airsaylongcome:


Right. So what changed between then and now? Then, it was a small leak that we could have gotten rid off. We had more income, a stronger Naira and the average Nigerian was richer then than now. Subsidy is the only real benefit the average person sees from the Government. Why the rush to remove it one month ahead of when the previous regime scheduled for it to be removed? My honest opinion? They (the new folks in power) want to steal whatever was budgeted for Subsidy for June. Quick recovery of election expenses

You see why I don't trust any politician?

At any rate, GEJ should have had the strength to say NO, and removed the subsidy.


Oga, you don't want the subsidy gone. Forget all this story...just accept you want the subsidy to remain. And you are not wrong. The problem was, it was making us broke and broke.

And if it had gone in 2012, we would have all been the better for it.

taylor88:
On Bola’s manhood we shall queue

Una go suffer till una get sense

Thank God say salary structure don’t differentiate between APC PDP or LP

Una go hear nwiii

Suffer just start

When we complain una go say I’ll wait till next 8yrs

Na all of us go wail till 8yrs

Kick the ground running, una don go kick stone

Big stone for that matter.

nairalanda1:


So, the government should have kept the subsidy until we were broke? Severely broke?

Can't the govt think and create new wealth for the country? Nawao

nairalanda1:


You see why I don't trust any politician?

At any rate, GEJ should have had the strength to say NO, and removed the subsidy.


Oga, you don't want the subsidy gone. Forget all this story...just accept you want the subsidy to remain. And you are not wrong. The problem was, it was making us broke and broke.

And if it had gone in 2012, we would have all been the better for it.

That's a whole new level of assumption to say I don't want the subsidy gone. I just spent ₦25k filling up my tank. That's at least 2.5x what I used to pay. I'm mostly unaffected by the subsidy removal. I've got my entire home powered by solar/inverter. Like I literally don't know when there is a power outage. I have not used my generator for more than 100 hrs in total in the past 2 years. But, most Nigerians aren't like me. They will be heavily impacted by the removal. Many people buy petrol because they want to power generators for home or small business use. If the government had ensured that electricity was very available before removing subsidy, I would have no qualms. When subsidy on Diesel and Kero was removed, we were told it would be used to provide infrastructure for Nigerians. All lies. Many many years after that subsidy removal, electricity is non existent.

VeeVeeMyLuv:

Can't the govt think and create new wealth for the country? Nawao

And creating new wealth is going to happen in 2 days.?

Look, Buhari and all the past governments were awful in wealth creation, I don't deny that. And I am angry that Tinubu has taken over. I don;t expect much.

But at the moment, we cannot be crying over what we should have done, we should be focusing on measures we need to take NOW.

airsaylongcome:


That's a whole new level of assumption to say I don't want the subsidy gone. I just spent ₦25k filling up my tank. That's at least 2.5x what I used to pay. I'm mostly unaffected by the subsidy removal. I've got my entire home powered by solar/inverter. Like I literally don't know when there is a power outage. I have not used my generator for more than 100 hrs in total in the past 2 years. But, most Nigerians aren't like me. They will be heavily impacted by the removal. Many people buy petrol because they want to power generators for home or small business use. If the government had ensured that electricity was very available before removing subsidy, I would have no qualms. When subsidy on Diesel and Kero was removed, we were told it would be used to provide infrastructure for Nigerians. All lies. Many many years after that subsidy removal, electricity is non existent.

If you want the subsidy gone, stop attacking me with long story.

I want the subsidy gone...and have wanted it for eleven years.

Good afternoon.

Only you go suffer

taylor88:
On Bola’s manhood we shall queue

Una go suffer till una get sense

Thank God say salary structure don’t differentiate between APC PDP or LP

Una go hear nwiii

Suffer just start

When we complain una go say I’ll wait till next 8yrs

Na all of us go wail till 8yrs

Kick the ground running, una don go kick stone

nairalanda1:


If you want the subsidy gone, stop attacking me with long story.

I want the subsidy gone...and have wanted it for eleven years.

Good afternoon.

