By Ibrahim Hassan-Wuyo 

The Arewa Youth Assembly (AYA)  has called for understanding, calm, and support for the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration over the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), better known as petrol, and the adjustment of pump prices.

Speaking to journalists in Kaduna, the Speaker, Arewa Youth Assembly, Mohammed Salihu Danlami, said the removal of subsidy was a tough but courageous decision, which previous administration could not do.

He noted that it was very thoughtful, a sign of good faith and continuity for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to keep up with the subsidy removal, which foundation was laid by the immediate past administration.

He  commended the efforts of Nigerian National Petroleum Coperation Ltd

in addressing the nation and promptly making adjustments to the price of PMS to tackle fuel hoarders.

Danlami alleged that Nigeria previously paid an average of N120 billion monthly on petrol subsidy.

He urged Nigerians to remain calm, apply wisdom and understanding, and resist the temptation and instigation by those fanning the embers of hate to cause chaos and instability in the country.

He further noted that subsidy removal was in conformity with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA Act) 2021, which provided for total deregulation of the petroleum downstream sector to drive investment and growth.

The AYA  president decried the fact that subsidy has been the reason why Nigeria has remained stagnant for years because it benefited only a few rich Nigerians who don’t even needed the subsidy.

According to Danlami, few top politicians and key government officials were making billions of dollars from subsidy while Nigerians were unable to afford quality education, healthcare, infrastructure, electricity, telecommunications, stable power supply, agriculture and were faced with high rate of un-employment and extreme poverty. 

He maintained that with subsidy payment, even if oil prices increase in the global market, Nigeria and Nigerians benefit nothing because the gains from the increase in oil prices were channelled to paying subsidy.

The Speaker stressed that in the opinion of the Arewa Youths, which reflected the opinion of most Nigerians, payment of the subsidy was a  waste of resources and misplacement of priority with lethal consequences to the nation.

“Subsidy has fatal effects on inflationary pressures on the economy, which negatively impacts the exchange rates and results to all kinds of untold sufferings on Nigerian masses and pushed millions of youths into different forms of terrorist activities and insurgency,” he alleged .

He argued that the continued payment of subsidy will lead Nigeria to continue to borrow and remain in debt, noting that between January and August of 2021, a total of N905.27 billion has been incurred as subsidy costs, according to the Federation Account and Allocation Committee reports. “As of 2022, the cost of servicing debt in Nigeria by the federal government was N2.597 trillion, whereas revenue was N2.4 trillion. With this, no meaningful development in other key areas is feasible.”

He said that as a developing nation, “Nigeria must do more than just survive or live in the moment, Nigeria must make developments in all sectors as central to our existence, however, Nigeria cannot do that in as much as she continues to pay subsidy to few Nigerians who are already rich at the detriment of over 200 million more Nigerians. By any standard sensible, we can not possibly eat our cake and have it.”

“To continue to pay subsidy is to intentionally rob the future of the generation yet unborn; it is to deliberately slide our nation into recession, high inflation rates, hunger, extreme poverty, and starvation.”

“We should not, we cannot continue to pay subsidies in this country if we want to have Nigeria as a nation in the next decades to come.”

“Therefore, the Arewa Youth Assembly calls on Nigerians to support the removal of subsidy in order to save all, and desist from politicising it, or bringing in religious or ethnicity, because the danger that awaits if we continue to pay subsidy is coming for all Nigerians irrespective of their political inclination, tribe or religion.”

“It is a tough and painful decision to make, but certainly the right step towards the right direction, to saving not just a few but the entire nation, to restoring the glory of Nigeria as the leader of Africa.”

The speaker strongly cautioned against hoarding PMS for safety concerns and to allow its continuous flow through the proper channels to ensure its availability and affordability.