Fuel Subsidy Removal: The Missing Link

hat President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was inaugurated on May, 29, 2023 at Eagle Square as the President of Nigeria for the next four years is no longer news, what is rather disturbing is the vexatious fuel subsidy removal which Mr. President brushed aside the prepared speech to anchor.

At first the import of the subsidy removal perfidy did not actually sink into our heads, maybe due to the excitement that accompanied the emergence of a tear rubber president after eight agonising years.

It was in the morning after the inauguration date precisely May 30, 2023, when all the petrol stations were under lock and key, presumably awaiting the new petroleum pump price regime that it dawned on us what fuel subsidy removal meant and its impact on our daily subsistence.

Our ever busy streets suddenly became empty and the athletic spirit in some of us awakened the passion to weather the affliction, by taking a walk to our short term destinations.

Meanwhile the debate for and against the merits and demerits of the entire drama gained momentum as the issue eclipsed the euphoria of a new president mounting the saddle of administration. No one was willing to be left out in the debate. Beer parlours, market squares, government offices and university campuses were agog with all manner of opinions, either in support of government position or against president Tinubu as a person for allegedly being insensitive.

However, what is of concern and probable interest is the missing link in all the postulations. Why is the identity of the secret and powerful cabal behind the subsidy perfidy shrouded in topmost secrecy? Nigerians are almost starving to death and whether the product is available or not, does not matter to the cabal. Rather, what is of interest to them is whether the vouchers for their ill-gotten fortunes are prepared.

It is a matter of concern that government itself is afraid to come up with names, the organised labour is gripped with fear to unravel their identities and those who are busy with their tongues in the guise of not being left out in the process have proved that they are equally cowards.

Just recently, our respected and celebrated Mrs. Okonjo Iweala, a former finance minister and now President of the World Trade Centre (WTC) described the sacred cows as ‘powerful Nigerians’ but did not dare to mention names.  It is almost certain that the imbroglio would soon snail speed to an end with the identities of members of this clique still out of the purview of Nigerians.

Does it surprise us that the real enemies of Nigeria are the ones we are all afraid to unravel their identities? It baffles the sensibilities of some of us that those who have plunged the entire country into eternal debt burden and choose to invest their inglorious wealth in strengthening the pillars of already developed and strong economies of the western world are spared being tongue-latched, translating to the unbelievable fact that we developed clay feet to unmask those responsible for our collective woes.

How would our economy ever wake up from slumber when we lack the courage to point accusing fingers to those who have brought the country to her knees? How would Nigerian stop scavenging a living from refuse heaps if a few of us who belong to the so-called ‘powerful clique’ derive pleasure in pilling illicit fortunes from our collective nature’s gift, and how would we ever think of being ranked with those nations we claim were our contemporaries way back in the 1960s, if we are so lily-livered? Now a Nigerian has thrown his hat into the ring, ready and willing, with the heart of a lion, to battle with this shadow cabal behind the fuel subsidy regime and some misinformed Nigerians are rather accusing President Tinubu of being insensitive to our plight. Who would then save us from this self-inflicted delusion?