If you see asking for answers as "attacking me with long story" then yeah it's safe to leave you alone

airsaylongcome:


If you see asking for answers as "attacking me with long story" then yeah it's safe to leave you alone

Ask your government, not me.

Subsidy must go. Things cost money. We cannot be paying N1 for something that costs N10000.

nairalanda1:


Ask your government, not me.

Subsidy must go. Things cost money. We cannot be paying N1 for something that costs N10000.

You seem to b irritated at my line of questioning so I will stop. Have a great day

airsaylongcome:


You seem to b irritated at my line of questioning so I will stop. Have a great day

Because you think I am a government supporter, and because you think my support for subsidy removal means I support 'oppression'

That's why.

You guys don't care to know why.

Jogs1900:

That's it...if only salaries are increased, there would be too much money in circulation thereby causing hyperinflation.
Now, who will fight the cause of other citizens that are not public servants like artisans, etc?

Is it not better they use the money to subsidize something else like electricity, maybe free education at the University level, etc?
At least, everybody will benefit from this and still keep the inflation rate low.

True talk

samwillyco1:


What happens to the unemployed graduates, business men and women

Evil policies like subsidy is why it's difficult for youth to get employment. Spending a whopping N7trillion on subsidy leaves nothing to support other intervention program like affordable credits to MSME that should be engine block for employment in Nigeria as it is in developed economy. An investment in infrastructure will lead to increased demand for factors of production which includes Labour.
As a Country, there are far more easier ways to create employment in Nigeria without stress. Just bring back the jobs.
For instance, local refinery of Dangote has brought back over 150,000 direct jobs and probably another 200,000 indirect jobs will be created. Now imagine we put in place a policy that mandated all primary products to be at the least partially processed in Nigeria. Examples are things like Cashew, Cocoa and hide & skin etc, I guarantee you, only with policy twinkling, Nigeria will regain over 500,000 jobs from those few Commodities that we currently exporting in the primary form. We are simply exporting the jobs for our youths as away.
We need sense as a Country

nairalanda1:


Ask your government, not me.

Subsidy must go. Things cost money. We cannot be paying N1 for something that costs N10000.

Now, Subsidy don go with the money being diverted to other "useful" projects.

It's the same thieves who benefited from the Subsidy scam that with benefit from the money diverted.

Make una dey deceive unasef.

Skepticus:


Now, Subsidy don go with the money being diverted to other "useful" projects.

It's the same thieves who benefited from the Subsidy scam that with benefit from the money diverted.

Make una dey deceive unasef.

LOL....and you expect changes in three days?

Good afternoon. Come back in a year.

(And yes, like you, I don't expect much change. We need to do more than just remove subsidy before we can see a good economy. A lot more).

nairalanda1:


Because you think I am a government supporter, and because you think my support for subsidy removal means I support 'oppression'

That's why.

You guys don't care to know why.

I don't see you as a Government supporter. I'm just questioning. Yes subsidy should go. But so also should NEPA blackouts. In 2012 when I was pushing for the support of subsidy removal, I was seen as pro-GEJ, pro-government. Which wasn't true.

My grouse is with the way the current regime have gone about it is because they seem to be placing the cart before the horse. For 8 years, personalities in support of this new regime were part of the previous regime. And during campaigns we were told that any government that couldn't resolve power outage issues in 6 months was not a serious government. They had 8 years to solve that but didn't. If power outages are resolved, the volume of petrol we "drink" will reduce. Ultimately reducing the cost of production for small and medium businesses.

Remember that the demand for petrol is very inelastic. There is almost no substitute for it. Meaning that people's consumption for it will remain the same irrespective of price. If people can no longer afford to maintain their current level of consumption then it has a big impact on productivity. And ultimately on GDP. If a business cannot afford petrol for 8 hours operations, they will reduce it to say 4 hours. Meaning they become less productive, resulting in lower GDP and ultimately poorer people. Unless I'm thinking about it incorrectly. Government should have focused on improving power distribution. That would have reduced subsidy consumption making it easier for the government to completely eliminate subsidy. The problem isn't with subsidy. Saudi Arabia still subsidizes petrol. The problem was in the corruption going on within the subsidy payment. Corruption that a lot of people within or aligned with the government benefit from

richidinho:
The intention of the government to subsidize PMS was simply to make the product affordable for Nigerians and make life easier.

