Subsidy Removal: I Have Not Come To Hurt Nigerians That I Love – President Tinubu
“Our economy is going through a tough patch and you are being hurt by it. The cost of fuel has gone up. Food and other prices have followed it. Households and businesses struggle. Things seem anxious and uncertain. I understand the hardship you face. I wish there were other ways. But there is not. If there were, I would have taken that route as I came here to help not hurt the people and nation that I love.”
These were the words of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in a nationwide broadcast to Nigerians today, July 31.
The President said that what he can offer in the immediate after the fuel subsidy removal is to reduce the burden the current economic situation has imposed on all, most especially on businesses, the working class and the most vulnerable ones.
President Tinubu reminded Nigerians that he had promised to reform the economy for the long-term good by fighting the major imbalances that had plagued the nation’s economy.
“Ending the subsidy and the preferential exchange rate system were key to this fight. This fight is to define the fate and future of our nation. Much is in the balance.
“Thus, the defects in our economy immensely profited a tiny elite, the elite of the elite you might call them. As we moved to fight the flaws in the economy, the people who grow rich from them, predictably, will fight back through every means necessary.”
The full text of President Tinubu’s 41- paragraph broadcast on the current economic challenges, titled: After Darkness Comes The Glorious Dawn:
My fellow citizens,
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.
I am not going to talk in difficult terms by dwelling on economic jargon and concepts. I will speak in plain, clear language so that you know where I stand. More importantly, so that you see and hopefully will share my vision regarding the journey to a better, more productive economy for our beloved country.
For several years, I have consistently maintained the position that the fuel subsidy had to go. This once beneficial measure had outlived its usefulness. The subsidy cost us trillions of Naira yearly. Such a vast sum of money would have been better spent on public transportation, healthcare, schools, housing and even national security. Instead, it was being funnelled into the deep pockets and lavish bank accounts of a select group of individuals.
This group had amassed so much wealth and power that they became a serious threat to the fairness of our economy and the integrity of our 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.
The whims of the few should never hold dominant sway over the hopes and aspirations of the many. If we are to be a democracy, the people and not the power of money must be sovereign.
The preceding administration saw this looming danger as well. Indeed, it made no provision 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.
Also, the multiple exchange rate system that had been established became nothing but a highway of currency speculation. It diverted money that should have been used to create jobs, build factories and businesses for millions of people. Our national wealth was doled on favourable terms to a handful of people who have been made filthy rich simply by moving money from one hand to another. This too was extremely unfair.
It also compounded the threat that the illicit and mass accumulation of money posed to the future of our democratic system and its economy.
I had promised to reform the economy for the long-term good by fighting the major imbalances that had plagued our economy. Ending the subsidy and the preferential exchange rate system were key to this fight. This fight is to define the fate and future of our nation. Much is in the balance.
Thus, the defects in our economy immensely profited a tiny elite, the elite of the elite you might call them. As we moved to fight the flaws in the economy, the people who grow rich from them, predictably, will fight back through every means necessary.
Our economy is going through a tough patch and you are being hurt by it. The cost of fuel has gone up. Food and other prices have followed it. Households and businesses struggle. Things seem anxious and uncertain. I understand the hardship you face. I wish there were other ways. But there is not. If there were, I would have taken that route as I came here to help not hurt the people and nation that I love.
What I can offer in the immediate is to reduce the burden our current economic situation has imposed on all of us, most especially on businesses, the working class and the most vulnerable among us.
Already, the Federal Government is working closely with states and local governments to implement interventions that will cushion the pains of our people across socio-economic brackets.
Earlier this month, I signed four (4) Executive Orders in keeping with my electoral promise to address unfriendly fiscal policies and multiple taxes that are stifling the business environment. These Executive Orders on suspension and deferred commencement of some taxes will provide the necessary buffers and headroom to businesses in manufacturing sector to continue to thrive and expand.
To strengthen the manufacturing sector, increase its capacity to expand and create good paying jobs, we are going to spend N75 billion between July 2023 and March 2024. Our objective is to fund 75 enterprises with great potential to kick-start a sustainable economic growth, accelerate structural transformation and improve productivity. Each of the 75 manufacturing enterprises will be able to access N1billion credit at 9% per annum with maximum of 60 months repayment for long term loans and 12 months for working capital.
Our administration recognises the importance of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and the informal sector as drivers of growth. We are going to energise this very important sector with N125 billion.
Out of the sum, we will spend N50 billion on Conditional Grant to 1 million nano businesses between now and March 2024. Our target is to give N50,000 each to 1,300 nano business owners in each of the 774 local governments across the country.
