20 BILLION DOLLARS SUBSIDY REMOVAL PROCEED: THE ELEVATION OF LIES AND FALSEHOODS.
Tuesday, 26th November, 2024.
One of the most critical characteristics of a lie is that it is so unfounded that another lie is usually needed to sustain it. However, owing to the same deficiency, both will crumble in no time and be exposed for what they are. Little wonder Abraham Lincoln, a prominent former American president had to posit that “No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar”. The want of the good enough memory depicts the unfounded nature thereof. So the collapse is inevitable.
The above axiom never occurred to the APC led federal government who majors on lies, falsehoods and propagandas as their stocks in trade when the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun deployed a lie that the country’s decision to remove the petrol subsidy and adopt market-based pricing for foreign exchange has saved the nation an estimated $20 billion.
Trust Nigerians especially the Gen Zs and their virtue of inquisitiveness who in a backlash drew the attention of the federal government to their proposal to borrow more 2.2b dollars for the continuous running of the affairs of government. Nigerians needed to know the rationale behind the borrowing when they have saved almost ten times as much.
Strangely enough, as I type this, they can’t yet respond with a satisfactory answer. There is no ability left in them to fabricate more lies and falsehoods to sustain the main lie. And from their body language, they have already devised a tactical aversion as soft landing.
The nosediving and crash of this government began with the alleged false declaration of the APC as the winner of the 2023 election and false sustenance through allegedly compromised judiciary. No matter how smartly presented, no further falsehood or lie will be able to prevent the impending disaster that has already cast its ominous shadow.
Pundits are in corroboration. Recently, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that reforms in Nigeria under Tinubu were not working and the inflation was still in double digits as reported by Sahara Reporters. More appalling is that we have driven the unproductive and unpopular reforms for about 18 months now to no avail.
If for almost two years, nothing seems to work and there is no sign of positive results, how can it yield in the 3rd year when they shall be confronted by distractions of the approaching electioneering season. There is no magic wand that can give rise to a positive result afterwards, unless they and their fellow travelers are living in a fool’s paradise. Of course they are!
I think the ruling elites take Nigerians for fools and idiots who lack rational reasoning and don’t know their left from their right. They thought we would have risen in ovation on hearing the “cheering” news. Who told them that we will swallow their false news whole? What a cheap way of seeking applause and endorsement?…. Kicks of a dying horse!
By the way, let’s assume without conceding that they have saved 20 billion dollars from the subsidy removal and naira flotation as they claimed. What is their program to re-invest the proceeds into the economy? They should have defined one from the inception and been implementing it ever since. The absence, points to how unprepared they are.
On removing the subsidy in 2012 and increasing the petrol pump price to 97 naira per litre which Tinubu on the 12th of January of that year, described as a break of social contract with the people, former President Jonathan showed how prepared he was to make the reform work by advancing a blueprint for the reinvestment of the money saved from it. He set up the scheme he called Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Program (SURE-P) and appointed Dr Christopher Kolade as its pioneer national chairman.
The essence was to re-investing the Federal Government savings from the subsidy removal on critical infrastructure projects and social safety net programmes with direct impact on the citizens of Nigeria. It also targeted the provision of employment for unemployed graduates through internship programs, creating a database of unemployed youth and reducing social vulnerability among the group in the country through the mechanism of the policy.
Furthermore, to cushion the effects on transportation due to price hike, a total of about 1, 179 mass transit buses were procured and deployed with about 16 billion naira that was saved at some point. To say the least, the scheme despite some intractable odds was so successful that in just under three years, its impact was felt in literally every local government of every state in the federation. The nation also witnessed a drastic reduction in maternal and child health mortality and was consequently put on the pathway to achieving her Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The scheme also created a lot of direct and indirect jobs.
Observe the efforts put in place by a serious and prepared people oriented government while running reforms…..And the success of any reform usually depends on the measures put in place to keep the people on their feet while the reform lasts. No expected positive results can be achieved in the absence of relevant measures as in the case of the present one.
On a final note, there is no gainsaying the fact that there are huge proceeds emanating from the subsidy removal by this government. However, there are indications that massive misappropriations are allegedly holding sway serving vested interests borne out of greed. So to erase their trails and divert attention, they resort to lies and falsehoods. We keep watching as things keep unfolding!
Emma Ogoke GOC
International Consultant on Nation Building.
Writes from Owerri,
Imo State.
