FUEL SUBSIDY AS A NECESSARY EVIL

Of late, successive Nigerian governments have contended with a sort of Hamletian dilemma — to remove or not to remove fuel subsidy.

But one question remains ignored — why subsidy?

When the subsidy in PMS was introduced in 70’s it was the then military government’s response to the oil price shock of 1973 occasioned by the Arab-Israeli war. The Price Control Act of 1977 which was promulgated by the Obasanjo-led military junta was to further cushion the effects of the crisis for the rank and file.

Through this Act, virtually everything was subsidized, viz – education, health, electricity, water supply, air travel and even provisions or “essential commodities” such as milk, sugar, rice, wheat and beverages, etc.

Although the Arab-Israeli conflict shocked the world, it does not have the same devastating impacts as the coronavirus pandemic that brought the world to its knees.  This explains why many families – yet to be fully recovered from the global economic crunch that accompanied the latter – are finding it difficult to come to grips with the recent termination of the subsidy regime.

Unarguably, fuel subsidy has become a big scam – no thanks to our oil marketers! Remember that then-candidate Buhari dubbed it ‘a fraud’ – but went ahead to implement it on being elected.  Peter Obi, described it as an organized crime and just last week ex-Emir of Kano, Sanusi, was in State House to thank President Tinubu, for putting a stop to the regime.  According to him, it has caused “a haemorrhage” in our economy.

Of course, it has been the business of the petroleum marketers to shortchange the Nigerian people who are supposedly the real beneficiaries of the scheme.  The marketers more often than not divert the subsidised petrol to neighbouring countries where they resell it at the international market price. The remnant is then brought to Nigeria – where it will not be enough for the country’s daily consumption. The implication is that petrol stations will be selling above the price cap of N185.

Again, marketers occasionally hoard petrol to create period of scarcity. Nigerians are left with no choice than to buy the same subsidised petrol for as high as N400, N500 and even N800 as it was the case in early quarter of this year while sleeping in filling stations. This is exploitation writ large.

But can this fraud that everyone is complaining about be perpetrated without the connivance of the Petroleum Product Price Regulatory Agency (PPPRA)?

Nuhu Ribadu, the newly appointed Special Adviser on National Security, during an interactive session organised by the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for its staff in Abuja in 2012 reportedly said: If I were to work on this subsidy, I would just arrest PPPRA officials, and through them, I would bring out every single person who took one penny from the government. I would get all of them because it is the gatekeeper that has failed so I would not bother myself with anybody else. No one can take money for products he did not supply except if PPPRA allows it.

This is the heart of the subsidy fraud. And it beggars belief why the rank and file be made to bear the brunt of the government’s failure in bringing to book the few wealthy individuals sabotaging the subsidy regime.

In Nigeria today, the popular jingle among the elite is “fuel subsidy is a scam.”  But history has shown that the poor masses tend to be at the receiving end of any policy met against the unpatriotic elite.

Like Naira redesign policy, like subsidy removal, ordinary people day by day are being pushed into the Hobessian state of nature — where life is solitary nasty, brutish and short.

“I feel your pain,” President Tinubu told us.  He furthered by admonishing Nigerians “to sacrifice a little more for the survival of the country, ” noting that his government will repay us “through massive investment in transportation infrastructure, education, regular power supply, healthcare and other public utilities that will improve the quality of lives.”

Without mincing words, this amounts to putting the cart before the horse.  It ought to have followed clear-cut policy programmes with implementation underway.  The argument or perhaps pleas that the subsidy fund shall be rechannelled to other sectors is making the subsidy removal, in itself, a scam! It conjures up memories of the whistleblowing policy era during which the looted funds were relooted.

Do you still remember “Jonathan Tax”? In 2012 when Jonathan-led government removed the subsidy in PMS, all hell broke loose.  It is interesting that those that were on the side of the people then are now pontificating on the issue just because they now have reins of political power.

Come to think of it – did the palliative rolled out by the Jonathan-led government impact the lives of ordinary people?  For example, the government, on paper, said it will make provision for buses that will ease the rising transport fare for civil servants in the 774 local government areas in country. Fund was released to that effect and was relooted as many did not see the buses let alone entering it. So how can we trust the extant government?

Questions have been raised on why those in the corridors of power — both executive and legislative arms –are not part of this sacrifice to save the country.   Why must it always be the rank and file?  Make no mistake about it, subsidised fuel is the only thing that poor people enjoy in this country. They pay virtually for every other thing – say security, electricity, water, food, shelter, etc.

If Tinubu-led administration care about the livelihood of the Nigerian people — which the constitution refers to as the real political sovereign — it should come up with palliative such tuition-free primary and secondary education in public schools across the country, free electricity scheme in rural areas, etc.  Any palliative that will not benefit the people at the country’s extreme corners is as good as what Fela called “government magic.”

Also, questions have been raised about the place of the Nigerian Labour Congress in all this. It is believed in many quarters that by calling off the proposed strike, NLC has to a certain degree compromised. The fact remains that ordinary Nigerians are left to continue with the Felan way of shuffering and shmiling.  All in all, it is important that we let this government understand that Fuel Subsidy is a necessary evil.

Asikason Jonathan, Enugwu-Ukwu, Anambra State