₦airaland Forum

MEGAWATCH:
Post the real video if you are not an APC online paid propagandist.


😎

kenn4rill:
When I hear you guys talking about Peter Obi like he is the president of Nigeria, a former state governor and the only governor this country has ever produced that has no bad records or has stolen any funds...🤔

When should we start talking about our president who has a questionable past, abi na him age, school or family? Or the case for US court about forfeiture and heroin 🤷.

Let's be responsible for once.
Na wa for some of our youths

givedemwotowoto:
We all know what happened with the strike so we know Sowore is trying to score a cheap political point.

This is What Happened

Peter Obi wanted to reform Anambra’s health sector, and he was met with fierce resistance from those who benefited from the old system. But he refused to cower to intimidation or cave in to their demands.

He pushed ahead with the reforms and built partnerships with churches and voluntary agencies to strengthen healthcare delivery across the state.

What happened afterwards?

Anambra emerged as the best performing state in the South East in immunisation/polio eradication, earning a $1 million award from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The state also remained polio-free for 5 years.

Peter Obi then added additional govt funding and channelled the award money into building 10 maternal and child healthcare centers, mostly in Anambra villages.

Peter Obi has addressed this issue:

BREAKING!!! PETER OBI CLEAR THE AIR ON THE DOCTORS' STRIKE WHILE IN OFFICE. This explanation settles everything once and shut the mouth of Jagabandits permanently. pic.twitter.com/b0g6OcVNDe

— BUCOS (@TENIBEGILOJU202) September 9, 2025

/video/1

Goo0dHardDick:
Obi is available to be tackled.

Why isn't Tinubu coming out to events like this?

ndutown:
Yes we must compare it because people think Lagos is the only state capable of doing great things. Even some Lagos Politicians always say Lagos will always be the number one in everything. So if other states do something better than Lagos, let us praise them.

soyoyeakinyode:
THE ATIKU SUBSIDY MODEL MAKES SENSE: IT WILL CREATE JOBS, INCREASE PURCHASING POWER AND STRENGTHEN NIGERIA’S OIL AND GAS PRODUCTION SECTOR

BY: SOYOYE AKINYODE SOLOMON

The ongoing debate surrounding former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s proposed petroleum subsidy policy requires an important clarification. Much of the criticism appears to proceed from the assumption that Atiku intends to restore the old subsidy regime under which the Federal Government subsidised imported finished petroleum products.

That interpretation misses the fundamental distinction in the policy being proposed.

Atiku’s proposal is essentially to move government intervention away from subsidising imported finished petroleum products and towards supporting domestic production and refining. In other words, rather than spend enormous public resources subsidising petrol imported into Nigeria, government support would be directed towards crude oil supplied to qualifying local refineries under a transparent, targeted and properly regulated framework.

This distinction changes the economic argument considerably.

FROM CONSUMPTION SUBSIDY TO PRODUCTION SUBSIDY

Nigeria's traditional petroleum subsidy model was essentially consumption-oriented.

Nigeria produced crude oil, exported substantial quantities of that crude, imported refined petroleum products and subsequently spent huge amounts of public resources subsidising the final products for domestic consumers.

That arrangement created an unfortunate economic cycle:

Produce crude → Export crude → Import refined products → Subsidise imported products → Consume locally.

The proposed alternative seeks to restructure the cycle:

Produce crude → Supply Nigerian refineries → Refine in Nigeria → Sell locally → Export surplus refined products.

The difference between these two models is profound.

The first effectively uses Nigerian public resources partly to sustain an import-dependent petroleum economy. The second seeks to use government intervention strategically to stimulate domestic refining capacity and retain a greater proportion of the petroleum value chain within Nigeria.

The idea, therefore, should not simply be described as "bringing back fuel subsidy." It is more accurately understood as an attempt to redirect subsidy from consumption and importation towards domestic production and industrial capacity.

WHY SUBSIDISING CRUDE FOR LOCAL REFINERIES COULD MAKE ECONOMIC SENSE

If properly designed, supplying crude oil to qualifying Nigerian refineries at a preferential price could reduce one of the significant input costs confronting domestic refiners.

Crude oil represents the principal raw material of a refinery. Reducing that input cost—provided the benefit is transmitted through the production chain—could reduce refinery costs and potentially contribute to more competitive ex-refinery and ultimately pump prices.

