With the full deregulation of the price of petrol nationwide, the federal government must quickly move to mitigate the harsh impact on the weak and vulnerable, beyond what has now become its trademark rice sharing practice.
These people must be supported with cash, a system that must be managed transparently, unlike in the past where insinuations of opacity were rife. This time, the cash transfer programme must be well thought-out and clinically implemented.
These monies must be transferred directly into the accounts of the beneficiaries in such a way that it can easily be tracked. Whatever the beneficiaries decide to do with the funds, even if they decide to buy rice with it, will no longer be government business.
In addition, the humanitarian ministry must be immediately reinvigorated to be able to manage this process.
In the past, when past and even the current government announced that it removed subsidy, these funds were never accounted for. Therefore, the Bola Tinubu government must henceforth ensure that the savings from fuel subsidy removal are properly accounted for.
Part of this fund must be deployed to upgrade the public transportation infrastructure and massively support the use of public transport vehicles with low emissions, beyond the slow start of the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) programme.
The government must realise that the most impacted segment of the population may not necessarily be those who live in the rural areas who are able to trek long distances or ride on bicycles, but the employed and underemployed.
These poor Nigerians in the urban areas, who earn very low wages and have to pay heavily for transportation daily to get to work must be considered in the next phase of this cash transfer.
On May 29, 2023, when he took over the reins of power, the President said: “The subsidy can no longer justify its ever-increasing costs in the wake of drying resources. We shall instead re-channel the funds into better investment in public infrastructure, education, healthcare and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions.”
This must go beyond mere rhetoric. The deployment of these savings must be transparently done. Nigerians must be able to point to what these monies are used for.
The point being made here is that whatever government is able to save from the petrol subsidy, it must provide credible, evidence-based explanation on how it was spent so as to restore confidence in the process.
The Tinubu administration must fight graft in public office. It must live by example. A situation where Nigerians are told to tighten their belts while government officials continue to loosen theirs must end. The government must restore the people’s faith in the governance of their beloved country.
Public officials who live on taxpayers’ funds must show good example. The nauseating ostentation in government should be halted immediately to restore faith in this harsh but inevitable government policy.
Government must cut its running costs, reduce waste and not say one thing and then go on to do the exact opposite. The consequences of people seeing that they are being taken for a ride after all, may not be palatable.
Emmanuel Addeh
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