NIGERIA: WY WE NEED TO REMOVE FUEL SUBSIDY

     Fuel subsidy removal has become a matter of concerned to the technocrats, politicians, economists, labour unions, laymen, and illiterates: market women, barber, bus conductors, and mechanics and even the so called the lettered. This makes the issue more interesting as every seems to be concerned about issues that affect his life.

   The problem with our system is that we don’t argue base on merit but on tribal, religion, political and interest lines. To a layman, removing fuel subsidy is like bringing more hardship on him. What he has failed to remember is that even when fuel was being sold at 65 naira per litre, the haves were the ones enjoying the loot.  The bitter fact is that there was no subsidy before now and these beneficiaries of subsidy have being the ones enjoying the loot while the ordinary men on the street suffer. What the government need is just to bridge the gap of ordinary citizens’ doubt on whatever programme they are bringing.  The shouls inform people of their palliative measures in other to remove such doubts.

  The removal of subsidy is a process of deregulating the downstream oil sector which any sane man should really support.  We have been subsidizing corruption in the name of subsiding fuel since. What we have been doing was to import fuel thereby killing local manufacturing industries at some people’s gain. Besides, subsidy is a policy tool to achieve specific objectives at a moment. For instance, some states launch free education to push literacy rates in their enclaves, probably having realized that they are educationally disadvantaged. When this is not the actual objective, it is a waste. Some countries choose to subsidize exports to enable their businessmen and women draw closer to export-based businesses and thereby earn more foreign exchange to boost the exchange rate of its local currency, and to boost the balance of payment account. This is the only tool that increases standard of living because it allows the local currency to appreciate against other currencies and boosts the GDP growth rates. This ultimately attracts foreign investors without anyone going to beg them.

 The only problem I have with government is that palliatives should have been put on ground before the removal of subsidy. The fact made by Adams Oshiomole that this government will crash if subsidy is not removed should not be taking lightly. Hard decisions though need serious evaluation should be taking with caution.  United States, Greece, France, Italy and other developed economies of the world are facing serious debt crisis today because such decisions without measures. We need to safeguard ourselves from this mess and to subsidize to be sustainable. We shouldn’t forget that it is only few people that are benefiting from this subsidy. This is why many analysts argue that subsidy is now being enjoyed by the rich who have fleets of vehicles. It may further be argued that while many car owners in other countries show great fear over fuel costs, no Nigerian has ever batted an eyelid about fueling costs when deciding to buy more cars; for his wife, his kids, his parents, etc.

    Instead of fuel, why is government not subsidizing agriculture and farming to ensure food surplus and employment generations. No graduate in this country is ready to go to farm because our agriculture is fully subsistence without any form of mechanization Nobody is ever thinking of agriculture! Go from Lagos to Ibadan and all you is forest and land full of milk and honey without being utilized. Same goes with other routes in the country.

  We shouldn’t forget that removal of subsidy should be sustainable to make it work. Politics should be separated from it as we are used to in-coming government coming with different ideas and programmes to disrupt the already existing one thus confusing the masses. They borrow money and leave with billion dollars debt. There shold be accountability, maintenance policies and programmes as well as cost effective and corruption free administrators.

  This is the reason why I have maintained my stand on removal of subsidy on fuel. If at the end of all, we discover fraud in this laudable project of catering for the masses who are not enjoying this subsidy, then Nigeria may go the way of Arab spring in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya where people took to street because of their lack of confidence in government.

   .