The National Assembly has approved President Bola Tinubu’s N8000 stipend per household per month — which would last for six months — as petrol subsidy removal palliative for 12 million households in the country. The money will be sourced from an $800m world bank loan. This move by the president has attracted mixed reactions from Nigeria across social and political divides. KINGSLEY ALUMONA sampled the opinions of some Nigerians on this matter with many of them expressing fears that politicians would hijack the money. The views of some of them are here:
Gbenga Babawibe
It is a bad economic decision. The monetary palliative would not do any good economically. Rather, the government should look at how to intervene in public transportation and alleviate the scourge of subsidy removal. The palliative is another subsidy in disguise. You cannot declare subsidy a conduit and create another one in its place. The president should come up with policies that could be theorised and replicated anywhere in the world. The palliative would breed corruption and end up like TraderMoni.
Nsikak Isaac
This should ordinarily be commended, but the fear of the ‘Nigerian factor’ comes to mind — which is, the modalities to get the money to the rightful beneficiaries. I would suggest two methods of enrolling beneficiaries for the palliative, which are online and offline. Those who have access to the internet should apply online while those who do not should be registered using the National Population Commission platform. Again, while the six months palliative is a short-term relief, the government should immediately embark on a long-term relief which is to revamp our moribund refineries for local production, consumption and exportation.
Mohammed Ali
N8,000 palliative is small compared to the average cost of living in Nigeria, though locations differ. The government should encourage local modular refineries to boost domestic production and eliminate dollarisation of the exchange of crude oil for local refineries. Long-term support should also be provided to local companies that can refine crude oil in the country.
Oyelade Jacob
The president should first define what a household is, then tell us the number of households we have in Nigeria from credible sources. He should also tell us the percentage of such households that have bank account numbers and/or mobile phones. Then I could say he had done the necessary background work and likely have good intentions.
Ogunneye Olaniyi
We have nonfunctional refineries. The president should take a bold step to make one or two of them work at their maximum capacities. It would be a mistake if the government decides to give palliatives in monetary terms. If refineries work, the economic effect would benefit the entire country. The government could also identify and fix some major federal roads in 36 states. Even with the tightest and strictest policy or processes in giving out this cash to the most vulnerable in our society, the majority of these palliative money would still find its way into the hands of greedy politicians.
Olanshile Lanks
The president’s first weeks in office must have been tiring due to the tedious work he must have engaged in strengthening our economy. However, empowering the youths with verifiable small-scale businesses would be better compared to the disbursement of N8000 to poor households. Supporting small businesses is capable of building our economy as well as fighting terrorism and criminality. Moreover, providing funds as grants to schools is greatly advisable as it tends to reduce the rate of dropouts, out-of-school children, and related problems facing the country.
Elovichi Henry
This is a waste and would not add any positive value to any family — that is if the money gets to the poor masses and is not hijacked by corrupt government officials, just like TraderMoni and COVID-19 palliatives. This money cannot buy a bag of rice nor fill a 12KG gas cylinder, not to talk of buying a pack of noodles.
Aniekpeno Akpan
It is a nice idea to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal. I commend Mr President for that decision. However, the scheme should not be handled by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development because the cash transfer programme, during ex-President Buhari’s regime, was not handled well by that ministry. Poor masses were suffering while they transfered it to other individuals. Artificial intelligence should be adopted in identifying the poor in the course of implementing the palliative scheme.
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