Fuel Subsidy Has Outlived Its Usefulness, Tinubu Tells Suffering Nigerians
Samuel Luka, Bauchi
Nigerian President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has informed the citizens that the fuel subsidy had to go because it has outlived its usefulness.
Tinubu who stated this while addressing Nigerians in a nationwide broadcast on Monday evening in the face of the current economic hardship occasioned by fuel subsidy removal, said the decision became inevitable.
Tinubu who said that the preceding administration saw the looming danger as well, revealed that no provision was made in the 2023 appropriations for subsidy after June this year.
“Removal of this once helpful device that had transformed into a millstone around the country’s neck had become inevitable”, he said.
In his text of speech titled, ‘After Darkness Comes Glorious Dawn, the President said he has for several years maintained the position that the fuel subsidy had to go.
“This once beneficial measure had outlived its usefulness”, he said.
According to the President, the subsidy cost Nigeria trillions of Naira annually, adding that such a vast sum of money would have been better spent on public transportation, healthcare, schools, housing and even national security.
The President who said such amount of money was being funnelled into the deep pockets and lavish bank accounts of a select group of individuals, regretted that those group of people have amassed so much wealth and power that they became a serious threat to the fairness of Nigerian economy and the integrity of its democratic governance.
“To be blunt, Nigeria could never become the society it was intended to be as long as such small, powerful yet unelected groups hold enormous influence over our political economy and the institutions that govern it”, he said.
“I want to talk to you about our economy. It is important that you understand the reasons for the policy measures I have taken to combat the serious economic challenges this nation has long faced”, the president said.
The President said the whims of the few should never hold dominant sway over the hopes and aspirations of the many.