Ultimately, this programme will further drive financial inclusion by onboarding beneficiaries into the formal banking system. In like manner, we will fund 100,000 MSMEs and start-ups with N75 billion. Under this scheme, each enterprise promoter will be able to get between N500,000 to N1million at 9% interest per annum and a repayment period of 36 months.
To further ensure that prices of food items remain affordable, we have had a multi-stakeholder engagement with various farmers’ associations and operators within the agricultural value chain.
In the short and immediate terms, we will ensure staple foods are available and affordable. To this end, I have ordered release of 200,000 Metric Tonnes of grains from strategic reserves to households across the 36 states and FCT to moderate prices. We are also providing 225,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer, seedlings and other inputs to farmers who are committed to our food security agenda.
Our plan to support cultivation of 500,000 hectares of farmland and all-year-round farming practice remains on course. To be specific, N200 billion out of the N500 billion approved by the National Assembly will be disbursed as follows:
Our administration will invest N50 billion each to cultivate 150,000 hectares of rice and maize.
-N50 billion each will also be earmarked to cultivate 100,000 hectares of wheat and cassava.
This expansive agricultural programme will be implemented targeting small-holder farmers and leveraging large-scale private sector players in the agric business with strong performance record.
In this regard, the expertise of Development Finance Institutions, commercial banks and microfinance banks will be tapped into to develop a viable and an appropriate transaction structure for all stakeholders.
Fellow Nigerians, I made a solemn pledge to work for you. How to improve your welfare and living condition is of paramount importance to me and it’s the only thing that keeps me up day and night.
It is in the light of this that I approved Infrastructure Support Fund for the States. This new Infrastructure Fund will enable States to intervene and invest in critical areas and bring relief to many of the pain points as well as revamp our decaying healthcare and educational Infrastructure.
The fund will also bring improvements to rural access roads to ease evacuation of farm produce to markets. With the fund, our states will become more competitive and on a stronger financial footing to deliver economic prosperity to Nigerians.
Part of our programme is to roll out buses across the states and local governments for mass transit at a much more affordable rate. We have made provision to invest N100 billion between now and March 2024 to acquire 3000 units of 20-seater CNG-fuelled buses.
These buses will be shared to major transportation companies in the states, using the intensity of travel per capital. Participating transport companies will be able to access credit under this facility at 9% per annum with 60 months repayment period.
In the same vein, we are also working in collaboration with the Labour unions to introduce a new national minimum wage for workers. I want to tell our workers this: your salary review is coming.
Once we agree on the new minimum wage and general upward review, we will make budget provision for it for immediate implementation.
I want to use this opportunity to salute many private employers in the Organised Private Sector who have already implemented general salary review for employees.
Fellow Nigerians, this period may be hard on us and there is no doubt about it that it is tough on us. But I urge you all to look beyond the present temporary pains and aim at the larger picture. All of our good and helpful plans are in the works. More importantly, I know that they will work.
Sadly, there was an unavoidable lag between subsidy removal and these plans coming fully on line. However, we are swiftly closing the time gap. I plead with you to please have faith in our ability to deliver and in our concern for your well-being.
We will get out of this turbulence. And, due to the measures we have taken, Nigeria will be better equipped and able to take advantage of the future that awaits her.
In a little over two months, we have saved over a trillion Naira that would have been squandered on the unproductive fuel subsidy which only benefitted smugglers and fraudsters. That money will now be used more directly and more beneficially for you and your families.
For example, we shall fulfill our promise to make education more affordable to all and provide loans to higher education students who may need them. No Nigerian student will have to abandon his or her education because of lack of money.
Our commitment is to promote the greatest good for the greatest number of our people. On this principle, we shall never falter.
We are also monitoring the effects of the exchange rate and inflation on gasoline prices. If and when necessary, we will intervene.
I assure you my fellow country men and women that we are exiting the darkness to enter a new and glorious dawn.
Now, I must get back to work in order to make this vision come true.
Thank you all for listening and may God bless Federal Republic of Nigeria.
ECOWAS reinstated its call for the immediate release and reinstatement of President Mohamed Bazoum as the legitimate Head of State and Government of the Republic of Niger.
How Did Buhari Swing It? By Hassan Gimba
“Any man whom Allah has given the authority of ruling some people and he does not look after them in an honest manner, will never feel even the smell of Paradise.” – Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Before going to my topic, please allow me a little digression. I want to start by appealing to the federal government to please stop the charade and for the people to not take their eyes off the goalpost. Or where do you place the ongoing drama about the former Central Bank Governor’s arrest, arraignment, and re-arrest?
