Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Senator Jibril Aminu, weekend, threw his weight behind President Goodluck Jonathan’s move to remove the contentious fuel subsidy.
He said only Nigeria’s neighbours enjoyed the over N1 trillion being spent annually by the government in executing the policy.
Prof. Aminu, also a former Minister of Education, said the country could not sustain the huge expenditure for too long as very few Nigerians enjoyed the subsidy while the masses of neighbouring countries fed fat on the policy.
He said: “I am not going to mince words, honestly speaking, the subsidy is too much. Subsidy is just being used to convey these petroleum products to our neighbouring countries.
“How much is it costing the country? When I was the Petroleum Minister, it used to cost about N100 million to convey the subsidy, not even the subsidy itself, but to deliver it.
”When you look at it, it is not something that we can sustain and I believe that NNPC has a responsibility to bring the figures out now and let Nigerians know what we are losing by way of this subsidy,” he said.
The former minister noted that government position over the years had been misunderstood because of the method used in conveying it to the public.
Advising the federal government to create means of cushioning the effect of the fuel subsidy removal, Prof. Aminu urged officials of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation to educate the public on the actual amount federal government spent annually on fuel subsidy.
“The British have a saying that it is not what you do but how you do it . It is not what you say but how you say it. I am convinced that with the way things are going now in this country, we cannot continue with this oil subsidy indefinitely.
“It is impossible considering the amount we are spending. Look at the figures. We all must have done some science while in school,” he said.
He noted that the money spent on fuel subsidy this could have been used to develop the educational system, roads, agriculture etc now going to one sector only, stressing that if the energy was used 100 percent for the benefit of Nigerians, that would have been okay.
He advocated a gradual removal of the subsidy, and noted that for Nigerians to accept government’s position, which will benefit the country in the long run, the government could develop a policy to gradually remove the subsidy
Prof. Aminu, however, emphasised the need for government to raise the sensitivity and awareness of the people to the problem, noting that “ the people also must see that we are living by what we preach.
“Before I am misunderstood as a man who does not have sympathy for the common man, I believe that in the Abacha days, they found some answers to this problem by withdrawing the subsidy, taking the money saved and using it on things; developmental activities which people could see.
“That was the difference that Petroleum Trust Fund, PTF, made. They were making roads, building hospitals, buying drugs; things that states and local governments should do were being done by the PTF. So in my opinion, there are ways we can remove the subsidy and not make people feel bad about it.
“Another thing with PTF was that it was in a military era and there was no need to consult states but now, there need to be some agreement among the states, local and the federal governments. If the idea is just to increase the pump price, then risk some kind of resistance from the people.”
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