By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Nigerian leader has again justified his administration’s decision to remove subsidy on petroleum pump price, an action he said was necessary to save the West African country from going bankrupt.
Tinubu a former Governor of Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria, and elected on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) February 2023 to succeed Muhammadu Buhari, announced the removal of subsidy on petrol on his May 29 inauguration when he echoed “subsidy is gone” during his speech.
Minutes after the announcement was made, queues surfaced at fuel stations, which was immediately followed by high transportation cost, inflation on staple foods and unprecedented hardship in a country where a large majority lives below poverty line.
But speaking as one of the panelists at the ongoing World Economic Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Sunday, Tinubu justified the petrol subsidy removal, maintaining that it was needed to reset the economy.
“For Nigeria, we are immensely consistent with belief that the economic collaboration and inclusiveness is necessary to engender stability in the rest of the world.
“Concerning the question of the subsidy removal, there is no doubt that it was a necessary action for my country not to go bankrupt, to reset the economy and pathway to growth,” Tinubu said.
He also admitted the difficulty associated with his decision to jettison the policy which has allowed Nigerians to purchase petrol at cheaper rates for years but said that he was convinced it was in the best interest of the people.
“It is going to be difficult, but the hallmark of leadership is taking difficult decision at the time it ought to be taken decisively. That was necessary for the country. Yes, there will be blowback, there is expectation that the difficulty in it will be felt by greater number of the people, but once I believe it is their interest that is the focus of the government, it is easier to manage and explain the difficulties.
“Along the line, there is a parallel arrangement to really cushion the effect of the subsidy removal on the vulnerable population of the country. We share the pain across board, we cannot but include those who are vulnerable.
“Luckily, we have a very vibrant youthful population interested in discoveries by themselves and they are highly ready for technology, good education committed to growth. We are able to manage that and partition the economic drawback and the fallout of subsidy removal.”
Tinubu said that the petrol subsidy removal equally engendered accountability, transparency and physical discipline for the country. According to him, that is more important to focus on what direction the country should go.
The West African nation has faced raft of inflation, especially food items, excarcebated by the cost of transportating farm produce from the rural to urban centres.
An import-dependent economy, the rapid reduction in the value of local currency, Naira to the Dollar has also affected the standard of living in millions of Nigerian homes
The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and its affiliate, Trade Union Congress (TUC) have insisted on upward review of the current minimum wage of N30,000 to mitigate the harsh economic environment faced by Nigerian workers.
The government has instead appealed for patience as measures are being worked out on a new national minimum wage.
Protest has hit several cities of the country, including Lagos home state of Tinubu over increasing cost-of-living.
The governing All Progressives Congress has maintained that Tinubu is on the right track to reposition the economy for effective performance despite grievances stoked by many policies of the government that sank millions of persons into the poverty line.
The World Economic Forum meeting focuses on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development.
