Agenda Papers Editorial:Revisiting Vexed Issue Of Fuel Subsidy Removal,High Cost Of Petrol & General Economic Hardship—By Austine Uche-Ejeke

Last week a large number of Nigerians gathered again in protest against escalating cost of petrol, fuel scarcity and general economic hardship ravaging the country.

This time around the protest was led by one Abdullahi Bilal with his two million march against oil scam squad.

Suffice to state here that the genesis of the current economic challenges Nigerians are facing is rooted in the abrupt removal of fuel subsidy by the current regime on May 29, 2023 in the now infamous fuel subsidy is gone pronouncement by president Tinubu

Granted that payment of subsidy on fuel was a major pain in the neck of the country and the economy and to that extent virtually everybody including almost all the presidential candidates agreed to remove the subsidy if they assume power.

That the removal of subsidy is an idea which time is ripe does not mean that the citizens that are supposed to benefit from such removal will be strangulated to death as a result of such removal.

The point must be made here that before the ascendency of Tinubu to power fuel was sold at N198 per litre but as we speak now fuel is dispensing at over N1200 in most states of the federation.

Also to be pointed out is that fuel in Nigeria is the major lubricant of virtually all the activities in the country as such anything that touches the fuel affects the whole country in a very significant way.

Starting from the farmers , transporters, teachers, students, workers, artisans and all categories of people have one thing or the other to do with price and usage of fuel.

The farmers are affected because they need vehicles to convey their farm products from one location to the other and vehicles that will facilitate the movement of goods are powered by fuel. This is particularly so in a country where we don’t have functional rail system or efficient waterways means of transportation.

The same thing applies to artisans who also need this fuel for their work. A barber, head dresser, pepper grinder and all forms of crafts need fuel to power their clippers,dryers and machines for them to work. This is caused by an inefficient and epileptic power supply that cannot provide adequate electricity for these craftsmen to function.

Since fuel is the live wire of mostly all the economic activities in the country anything that touches it negatively always leads to restiveness, protests and unrest.

This is because high cost of fuel normally leads to high cost of transportation which affects virtually all the segments of the economy. It will affect workers and students who will enter vehicles that will transport them to work and school. It will affect traders and farmers who will use vehicles to transport their goods and products to the market and various destinations. As such if there is increase in fuel price automatically transporters will increase their fares and the traders or farmers will have no choice but to increase the price of their goods and services.

At the end of the day it is the common man on the street that will bear the burden as the cost of fuel price will be passed to them.

In as much as we all crave for peace, tranquility to reign in the country the point must be made that a way out ought to be sought to assuage this aggravated suffering that Nigerians are passing through now as a result of high cost of petrol.

What the government should have done or ought to do now is to see that all the four refineries are working. If the four refineries are working optimally the cost of petrol will not be that high as the burdensome elements of importation duties will be removed and fuel price will be moderate.

Federal government should as a matter of urgent national importance see that the refineries are revamped or at best sell them out to willing investors who will put them in order to produce fuel mostly for local consumption.

Also the government should provide the necessary support and enabling environment for Dangote refineries to function seamlessly and provide fuel for domestic use. All forms of bottlenecks, intimidation, frustrations, blackmail should be removed on the way of Dangote refinery for Nigerians to benefit from having an indigenous refinery.

All things being equal Dangote fuel is not supposed to cost more than N500 per litre and this will go a long way to bring succour and relief to the already traumatized Nigerians.

Most importantly the president should have the political will to stop fuel importation. It may not be easy to do that because of the faceless powerful cabals or the benefits people in power derive from fuel importation but a true statesman that loves his country and the citizens should put the people first and above any other thing. It is this fuel importation that drains the scarce foreign exchange and drives the cost of fuel to high heavens.

In the interim it is advised that the federal government should see what they can do to bring down the cost of fuel as the suffering is draining and killing Nigerians in droves.

Even if it means introducing interim subsidy until the refineries start working or Dangote refineries start functioning properly and selling it’s fuel at a very affordable and moderate rate. After all the natural resources of petroleum products should be enjoyed by Nigerians whom God has bestowed the resources.

This may not be too much to ask as virtually all the countries in the world have one form of subsidy or the other to the citizens. In the western countries we envy and emulate we see government giving subsidies in food, housing, education etc

Unfortunately if the government does not listen and heed to good counsel protest against high cost of fuel and attendant suffering in the land will continue unabated.

With the risk of sounding alarmist and being dubbed a doomsday proponent some of the protests and unrest may eventually lead to break down of law and order of which we say God forbid.

A stitch in time will not only save Nigeria the ugly consequences of constant unrest and instability but help to save lives of suffering and dying Nigerians.