So now they dont care about making life easier for the masses?

Because these guys in govt are not buying fuel, they are not buying recharge cards even food are free, infact they enjoy entertainment allowance, travelling allowance, newspaper allowance and even health benefits, as rich as Tinubu throughout his stay in that sit his medical expenses will paid 100% by Nigerians

They cant subsidize for us but we Nigerians are subsidizing for them to live expensive lifestyles abi

Tell them to let go all those allowances as part of their sacrifice watch how they will protest

Stop the corruption in subsidy not the subsidy

u don dey wail ooo

nairalanda1:



LOL....and you expect changes in three days?

Good afternoon. Come back in a year.

(And yes, like you, I don't expect much change. We need to do more than just remove subsidy before we can see a good economy. A lot more).

You won't get one (a good economy) in the next 16 years if a litre was increased to N2000 per litre with Nigerians paying with their blood, and the Federal Government "saving" enough money. It's not about being pessimistic or partisan politicking. It's just a deep of understanding of how the Nigerian system works which is cruel on the mind when one views it realistically.

Governments of the past have been yelling about subsidy being a scam but has never come out to name the scammers nor deal with them. Follow the money, you'll get to the root of the crime is what is known to criminal Investigators, worldwide. As long as you have this influential scammers walk around freely, the diverted funds will surely "vanish" through the same route. When there are no consequences for those who have perpetrated the subsidy scam (who are also influential enough to exploit from the newly diverted funds) and no way to cushion it's effect on the poor, overstretched citizenry, all you have is another elaborate scheme that makes a few rich, more citizens poorer and a total waste of time and resources. It's basic understanding.

airsaylongcome:


I don't see you as a Government supporter. I'm just questioning. Yes subsidy should go. But so also should NEPA blackouts. In 2012 when I was pushing for the support of subsidy removal, I was seen as pro-GEJ, pro-government. Which wasn't true.

My grouse is with the way the current regime have gone about it is because they seem to be placing the cart before the horse. For 8 years, personalities in support of this new regime were part of the previous regime. And during campaigns we were told that any government that couldn't resolve power outage issues in 6 months was not a serious government. They had 8 years to solve that but didn't. If power outages are resolved, the volume of petrol we "drink" will reduce. Ultimately reducing the cost of production for small and medium businesses.

Remember that the demand for petrol is very inelastic. There is almost no substitute for it. Meaning that people's consumption for it will remain the same irrespective of price. If people can no longer afford to maintain their current level of consumption then it has a big impact on productivity. And ultimately on GDP. If a business cannot afford petrol for 8 hours operations, they will reduce it to say 4 hours. Meaning they become less productive, resulting in lower GDP and ultimately poorer people. Unless I'm thinking about it incorrectly. Government should have focused on improving power distribution. That would have reduced subsidy consumption making it easier for the government to completely eliminate subsidy. The problem isn't with subsidy. Saudi Arabia still subsidizes petrol. The problem was in the corruption going on within the subsidy payment. Corruption that a lot of people within or aligned with the government benefit from

Very brilliant argument. However, a country that pays over N7trillion to support consumption and borrow to pay recurrent expenditure is heading toward bankruptcy. Provision of distribution capability of the country will require massive investments in power infrastructures both at the upstream and Disco level, where will the resources come from if we have used everything to do subsidy?
Yes, while I concur that fixing the power sector is critical, we must first free the resources to be employed to do that by killing the monster called subsidy

Skepticus:


You won't get one (a good economy) in the next 16 years if a litre was increased to N2000 per litre with Nigerians paying with their blood, and the Federal Government "saving" enough money. It's not about pessimist or partisan politicking. It's just a deep of understanding of how the Nigerian system works which is cruel on the mind when one views it realistically.