But the economic significance extends beyond petrol prices.

A credible preferential crude-supply arrangement could provide investors with greater certainty about feedstock availability and pricing. That could improve the commercial attractiveness of establishing additional modular and conventional refineries in Nigeria.

Nigeria consequently begins moving away from merely being a country that produces crude oil towards becoming a country that produces, processes, refines and adds value to its natural resources before consumption or export.

That is industrial policy.

IT COULD STIMULATE MORE REFINERY INVESTMENT

One of the most important potential benefits of this approach is its ability to encourage investment in domestic refining.

Investors considering establishing refineries need reasonable certainty about access to crude oil, pricing, infrastructure, regulation and the market for their products.

A transparent domestic crude-support framework could therefore provide incentives for existing refineries to expand capacity while encouraging new investors to enter the market.

This is particularly important because Nigeria should not build its petroleum future around one or two gigantic refineries alone.

The country needs a competitive ecosystem consisting of large refineries, medium-sized refineries, modular refineries and properly licensed smaller refining operations operating according to environmental, technical and safety standards.

The objective should ultimately be competition.

Ten, twenty or more commercially viable refineries competing for Nigerian and regional markets would be preferable to an industry dominated by a handful of producers.

THE ARTISANAL REFINERY QUESTION

The policy could also provide an opportunity to address the longstanding problem of artisanal refining in the Niger Delta.

The solution cannot simply be allowing environmentally dangerous illegal refining activities to continue. Neither should Nigeria ignore the technical knowledge and entrepreneurial energy that exist within some of these communities.

Government could create pathways through which qualified artisanal operators are organised into cooperatives or companies, trained, licensed, environmentally regulated and incorporated into properly designed modular refinery programmes.

Nigeria has previously considered the integration of artisanal refiners into legitimate domestic refining arrangements.

The principle should therefore be:

Formalise. Train. Finance. License. Regulate. Monitor.

Doing so could transform an environmental and security challenge into an opportunity for employment, entrepreneurship and local industrial development.

STRENGTHENING THE UPSTREAM SECTOR

There is another dimension that deserves attention.

Expansion of domestic refining capacity creates additional domestic demand for Nigerian crude.

That provides greater incentive for investment across the upstream petroleum sector.

As refinery capacity expands, Nigeria will require reliable crude production to feed those facilities while simultaneously maintaining its export commitments.

That means increased attention to exploration, production, pipelines, storage facilities, security and other petroleum infrastructure.

The relationship therefore becomes mutually reinforcing:

More refining capacity → Greater domestic crude demand → Greater incentive for upstream investment → Increased production → Greater refinery utilisation → More refined products.

The latest available regulatory evidence demonstrates why the crude-supply issue is important. The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission reported that although 61.9 million barrels were allocated to domestic refineries in the first quarter of 2026, actual supply was only 28.5 million barrels. The regulator identified pricing gaps between producers and refiners as a major reason for the difference.

A carefully designed production-support policy could therefore address a genuine bottleneck in Nigeria's petroleum value chain.

JOB CREATION AND INDUSTRIALISATION

The employment implications could also be substantial.

Refining does not operate in isolation. A growing domestic refining industry creates direct and indirect economic activities involving engineering, construction, transportation, logistics, storage, petrochemicals, maintenance, fabrication, maritime services, insurance, banking, security and retail distribution.

There would also be opportunities for Nigerian universities, polytechnics and technical institutions to produce specialised manpower for an expanding petroleum-processing economy.

The greatest economic value of crude oil is not necessarily obtained simply by extracting and exporting it.

Value increases as the crude moves through refining, petrochemicals, manufacturing and associated industries.

Nigeria should therefore seek to retain as many stages of that value chain within its economy as commercially possible.

LOWER ENERGY COSTS COULD HELP THE WIDER ECONOMY

The ultimate objective, however, must extend beyond the petroleum industry.

Energy costs affect virtually every sector of the Nigerian economy.

Transporters require fuel. Farmers require transportation and machinery. Manufacturers depend on energy and logistics. Small businesses frequently depend on generators. Food prices incorporate transportation costs. Construction materials must be transported.

Consequently, sustained reductions in petroleum-product costs can potentially transmit benefits across numerous sectors of the economy.

If domestic refining competition and lower production costs eventually translate into lower pump prices, households could experience some relief in transportation and living expenses.

