Sir: One critical issue that bothers majority of Nigerians is the palliative measure for the fuel subsidy removal.
Mr. President, history they say is the best teacher. From the immediate past administration, we saw the outcome of the Trader Money, the N-Power and the School Feeding Programme. As nice as the programmes might have seemed, they were not made to sustain livelihoods nor the economy; they were designed to make a few people rich and some richer which was hitherto achieved. It is hoped that in your time, we can witness a prosperous Nigeria condensed in a pool of sustainable economic growth. However, the current decision to distribute N8,000 to assumed poor Nigerians, amounting to the sum of N500 billion, seems to be in error.
Permit me to make a few suggestions on how that sum of money, the N500 billion, can be put to better use:
First, provide at least 100 commuter buses to every state, mandating them to charge 50% of the current fare to every destination. This 50% charge will enable the managers to pay the staff, run the operations and also save some money for future expansion. This will also create job opportunities for a minimum of 2,000 persons in the upstream and over 10,000 persons in the downstream.
With an average of 12,000 new jobs created by this administration in every state of the federation, it will amount to a total of 440,000 employed directly and indirectly within six months with an annual multiplier effect. For me Mr. President, with 50% savings in transportation for members of the public, alongside job creation, then we can say that we are receiving the real palliative. May I quickly add that this palliative will spread round every class, the rich, the poor and the assumed poor?
Second, fix failed and failing portions of the highways. Our highways have eventually become death traps; motorists practically spend 24hours for a journey of six hours thus contributing to the failure of their business. Part of this money can be committed to fixing the failed and failing portions of the roads to ease the pains of motorists. This again will have positive effect on every category of persons who ply our roads. You cannot compare this palliative dividends to the N8,000 that will be given to the very few who would be unable to purchase even an half bag of rice with the said money.
Third, train the youths and set up enterprise centres. There is a saying that any government that fails to skill the nation, has planned to kill the nation, as most nations with sustainable economy, planned their economies on Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SME). It is pertinent to mention that SMEs exist on the basis of available skills. If we can set some money aside from this fund to kick-start a robust skills and enterprise development programme, we would have created a prosperity path for the youths, grow our manufacturing and production sectors across value chains and firmly establish a wealth creation formula.
Mr. President, skill is the only single global currency any one can have and the only tool that can create opportunity for self-sustainability, legal migration, thus opening the channel for more foreign exchange into the country. This programme can create 10 million jobs within two years. This is the kind of palliative the people need.
I am aware that there are plans to see how the prices of food items can be controlled; however, controlling the cost of commodities might just mean ensuring it does not go up. The citizens of Nigeria will want to see a drastic reduction in the prices of staple foods, like rice, beans, wheat, millet, tubers, maize etcetera. We know that if the cost of production does not reduce, sales cost cannot come down. This is where I appeal to Mr. President to focus on. Let us invest some money into researching how food production cost can be reduced drastically so that our purchase cost can also be reduced by close to 50%, if not lower.
Mr. President, nothing can be more reassuring than an action that seems to reduce the pains of the people that put their trust in you, provide an assured future for them and thus bring everyone to a very relaxed mood. If we can do this, Mr. President, you would have repositioned your administration into an auto-pilot mode. Please provide us with a palliative that will lead to sustainable livelihood and national economic growth.
- Solomon Edebiri, PhD, JP, MON Benin City.