Personally, my suggestion is that government should shave about N30 off the subsidy amount and demonstrate its ability by using the saved amount to lay railway tracks from the South West of Nigeria to the South East of Nigeria. Also do same from North West of Nigeria to North East. This can be finished within two years.

Government should then lease the use of the tracks to a reputable firm for a lease period of 20 years and recoup all the money spent on the tracks. See there? It did not cost a thing!

Simultaneously, offer bank guarantees to reputable companies that want to build refineries in Nigeria (only companies that have built same in other countries) sign MOUs to the effect that subsidy will be removed within two years time. To convince them further pledge to buy all refined products at prevailing market rate where subsidy is not removed. In two years come back to the Nigerian people and present your achievement, announce other great projects and remove the remaining subsidy.

Kindly repost the idea if you agree, or tell our president if you have his ear, before he runs the country into a ditch.

Commenting further:

If we save 300 billion naira by shaving N30 off the fuel subsidy, N150 billion ( approximately a billion dollars) should enough to lay the rail tracks from Lagos to Calabar and Zamfara to Maiduguri.

We will employ many engineers and low skilled labour while embarking on the project.

Villages and communities will benefit from employment as well as government compensation for the use of their land.

Easing of burden off the roads as goods can be transported more efficiently.

President can have something concrete to point at as an infrastructural legacy to Nigerians.