Businesses could similarly experience reductions in logistics and operating costs.

That can contribute to lower inflationary pressure, increased disposable income and improved purchasing power.

The important qualification is that these benefits are not automatic. Government must design the policy so that subsidies granted to producers translate into measurable benefits for consumers rather than merely increasing refinery profit margins.

THE POLICY MUST NOT BECOME ANOTHER SUBSIDY BLACK HOLE

Supporting the principle does not mean ignoring its potential risks.

Nigeria's historical experience with petroleum subsidy demonstrates how easily a legitimate social or economic intervention can become vulnerable to corruption, rent-seeking and fiscal abuse.

A production subsidy must therefore be radically different.

There should be no blank cheque.

Every barrel of subsidised or preferentially priced crude should be traceable from production to refinery.

Participating refineries should disclose the quantity received, quantity processed, products produced and relevant sales information.

The fiscal cost should be explicitly appropriated in the federal budget rather than hidden within the accounts of NNPC or another government institution.

There should also be independent auditing and periodic public disclosure.

Most importantly, participation should be conditional on actual production.

No production, no subsidy.

The subsidy should reward measurable refinery output rather than political connections.

IT MUST ALSO BE COMPETITIVE

Government must avoid creating another distortion while attempting to correct the previous one.

Preferential crude must not become an instrument for creating private monopolies.

Any refinery satisfying clearly established technical, environmental, financial and production requirements should have an opportunity to participate.

There should also be mechanisms preventing beneficiaries from obtaining subsidised Nigerian crude only to export it without delivering the intended domestic economic benefits.

The framework must establish measurable objectives relating to domestic supply, production capacity, consumer benefits and value addition.

A SUNSET CLAUSE IS ESSENTIAL

Production subsidies should not necessarily continue forever.

Their purpose should be to help Nigeria overcome structural weaknesses in domestic refining and accelerate investment until the sector achieves sufficient scale and competitiveness.

The programme should therefore have periodic reviews and a clearly defined pathway for reducing government support as refining capacity, competition and efficiency improve.

The ultimate destination should remain a competitive petroleum market capable of functioning efficiently without permanent government subsidy.

NIGERIA SHOULD SUBSIDISE PRODUCTION, NOT IMPORT DEPENDENCE

This is perhaps the strongest philosophical argument behind the Atiku model.

If government must intervene in an important strategic industry, the intervention should preferably strengthen domestic productive capacity.

Nigeria cannot sustainably build prosperity by exporting raw materials, importing finished products and subsidising their consumption.

Our economic policy should increasingly encourage:

Production over importation.

Manufacturing over consumption.

Value addition over raw-material export.

Employment creation over exporting jobs abroad.

Domestic industrial capacity over permanent import dependence.

That is why the proposed subsidy model deserves serious consideration rather than being dismissed as simply a return to the old petrol subsidy regime.

CONCLUSION

The debate should therefore not be reduced to whether Nigeria should "bring back subsidy."

The more important question is: What exactly are we subsidising, why are we subsidising it, who benefits, and what productive capacity does the intervention create for Nigeria?

There is an enormous economic difference between subsidising imported petrol for immediate consumption and temporarily supporting crude supplied to Nigerian refineries to encourage domestic production.

If properly structured, transparently administered and subjected to strict fiscal limits, a production-based subsidy could strengthen domestic refining, stimulate upstream petroleum production, encourage additional refinery investment, create jobs, conserve foreign exchange and deepen Nigeria's industrial capacity.

And if increased refinery capacity produces genuine competition and lower production costs, Nigerian consumers could ultimately benefit through more competitive pump prices and reduced transportation and production costs.

The Atiku subsidy model should therefore be debated on its actual substance.

Nigeria's challenge is not merely to produce more crude oil.

Our challenge is to refine more of what we produce, add value to it at home, create Nigerian jobs from Nigerian resources and ensure that our enormous petroleum wealth translates into improved living standards for ordinary Nigerians.

That is the economic argument for moving subsidy from imported consumption to domestic production.

Beautifulday:
Lol! 🤣! Education should be made compulsory in Nigeria

Dotherightthing:
Nigeria never had the money to pay subsidies in the years leading to its eventual phasing out by president Tinubu.

We were BORROWING money to pay subsidies.

Who does that

Also, our subsidy regime was bedevilled by massive CORRUPTION.

