Tinubu Calls for Deregulation of Fuel Price

...Seeks progressive governance

A former Governor of Lagos State and national leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on Thursday stressed the need for market forces to determine the price of fuel, saying that the current fuel regime causes more problems than it cures.

Tinubu has also called for progressive governance, stressing that as a progressive, he believes that deep and impactful reforms should be implemented by creating more jobs, providing social policy initiatives and building an infrastructure befitting a leading nation.

Delivering a paper at Daily Trust's annual dialogue in Abuja, the APC national leader argued that the country must reform the current fuel subsidy regime.

According to him, the fuel subsidy regime at this stage causes more problems than it cures.

“Bottlenecks of long fuel queues, erratic supply, resultant economic dislocations for consumers from lack of fuel and the corrupt practices of trade insiders undermine the good intentions upon which the subsidy is based. Currently, the subsidy does not benefit the average person. It sweetly profits the elites who manipulate the program to their own advantage. We need to allow market forces to more directly determine price. We need to open the now closed market to more suppliers. In this way, we may better harmonise supply and demand, where they do the most sustainable economic good,” Tinubu explained.

Tinubu stressed the need for good governance, insisting that “social services must become a reality close at hand and not a vague dream lying in the distance”.

He also added that the country must repair her social safety net.

According to him, old people who have given so much to the nation are being shortchanged and forced to live in penury when they should be living in the dignity due their advanced years and their former labours.

He said despite President Muhammdu Buhari’s guidance to state governors to priotise salary arrears and payments with Paris Club excess payment, clearing of salary arrears is still not fully achieved although it has clearly taken on an importance not seen in prior governments.

“Meanwhile, the issue of longstanding mounting arrears of pension payments and retirement benefits to public sector workers remains outstanding. The total figure is estimated in trillions,” he added.

“In short, the progressive governance we seek will open the door to affordable housing for the average family, consumer credit for those with steady employment and the provision of basic welfare to our most vulnerable citizens,” Tinubu said. 

He stated that progress has only been made in part in the past three years, adding that “advocates of the old ways have rebelled in full against even these partial blossoms of improvement”.

 Tinubu, however, argued that smart, progressive governance can bring prosperity, tranquility and justice.

He acknowledged that Boko Haram may not be completely defeated but added that it shall never rise again to be the existential threat it once was.

Tinubu also stated that the Nigeria is facing its biggest structural problem such as imbalanced economy and the poverty and misery it has caused.

Speaking on what he described as the terrible killings in Benue and Taraba states, Tinubu said the current crisis should be placed in proper context.

According to him, no one should pretend that this evil just suddenly appeared from nowhere, adding that Nigerians have been living and dying with this lethal situation for many years.

“The current hue and cry against these killings is hopefully a sign that we are maturing as a nation. That we shall no longer countenance the wanton destruction of human lives no matter the religion, ethnicity or origin of the victims or the villains. If so, maybe this nation is coming of age and none too soon. As such, this outcry is as welcome as it is overdue. We should have been agitating in this manner 5, 10, 15 years ago. Lives would have been saved. For reasons I cannot completely fathom we have come late to the point of strong, collective outrage at this bloodletting. Yet, all in all, late is better than never in this regard,” Tinubu explained.

  He recommended that this spirit of compassion and care must be enshrined in the country’s political culture because it is integral to national greatness and democratic progress.

To address the challenges, Tinubu said the country must take prudent action.

According to him, the federal government to do what past governments neglected to do, adding that the country must forget our age-old prejudices in order to resolve this problem.

“At its essence, this crisis was not born of religious or ethnic hatred. It is about a shrinking amount of grass and water. In recent years the desert has expanded, consuming land once used to graze livestock. This pushed cattle herders farther and farther south to collide with the farmers who were there. Ecological peril spawned economic conflict which descended into violence,” he said.

He noted that the violence has taken on religious, ethnic and regional consequences because of the identities of the parties involved.  

 

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