Fuel subsidy removal: Govs should be held accountable for palliatives — Devt expert

A development expert and co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Global Initiative for Nigeria Development (GIND), Micheal Ale, has advised Nigerians to look up to their governors for palliatives meant to cushion the effect of economic hardship incurred by the removal of fuel subsidy.

Ale, while speaking with journalists in Ibadan yesterday, also expressed the commitment of his organisation to monitor the disbursement of the palliatives to poor Nigerians so as to ensure that the process adhere to principles of transparency and accountability.

He clarified that his organisation’s resolve to monitor the disbursement was meant to ensure that the palliatives promised poor Nigerians by the federal government in order to cushion the effect of economic hardship brought by the fuel subsidy removal, was creditably implemented.

Promising that GIND would deploy its Track and Trace technology in monitoring the disbursement, he said: “We’ll use the same method to track and trace all projects relating to palliatives whenever the Federation Allocation Account Committee (FAAC) commences disbursement of the funds to States and Local Government in the country.

“Our Track and Trace volunteers and advocates are being recruited nationwide to monitor and report how palliatives are being utilized through Track and Trace (T&T) technological device. The purpose of this is to ensure transparency and credibility in the disbursement process.”

Ale who is also the national coordinator of Courageous Nigerian Livelihood Project (CNLP) praised Nigerians for their perseverance and resilience in this hard time when prices of commodities have skyrocketed due to the hike in fuel prices which has brought untold hardship on the citizenry.

In another development, Ale, who is also national President of the Association of Water Well Drilling Rig Owners Practitioners (AWDROP) urged President Bola Tinubu to consider declaring a state of emergency on water resources the same way he had declared a state of emergency on food security, saying it is high time water was given priority in novel national development strategies to forestall an imminent scarcity of the resources.

The water expert also tasked government at all levels to pay important attention to the issue of water resources (mis)management and treat it as a part of current national emergency.

He called for increased awareness and citizens’ action in order to draw government attention to the dire need to address the water scarcity and water resource management in the country.