request to the National Assembly to utilise N500 billion for palliatives to cushion the impact of the fuel subsidy removal as a step in the right direction, even as he urged the legislators to give it favourable consideration as speedily as possible.
Uwaleke in a WhatsApp message said that while the nature of the palliatives was not indicated, the government should possibly look into the direction of non-cash palliatives in the utilisation of such funds.
“Reports say Nigeria has secured $800 million from the World Bank as a soft loan to cushion the impact of subsidy removal (expected to be distributed as cash to about 10 million households).
“If we add this N500 billion to the N600 billion (assuming I&E average rate of N750 applied to the World Bank’s facility), that should give N1.1 trillion.
“Consistent with the principle of maximum social benefit in public expenditure, one way, in my view, to ensure this money reaches the grassroots is to divide it by 774 which translates to about N1.4 billion and transfer this sum to each local government”, the varsity don stated.
He added that an optimal way to ameliorate suffering was via sustainable jobs creation.
“So, this money can be utilised as initial capital to establish massive skill acquisition centres in every LGA. The construction of these centres will generate huge job opportunities in the LGAs and help to reverse rural-urban migration.
“The management of the funds will be done by the communities themselves using traditional and religious institutions.
“In the area of mass transit schemes, the government should partner the private sector to address the challenge”, Uwaleke added.