Governments of the past have been yelling about subsidy being a scam but has never come out to name the scammers nor deal with them. Follow the money, you'll get to the root of the crime is what is Criminal Investigators know worldwide. As long as you have this influential scammers walk around freely, the diverted funds will surely "vanish" through the same route. It's basic understanding

Even if we got rid of the scammers, subsidy costs would rise and rise because of the nature of the beast.

And yes we need to do more than just remove subsidy. We must industrialize

taylor88:
On Bola’s manhood we shall queue

Una go suffer till una get sense

Thank God say salary structure don’t differentiate between APC PDP or LP

Una go hear nwiii

Suffer just start

When we complain una go say I’ll wait till next 8yrs

Na all of us go wail till 8yrs

Kick the ground running, una don go kick stone

kicking stone 🪨 can be terribly painful 😖😣

Enddy50ty:
If only Nigerians had allowed Jonathan to go ahead with this same subsidy removal 12 years ago we would have at least 5 working refineries by now that would be able to cater for our local consumption.
Now look at where we are, on this same page of subsidy removal even after a decade.

Government should give Liecense to local investors to set up modular refineries that’s the only way out, competitions will drive down the prices of petroleum products just like it did in the telecommunications industry.

Nigerians aren’t futuristic, only live for the now.

Lifestone:
To me this is the area that NLC and TUC should focus their attention on, improved welfare for her members, not dabbling into policy issues such as subsidy removal.
If government increases the price of fuel as it is now, let the Unions fight for commensurate welfare package to counter the effect.
Any Union Leader who wants to come troll policy issues should go and contest election and become President of Nigeria.

Increase fuel price, increase salary, cost of transportation and price of goods and services increases, inflation sets in, value of the naira falls, cost of petrol increases again and the cycle goes on. That is how a country's currency becomes toilet paper. Minimum wage will be #1m but a loaf of bread sells for #10,000. We will learn our lesson soon. China, Malaysia, Singapore etc did not attain their current height by listening to IMF and world bank, but all our mumu leaders, Tinubu, Atiku, Obi agree subsidy removal is the way. Let's ride on.

Lifestone:

Very brilliant argument. However, a country that pays over N7trillion to support consumption and borrow to pay recurrent expenditure is heading toward bankruptcy. Provision of distribution capability of the country will require massive investments in power infrastructures both at the upstream and Disco level, where will the resources come from if we have used everything to do subsidy?
Yes, while I concur that fixing the power sector is critical, we must first free the resources to be employed to do that by killing the monster called subsidy

Thank you for the compliment. So my grouse withis round of supposed removal is two fold. Why did the C-in-C actively oppose it years ago when the burden was lower and we were earning more from crude oil sales? It was a small leak then and we could have easily absorbed the impact as we had a stronger Naira (compared to now). Did he oppose it for personal political reasons? Or did he think it was the best decision?

Secondly, we were promised a lot of infrastructural development when government removed the subsidy from diesel and Kero. Several years after has that promise been delivered? If it hasn't, why should we believe the government that they will deliver now?

Also, all the loans supposedly taken by the last regime for infrastructural development were they fully utilised to develop that infrastructure? Or were they basically looted. Nigeria Air being a case study

airsaylongcome:


That's a whole new level of assumption to say I don't want the subsidy gone. I just spent ₦25k filling up my tank. That's at least 2.5x what I used to pay. I'm mostly unaffected by the subsidy removal. I've got my entire home powered by solar/inverter. Like I literally don't know when there is a power outage. I have not used my generator for more than 100 hrs in total in the past 2 years. But, most Nigerians aren't like me. They will be heavily impacted by the removal. Many people buy petrol because they want to power generators for home or small business use. If the government had ensured that electricity was very available before removing subsidy, I would have no qualms. When subsidy on Diesel and Kero was removed, we were told it would be used to provide infrastructure for Nigerians. All lies. Many many years after that subsidy removal, electricity is non existent.

