ALLEVIATE ECONOMIC HARDSHIP IN THE LAND: ANALYST TASKS PBAT
Ade Olu
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been urged to stop at nothing in alleviating the plights of Nigerians occasioned by harsh economic climate, which was recently worsened by the removal of oil subsidy.
A Political Affairs Commentator, Chief Chigozie Ezeugwa, made the call appeal while reacting to the latest statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics or NBS, which put Consumer Price Index (CPI) at 22.79% for June as against 22.41% recorded in May 2023.
The analyst argued that the removal of subsidy without any palliative measures to cushion the impacts on the citizens, has aggravated the sufferings of ordinary Nigerians.
“I don’t know what prompted the sitting president to go into removing oil subsidy without considering those critical issues. He would have made some moves to give palliatives to cushion the effects of the removal.
“He did not do that and the moment the removal was announced, it triggers upward trend in prices of goods especially food items as a result of increase in transport fare.
According to Ezeugwa, “the impact is heavy on the poor ones. The president should have constituted a sound and intelligent economic team that will weigh all options and advise him on the best way to go about implementing the policy and tackling the economic problems bedeviling the country.
The analyst, who noted that the oil subsidy removal was in order but ill-timed, appealed to the president to immediately reel out measures that are capable of reducing its negative impacts on the country’s economy and citizens. “Subsidy in Nigeria is an organized crime where some few individuals in government connive with those in the business world to siphon the nation.
“I don’t subscribe to oil subsidy. However, removing subsidy is not all about using the coercive power of the presidency. If we have seen certain things in place, we will hinge our hope on that. But nothing has been done to show that this administration is serious to tackle our national problem.
He appealed to the Federal Government to use part of the proceeds of oil subsidy removal to subsidize food as many Nigerians can no longer afford to feed well on daily basis. “There is no way a government will not subsidize anything for the citizens. There should be a food subsidy as we have in America and other places. You must subsidize certain things for the low and middle classes to survive,” Ezeugwa argued.
“Create enabling environment for the small and medium scale enterprises to thrive in the country to reduce the crime rate across the land. Hunger and starvation activate some other negative tendencies.
“People will challenge government policies. They will not cooperate with the government and all these affect the running of government, especially if they are not deriving any benefits from those policies,” he concluded.
