Subsidy: The Need For Caution

As was largely feared, a series of protests, some of them disturbingly unco-ordinated, exploded across Nigeria within the week, in response to the Federal Government’s announcement on the eventual removal of subsidy on petroleum products. Although the protests were initially peaceful, barely two days later last Tuesday, one death was reported in Kwara while, some protesters were reportedly injured, some of them fatally in Lagos.

These protests, in our view, could have been avoided if government had heeded popular view that removal of subsidy in itself, needs not be a national calamity, if palliative measures had been put in place, to assuage the inherent pains of its aftermath.

This is why many quarrel with the manner and timing of the subsidy removal regime. We think that before its implementation, concrete steps should have been taken to subsidise the transportation sector as obtains even in developed economies.

This is because, apart from being the most sensitive to the needs of the poor, whose fears the programme was originally intended to address, transport by its nature is a pivot around which key sectors of the economy, particularly trade and commerce revolve.

Frankly, if proper consideration had been given to that key sub-sector, the immediate angst against the subsidy removal among ordinary Nigerians, which actuated the protests in the first place, would not have been as harsh as it appears.

For instance, barely 24 hours after President Goodluck Jonathan, announced the commencement of the subsidy removal regime in his new year address to the nation, transport fares across the country skyrocketed to as much as 200 percent. Added to the familiar transport challenges during festive periods, the reaction was spontaneous and rightly so.

This is why The Tide calls for caution so that the protests would not get out of hand. To avoid likely escalation, organized labour must demonstrate sufficient maturity in its dialogue with government. A strike action of the magnitude both the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have threatened will  rather than abate the situation, further cripple the fragile economy.

That being so, government must reconsider its position and heed the yearnings of Nigerians and articulate and implement without delay, palliatives that would ease the pains of the citizenry. This, must, in addition to the imperatives of transportation, include ensuring that the nation’s refineries operate at full capacity, undertake extensive federal roads’ repairs and construction and spell-out clearly, into what other uses proceeds from the subsidy would be put.

We hold that it was the lack of sufficient information and enlightenment of the various stakeholders that informed the negative reaction to an otherwise germaine national action. That ought to be reviewed.

Even so, Nigerians need to show understanding, patience and patriotism by resisting the temptation to capitalize on the situation to make life unbearable for fellow Nigerians. Commercial transport owners for example should demonstrate compassion for ordinary Nigerians by not creating more problems through unreasonable fare hikes.

Nigerians on their part must realise that every great nation at one point or the other in their history, confronted, sacrificed and over-came challenges of the kind we face today, and must therefore, resolve to participate pro-actively, in taking the country to the next level.

In this drive towards greatness however, government, organized labour, civil society groups and indeed all other stake-holders must exploit the numerous advantages of meaningful dialogue and in the end articulate the right path to national growth.

While that is on, we advise against further protests of any kind because of the real and apparent dangers of such being hijacked by hoodlums for their own self-fish ends. Nigeria, is today facing serious security challenges, therefore such protests should be avoided. Instead, all concerned should return to the negotiating table.

That is how today’s great nations attained the enviable heights that the world daily celebrates and not via unco-ordinated protests.