Stakeholders have lamented that Nigerians are facing the brutal consequences of government policies that lack adequate planning and the result of bold decisions that lack the benefit of detailed consequence management.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, while ringing the NASDAQ closing bell, touted his reforms in removing subsidies and unifying different official rates to make a case for investing in Nigeria. However, these decisions have thrown millions into poverty following a poorly managed intervention programme and lack of concrete plans to increase the dollar supply.
In the wake of fuel subsidy removal, Nigerians turned to gas as an alternative fuel as prices averaged N6, 000 for 12.5kg of cooking gas. Oil marketers pledged N10bn worth of investments to contribute Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) – powered public transit buses to mitigate the impact of the removal within 30 days in a meeting with Tinubu in June.
The policy seeks to revolutionise the transportation landscape in the country, targeting over 11,500 new CNG-enabled vehicles and 55,000 CNG conversion kits for existing PMS-dependent vehicles, while simultaneously bolstering in-country manufacturing, local assembly and expansive job-creation, in line with the presidential directive.
Furthermore, the average price of cooking gas has almost shown the cost of inaction. According to the President of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers, Olatunbosun Oladapo, the price of cooking gas had increased from around N9-N10 million per 20 metric tonnes to N14 million per 20 metric tonnes, and could hit N18 million per metric tonne by December.
The impact of this is that the average price of 12.5kg of cooking gas could surge to N18, 000 from the current price of N10, 000. “Now, the ordinary man would not be able to buy gas. How many minimum wage earners can afford gas now? Everyone is turning to firewood and charcoal”, he lamented.
Following the rise in crude oil, diesel is inching close to N1, 000 per litre, opening fresh pain for SMEs, including hotels, hospitals, factories and schools, whose cost of operations would spike, triggering a price increase in food, transport and services.
The Federal Government has forced a lid on the retail price of petrol, even as the landing cost has long crossed the pump price leading to speculations that subsidy is back.
If there were any doubts before, the FAAC report in August indicating that over N169bn was used to pay subsidies reveals what the country is up against. However, many analysts have hailed the reforms embarked upon by President Tinubu. In June, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lauded what they termed as ‘bold reforms’.