In the first place, no one told the nation why he was relieved of his post, yet we clapped. No questions asked. Fine. But is it? Is this how it should be done? Okay, the man, and rightly so, was thought to have worsened the country’s economy and helped activities that would be considered harmful in a serious nation.
But when the time to bring him to justice came, the man was charged with the “illegal possession of a gun and 123 rounds of bullets”! Not abuse of office, mind you. Not economic sabotage, conflict of interest (for attempting to contest for the presidency), botched naira redesign, etc.
Can you beat that?! And then we were forced to be spectators of the drama of his re-arrest in court after securing bail for twenty million naira.
Well, if the government wants to hide something or shield some people who were hand in gloves with the man, no need to regale us with all this. And people should wise up and stop being taken for expensive rides. Next time, say “Thank you, but I don’t want your expensive ride borne out of the high cost of fuel; I’ll rather trek.”
We have had leaders in Nigeria who were not found to be corrupt. Alhaji Shehu Shagari was not jailed by Muhammadu Buhari after he was overthrown, unlike many other leaders from that time that were jailed for hundreds of years.
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria’s first and only prime minister, had to make Shehu Shagari, who was then his aide, pay the government for returning his (prime minister’s) mother home from Lagos in a presidential aircraft. He angrily told Shagari that he, as PM, did not use the presidential plane when going to his party’s activities or campaigns.
General Murtala Ramat Mohammed was a leader who purged the civil service of the corrupt and never allowed them to permeate his government. It was said that he had just thirty naira in his account when he was killed.
None of these three leaders had their wives or children in their governments. Their families were not known to have influenced the government or its agents. They did not seek favours from ministries, departments, or agencies.
Despite all their stellar attributes and saint-like qualities, none of them are as venerated by the people as General Muhammadu Buhari.
Buhari successfully made a large chunk of the people see in their eyes a man wearing angelic garb. Firstly, he was able to make those people see him as “not a politician”. It is common to hear them tell themselves in self-illumination that “You know the General is not a politician.”
There is an erroneous belief that politicians are thieves. And so, from the beginning, he jumped off that general definition vehicle. That alone is great politics. Only a master politician can deflect the thoughts of the people from the real him and direct them to the image he wants to be identified as. Then he positioned himself as a man who runs away from worldly possessions, an ascetic of the highest order. Even this was laid to rest when his dressing style three years into the presidency was compared to his pre-presidential style.
Even though under his watch those around him filched from the commonwealth, people still believe the man has no desire for material things.
He remains in their minds as someone incapable of saying what cannot be so. Before the 2015 election, he said he borrowed about thirty million naira from his bank to buy his form, and none of his followers questioned how he would repay it. And till today, nobody has asked him if he had paid and how – or to account for funds people gave him through scratch cards.
To his followers, Buhari is perhaps the only patriot out of 200 million Nigerians. Their refrain was “he wants to work, but he is alone”, despite him tolerating those among his appointees mismanaging the country. And they can go to any length, including insulting those with contrary views, in his defence. Even when foreign foods – despite the closing of the borders against the importation of such by his government – were eaten in the highest of places, clothes and shoes worn were from overseas and official vehicles were all from abroad, the head of the government was seen by his followers as the “most patriotic of patriots.”
When hunger and lack were devastating the land, the president was being fed by the government, something that does not happen in America where we “borrowed” our democracy from.
Despite all this and many more, the man is still being venerated. Perhaps why many times he behaved and spoke like one taking the people for granted.
Even though Abraham Lincoln, the 16th American president and the country’s wartime hero and the first president to be assassinated once said “You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time”, one can’t help but marvel at Buhari swung those stuff through.
Lest I forget
I have seen why people now distrust their government. I have seen videos of Nasir el-Rufa’i and Nyesom Wike all saying they do not want to be ministers. El-Rufa’i said that he was a minister 20 years ago and so why should he be one again? He rhetorically asked, “Don’t I have sons, junior brothers? Must I be the only one doing it?” He even boasted that he had trained enough people to take over from him, revealing that anyone who has no one he trained to succeed him has failed. Maybe he has no younger brothers, and his son he has pushed to the House of Representatives. Or perhaps he has just plain failed?
But these two men who have been recycled to being ministers after being there first before becoming governors are men of many words and as Tony Wilson sang, they paint pictures, but they are not artists.
Therefore, tell me, why should those who watched those videos trust whatever they say again, official or personal, apart from “God is the Creator of the universe”?
Hassan Gimba is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Neptune Prime.