leave nairalanda1. I have been reading his posts. Theoretically, his point is clear, and even a half-educated person can understand the whole thing. Yea, the subsidy is not sustainable, but what is the problem of Nigeria? Terrible/corrupt leadership or a fuel subsidy? You already answered the question with the bolded. You, me and Nairalanda1 will be alive to revisit this topic in 4-5years and we will see how the removal of petrol subsidy solved or did not solve Naija's problems. As always, argumentators always stick to this subsidy thing like it is a magic bullet that will solve everything. Reduce the wasteful cost of governance, they downplay that..i have engaged them and seen this trend a lot with many monikers on this subsidy topic, won't be surprised if it is the same person behind the moniker sef...the last one I remember engaging was one Kassandra moniker.....so much crude stolen for years until PO sounded an alarm at the tail end of Bubu administration, and some brief gra-gra was done. I'm sure as we type more is still being stolen. Diesel deregulated for 3+years, price went from 800 to 690 last I checked. Kero deregulated much earlier, I no even follow the price of that one whether e drop at all. What respite have Nigerians gained from both subsidies that were removed??. May God spare us even beyond the next 5years. I will be interested in continuing this convo then.

PROPEACE:

Increase fuel price, increase salary, cost of transportation and price of goods and services increases, inflation sets in, value of the naira falls, cost of petrol increases again and the cycle goes on. That is how a country's currency becomes toilet paper. Minimum wage will be #1m but a loaf of bread sells for #10,000. We will learn our lesson soon. China, Malaysia, Singapore etc did not attain their current height by listening to IMF and world bank, but all our mumu leaders, Tinubu, Atiku, Obi agree subsidy removal is the way. Let's ride on.

I don't agree with this doomsday view. Remove subsidy. How on earth can we be subsidizing consumption? Use the release from subsidy to support the production base of Nigeria and you will have accelerated growth. There are other monetary and fiscal policies to deal with inflation, but first, get rid of this waste.

LeoDeKing:
No need to worry much on this.

Asiwaju will not betray the confidence Nigerians reposed in him.

As we can see, Jagaban has hit the ground running right from day one.

Sit tight and watch how things unfold.

You no get talk..just drop phone

Poanan:


What happened to putting measures in place? Why did Tinubu lead protest against subsidy in 2012. He was senseless at the time right?

2012 rebellion was just senseless!
And all the people that were involved all of them are practically on a mum code!
Which says a lot

Nobody is talking about providing jobs for the unemployed, it's just about increasing minimum wage from 30k it's presently in while those of us with zero naira as minimum wage wallow in poverty.

Minimum wage should not be increased. Let's maintain the status quo till supply and demand does the needful.

Treadway:
leave nairalanda1. I have been reading his posts. Theoretically, his point is clear, and even a half-educated person can understand the whole thing. Yea, the subsidy is not sustainable, but what is the problem of Nigeria? Terrible/corrupt leadership or a fuel subsidy? You already answered the question with the bolded. You, me and Nairalanda1 will be alive to revisit this topic in 4-5years and we will see how the removal of petrol subsidy solved or did not solve Naija's problems. As always, argumentators always stick to this subsidy thing like it is a magic bullet that will solve everything. Reduce the wasteful cost of governance, they downplay that..i have engaged them and seen this trend a lot with many monikers on this subsidy topic, won't be surprised if it is the same person behind the moniker sef...the last one I remember engaging was one Kassandra moniker.....so much crude stolen for years until PO sounded an alarm at the tail end of Bubu administration, and some brief gra-gra was done. I'm sure as we type more is still being stolen. Diesel deregulated for 3+years, price went from 800 to 690 last I checked. Kero deregulated much earlier, I no even follow the price of that one whether e drop at all. What respite have Nigerians gained from both. May God spare us even beyond the next 5years. I will be interested in continue this convo then.

Noted.

At the end though, improving Nigerian economy needs more measures than just subsidy removal.

But at the monent, no matter what you think of me, the cold hard fact is we are borrowing money to pay for subsidy.

Keep it up and in a few years time we would be broker than sri lanka.

kelvindj98:

You idiots who are not suffering should stop lamenting nah. Every thread una go suffer, una go suffer. We don hear.

We know say you don hear but it's better to remind you