And it was in 3 main categories:

1. Those who imported products and were overpaid subsidies for the products imported

2. Those who imported products, got overpaid and still channelled the products to neighbouring countries for more profit

3. Those who imported NOTHING or imported products on PAPER and still got paid subsidies. Some of such companies were not even registered on CAC

Hence, a subsidy that should not cost more that NGN500billion eventually cost the government NGN5 trillion.

And yet we had borrow to pay it.

If this is not madness, what else is

Atiku just wants to enrich his Fulani brothers through subsidy.

He will never be president

Nigerians know better

Ashirioluwa:
Nigerian politics is a transactional system driven by elite survival, fluid loyalties, and patronage rather than fixed ideologies. It operates as a high-stakes competition for state resources where party labels matter less than individual power brokers.

AMINDA:
My bad. That makes it 6 Southeasterners in a campaign council of 108 members. It's the turn of the South but which of the South? We all know what we are doing.

AMINDA:
This all water under the bridge now. Obi voluntarily left the coalition. He was the one who kept saying he MUST be on the ballot as a presidential candidate. He started the OK movement the second Kwankwaso joined the coalition while still in the coalition. Let him contest and try his best. While a coalition would have been an easier route to defeat Tinubu, a three-horse race also has its advantages. It's a no-brainer that this will be Atiku’s last shot whether he wins or loses. Obi should have negotiated on behalf of his region instead of prioritising himself. Tinubu did the same in 2015 and got rewarded with 5.6m Northern votes as payback at a time when Obi defeated him in the South.

P.S: Out of 108 members in the APC campaign council, only 7 are from the Southeast. Yet, Obidients kept joining APC handles in parroting that its the turn of the South. Betta Edu is part of that 7 from the Southeast. Unlike Gbajabiamila that was fingered multiple times, she isn't good enough for public service but is good enough to campaign for Tinubu's re-election.

AMINDA:
The whole active politicians in the country currently do. They are all eating good but how many are they? Does that change anything?

Lithiumite:
Pls ask them why despite all those boom years they claimed had more dollar figures, why weren't states able to pay salaries and kept borrowing and now they are claiming states have less usd,they are able to pay salaries and reduce debts and meet their obligations.......how they refuse to see the stupidity in their argument still surprises me.

Validated:
This one has become one of them, a corrupt regime. By the time their can of work is opened we will be celebrating Emefiele.

Blunt99:
Over 50 tickets, different conditions...

Handicap
Draw or away
1up
Over 0.5
Over 1.5.

Some Handicap are safe
Over 1.5 are safe,

And the rest fawked.

digitalman2811:
Imagine how politics is played in Nigeria, breeding bitterness and hatred, the worse part is that we don't even have a personal relationship with the so called presidential hopefuls.tribalism will not allow us to be objective.

reverendfather:
And this is development??
We are just one kind sha in this part of the world

MamaFryo:
Ironically, majority of the Obidients that you think you are abusing in your post, own or work in these places that you displayed in your video. Is it because the hotel or bank looks super cool, the economy of the country will automatically boom? Will the beautiful structures make food or petrol cheap? For your information, ordinary Benin Republic at our backyard there does not have structures as this but their currency is more valuable than naira. Na wetin we dey follow you talk be that, no be these wishy washy buildings we wan chop.


Wetin I even know sef? I am just an ordinary Nigerian Policewoman.

AMINDA:
We knew all we were going to see in the thread are vague projects. Nothing tangible. In other words, he will continue to claim the achievements of all the governors who succeeded him, but he never gives credit to others who governed Lagos before him. His lackeys say he built Lagos from scratch. Same Lagos of Jakande, Marwa and Dodan Barracks.

AMINDA:
Shehu Sani and others were just moles who played both sides while pretending to be NADECO activists.

MamaFryo:
This is our candidate, show us your candidate.

Nifemy4:
https://x.com/itzjesufemi/status/2090407723305214172?s=46

APC has destroyed this country !
Take a look .

NIGERIAJAGAJAGA:
Na him backbone. Silent billionaire. Koleosho family of osun state

Kalashnikov49:
This one below wants to use propaganda and lies to meet Trump

Sermwell:
My question now is that when an Igbo man becomes president, is this how he'll also litter the government with Igbo people?? Hmmmm!!! Hope hausas and yorubas don't complain then?