Fuel price hike: Wrong timing?

At last, the federal government has removed the fuel subsidy. Now, the new pump price is N145 per little against the former which was N86.50. The action has generated mixed reactions from the Nigerians, with some category of people condemned and described it as deliberate attempt to afflict hardship to the country by the government […]

At last, the federal government has removed the fuel subsidy. Now, the new pump price is N145 per little against the former which was N86.50. The action has generated mixed reactions from the Nigerians, with some category of people condemned and described it as deliberate attempt to afflict hardship to the country by the government which rode to power through popular mandate. Other Nigerians, however, described it as welcome development particularly looking at the past subsidy regime that became the cesspool of corruption.
 Going back the memory lane, the country has been able to maintain subsidy on petroleum resources for long. Although, it is not wrong because it has been part of government socialist policies, the manner with which the intervention program was managed in the past left both the government and many Nigerians to doubt about the sincerity of the whole subsidy regime. Besides, many foreign investors have refused to come and invest due to lack of friendly environment. Looking at the enormous problems bedeviled the petroleum sector, the government has no option that to unbundle it through full deregulation. And, this is what government just did.
What baffled Nigerians is the time the government decides to remove the subsidy. Considering the economy realities that forced inflation rate to 9.6%, the exchange rate of dollars and above all high rate of unemployment, the government must have paused and thought about the convenient time, but not now. Anyway, the government’s plan to build three additional refineries has rekindled the hopes of Nigerians that things would get better in the future. It has however become pertinent for an urgent review of wages of civil servant in the country to reflect the current reality. Already, the civil servants are groaning under hardship and receiving meager salary that hardly sustains them.
Ibrahim Mustapha Pambegua, Kaduna state.