WHEN President Bola Tinubu announced the immediate commencement of implementation of the petrol subsidy removal on his inauguration day on May 29, 2023, all eyes were on the Federal Government to lead the way in initiating the necessary reliefs to enable the people to cope with the harsh burden it brought.

The convening of the National Economic Council, NEC, chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, on July 20, 2023, in Abuja, highlighted the role the states also have to play in this effort. This was more so as the subsidy removal appeared to morph the distributable federal revenue from N786.161 billion in May to N907.054 billion in June 2023, an increase of over N120 billion. The various levels of government are better placed than before to plough back some of the windfall to cushion the hardship in their states.

While most of the states are still figuring out how to proceed with providing relief, the Ogun State Government has unfolded what we see as a commendable template. They not only have packages for the state’s employees, they also have the general populace in mind.

We are particularly impressed with the government’s intention to embark on a massive, free conversion of mass transit vehicles from gasoline or diesel to Compressed Natural Gas, CNG. States should encourage investments in CNG and electric vehicle recharge stations in their urban and rural areas while training manpower in the conversion of petrol and diesel generators to CNG usage.

Investment in cheaper and cleaner energy to help people commute and power their homes and businesses affordably is the best way to spend the palliative funds at both the federal and state levels. This form of investment will allow people to go about their businesses once more, create wealth, and revive the sagging economy. We need clean and affordable energy. Nigerians are very willing to embrace these alternatives. 

The government should prepare an enabling environment with soft funding of start-ups and training of manpower to take CNG down to the grassroots. Though the Ogun State package involves a measure of cash transfer, it goes to civil servants who are already on a verified payroll. This is unlike the highly corruption-prone “social register” of the Federal Government established by the Muhammadu Buhari regime. It is to the credit of President Tinubu that he bowed out of that discredited path and enlisted the governors in implementing the palliative measure as a national programme.

We once again call on all governments to channel the post-subsidy relief funds into areas that will generate employment, create wealth, and lift the economy. They must subsidise production, not consumption. We do not support any policy that will end up putting palliative funds in the pockets of a few politicians and their cronies. It must go around.