Subsidy Removal And Its Implications -By Muhammad Yasin Yahaya

Over time in Nigeria, the word ‘Subsidy’ has constantly made the news. According to the dictionary, ‘Subsidy’ means; a grant paid by a government to an enterprise that benefits the public. Fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria has been a major issue in recent years; Nigerians are caught in the middle of the argument relating to its removal and dilemma of political propaganda.  

We can not deny the fact that fuel subsidy has over the years profited a few than it benefits many millions Nigerians. The few elites, a.k.a: the upper class continue to grow richer while the rest of the population continue to suffer.  

Due to the recent realities in the sector and its impact on Nigerians, it’s important to draw our attention back to the manifestos of the various aspirants; they all campaigned against the continuation of fuel subsidy having understood that fuel subsidy’s disadvantages have outweighed the advantages and the government must put an end to this.

Either we accept it or not, successive governments have failed to implement it, but the Buhari administration made the right decision in his second term. The 2023 budget excludes subsidy on fuel; it was passed and assented by former President Buhari. This means that past administration spent money outside the budget on fuel subsidy from January to May. 

Although government has the right to spend their money anywhere they want, it’s now important to note that President BAT has only followed the constituted plan for the country and was honest in his speech about the daylight robbery of fuel subsidy. The Buhari administration was only waiting to hand over to a new government in order to save itself from more troubles. 

I know for sure that this government has started on a good note, it is going to be difficult but we must start roughly and tough. If there’s anything I’ve known Nigerians for, it’s the strong resilience to survive any difficult situation and I therefore speak with a strong conviction that things would turn around for this country. 

Just imagine the trillions of Naira spent on fuel subsidy over time. If half of the funds were diverted and spent on education and healthcare, the story would have been different today. 

I am aware that some may say we have fuel in our country and we shouldn’t pay these high prices to obtain fuel. For proper clarification, we must understand that what we have is ‘Crude oil’ which must be refined and transported to various locations in Nigeria for consumption. The last time I checked, the government has not been able to revive any refinery in the country capable of refining the fuel we consume. If we actually compare how much we buy fuel in Nigeria before now and other neighboring countries, you’ll discover we buy lesser prices. 

Therefore, the trillions  spent on it should hence be spend on Education in order to revive our poor educational system and health care system to better the lives of our people.

Nigeria must work this time and I believe this is a right step towards achieving sustainable development in our society. The recent realities have created a lot of challenges for the good people of Nigeria but with hope and purposeful leadership of Mr President we’ll succeed insha-Allah. 

Muhammad Yasin Yahaya

Faculty of Social Sciences,

Department of Sociology

Ahmadu Bello University Zaria,

June, 2023. 

Email;muhammadyasin3890@gmail.com