A coalition of Civil Society groups, Citizens Voice Against Corruption (CIVAC) has called on Nigerians to embrace the fuel subsidy removal because the country can develop without it.
CIVAC is a platform comprising numerous civil society organizations and professional bodies.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had at his inauguration ceremony announced the removal of fuel subsidy.
In a statement signed by CIVAC’s National Coordinator Abdulrazaq Alkali, and made available to journalists on Friday in Abuja, the body noted that Nigeria had failed over the years to reap the benefits of an oil-producing nation as revenues from oil is consumed by fuel subsidy.
Alkali said: “For most oil producing countries, high oil prices means high government earning, more spending on education, health, infrastructure, poverty alleviation etc.
“Unfortunately, that is not the case in Nigeria, as the high profit margin earned from high oil prices is largely swallowed by petroleum subsidies.”
The Group, while condemning the hypocrisy of some Nigerians, noted that many citizens were in agreement that fuel subsidy should be removed.
“For example both major candidates in the last presidential election made promises to remove fuel subsidies if elected president, but now they are all over the place blaming President Tinubu for doing what they promised to do for Nigerians,” he said.
The coalition called on organised labour to reconsider its proposed strike action as it would further bring more hardship to Nigerians.
“The leaders of NLC and TUC should rise up to their duties and stop playing to the gallery or the books of some elites who are benefitting immensely from the petroleum subsidy. NLC and TUC need to get their acts together by putting the future and survival of Nigeria first.
“This will cause untold hardship on Nigerians and have a significant damaging effect on an already struggling economy, paralysing the country of more than 200 million Nigerians, the majority of the citizens who live on daily wage will be highly irrational.
‘Moreover, considering the delicate security situation in the country, it will be of great concern that grieving politicians, provocateurs and anarchists can hijacked the strike to stage protests and demonstrations, or hide under the cover of protestors and promote discord, anarchy and unleash mayhem to the detriment of public peace” CIVAC said.
CIVAC therefore appealed to the NLC and TUC leaders to explore other avenues to prevent high petroleum prices in the country.
“One important option is to engage with the government to find a more suitable solution. For example, by putting pressure on the government to revamp the three national refineries (in Kaduna, Warri and Port-Harcourt) which can play a significant role in easing the pressure on our forex reserve, thus strengthening our currency.
“A strong Naira and local refining capacity will make the petroleum products cheap even without subsidies.
“In addition, if these refineries are revamped, hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect jobs will be created, thus creating a multiplier effect in the fight against poverty and the growth of our economy,” CIVAC said in the statement.
