From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Former Secretary General of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Anthony Sani, has called on Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to support fuel subsidy removal by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, saying that funds preserved from it will help to improve the education and health sector for human capital development.
Sani noted that there was nothing strange and odd about the subsidy removal since it was part of Tinubu’s manifesto while campaigning for the Presidency, adding that it is a manageable issue.
However, the former ACF Scribe in a statement on Thursday said Tinubu should have waited till July or thereabout when the Dangote refinery would have started production, thereby forcing the price down to avoid inflation in the country.
“The NLC should support the removal of fuel subsidy by way of complete deregulation and agree with the suggestion that the ensuing difference in prices is paid into a Trust Fund as an exclusive preserve for improvement of quality and volume of education and health both of which have to do with the development of human capital.
“That way, the sacrifices by Nigerians from high prices would be their contribution to the socioeconomic development of the country. The situation is manageable.
“When some people accuse President Bola Tinubu of removal of fuel subsidy, they give an impression that the president has done something odd. He has done nothing odd precisely because he and other presidential candidates had the removal of fuel subsidies in their manifestoes. That it is a hard decision does not make it odd and undemocratic.
“Anybody who has been in this world knows that oil subsidy can no longer be sustained. That is why even the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari who is a pro-mass populist has had to change his mind on the vexed issue of fuel subsidy.
“The only correction needed is for the government to peg the removal of fuel subsidy on a timeline as from July 1, 2023, to coincide with when Dangote will start production. That way, the price of fuel may not be that high and stoke inflation,” the statement said.