PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has refused to return the fuel subsidy despite demands by the ongoing #EndBadGovernance protesters that he reverse its suspension.
The ICIR reported that insecurity, inflation and a hike in the cost of living among others pushed many Nigerians to stage a nationwide protest, which began on Thursday, August 1.
Tinubu had stopped fuel subsidy and devalued the local currency – the naira – thus causing a spiral hike in food and commodity prices.
In a nationwide broadcast to Nigerians in the morning of Sunday, August 4, Tinubu said even though the decision to remove the fuel subsidy was painful, it was necessary because it had constituted a noose around the nation’s economic jugular and impeded economic development and progress.
“For decades, our economy has remained anaemic and taken a dip because of many misalignments that have stunted our growth. Just over a year ago, our dear country, Nigeria, reached a point where we couldn’t afford to continue the use of temporary solutions to solve long-term problems for the sake of now and our unborn generations.
“I, therefore, took the painful yet necessary decision to remove fuel subsidies and abolish multiple foreign exchange systems which had constituted a noose around the economic jugular of our nation and impeded our economic development and progress,” the President stated.
He said these actions blocked the greed and profits that smugglers and rent-seekers had made. They also blocked the undue subsidies Nigeria had extended to its neighbouring countries to the detriment of its people, rendering its economy prostrate.
“These decisions I made were necessary if we must reverse the decades of economic mismanagement that didn’t serve us well. Yes, I agree, the buck stops on my table. But I can assure you that I am focused fully on delivering the governance to the people – good governance for that matter.”
Tinubu further outlined measures aimed at cushioning the effects of the subsidy removal.
Among them was the launch of a compressed natural gas initiative (CNG) designed to power the transportation sector, significantly cutting costs and saving over two trillion naira monthly, which can be redirected to healthcare and education, argued the President.
Palliatives and Loans
To support this initiative, Tinubu revealed that one million conversion kits would be distributed at low or no cost to commercial vehicles, which consume 80 per cent of imported petrol and diesel. He noted that this initiative was expected to reduce transportation costs by about 60 per cent, thereby helping to control inflation.
He restated his administration’s commitment to youth development through the student loan scheme, claiming that 45.6 billion naira was already processed for payment to students and their institutions.
Additionally, he encouraged more young people to benefit from the newly established Consumer Credit Corporation, which he said had over N200 billion allocated to help Nigerians acquire essential products without immediate cash payments to reduce corruption and eliminate opaque cash transactions.
He also mentioned that an additional N50 billion each had been released for the student loan and credit corporation from the proceeds of crime recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Tinubu further announced securing $620 million under the Digital and Creative Enterprises (IDiCE) programme, which he said aimed to create millions of IT and technical jobs, making Nigerian youth globally competitive. He, however, decried the vandalisation of one of the digital centres in Kano during the hunger protest.
The President stated that 75,000 beneficiaries were set to receive N1 million micro and small business single-digit interest loans starting this month, and 10 MSME hubs had been built, creating 240,000 jobs, with five more hubs in progress.
“Payments of N1 billion each are also being made to large manufacturers under our single-digit loans to boost manufacturing output and stimulate growth,” he said.
Housing and Agric sector
In the housing sector, he said he had inaugurated the first phase of the Renewed Hope City and Estate in Karsana, Abuja, which is part of a larger plan to build six such cities across the nation’s geopolitical zones, each with at least 1,000 housing units.
Additionally, he announced that Renewed Hope Estates, with 500 housing units each, would be launched in every state, aiming to complete 100,000 housing units over the next three years.
To further support food production, Tinubu reminded Nigerians that he had directed the removal of tariffs and import duties on rice, wheat, maize, sorghum, drugs, and other pharmaceutical and medical supplies for six months among other initiatives targeted at supporting farmers.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.