On the occasion of Nigeria’s 63rd anniversary after Independence, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has urged the citizens to endure the pains emanating from his decision to remove fuel subsidy.
Recall that the President, during his inaugural speech on May 29, announced his decision for a total removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) — alternatively called petrol. However, despite public outcries and its effects on businesses and commoners, Tinubu had on different occasions maintained that the decision was in the interest of the country.
Tinubu, in his first independence day broadcast as Nigeria’s president, insisted that the removal of fuel subsidy is for the country to progress, adding however that he was fully aware of multiplying effects of his decision on the citizens.
“I am attuned to the hardships that have come. I have a heart that feels and eyes that see. I wish to explain to you why we must endure this trying moment. Those who sought to perpetuate the fuel subsidy and broken foreign exchange policies are people who would build their family mansion in the middle of a swamp. I am different. I am not a man to erect our national home on a foundation of mud. To endure, our home must be constructed on safe and pleasant ground.
“Reform may be painful, but it is what greatness and the future require. We now carry the costs of reaching a future Nigeria where the abundance and fruits of the nation are fairly shared among all, not hoarded by a select and greedy few. A Nigeria where hunger, poverty and hardship are pushed into the shadows of a never-fading past.
“There is no joy in seeing the people of this nation shoulder burdens that should have been shed years ago. I wish today’s difficulties did not exist. But we must endure if we are to reach the good side of our future,” he said
Continuing, Tinubu stated that his administration is trying its best to ease the burden of subsidy on the people, announcing that the average low-grade worker will receive additional N25,000 for the next six months.
He added: “My government is doing all that it can to ease the load. I will now outline the path we are taking to relieve the stress on our families and households.
“We have embarked on several public sector reforms to stabilize the economy, direct fiscal and monetary policy to fight inflation, encourage production, ensure the security of lives and property and lend more support to the poor and the vulnerable.
“Based on our talks with labour, business and other stakeholders, we are introducing a provisional wage increment to enhance the federal minimum wage without causing undue inflation. For the next six months, the average low-grade worker shall receive an additional Twenty-Five Thousand naira per month.”
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