The era of mixed and confusing messaging appears to still be with Nigeria with what appears to be a recant by the country’s new helmsman, President Bola Tinubu, over his comments on the withdrawal of subsidy on fuel, after an unintended backlash from petrol filling stations.
Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) jumped as high as N700 in some states, while in Abuja, Lagos, and other cities, queues emerged suddenly and black marketers continued to make a kill.
Even in the midst of the anger and frustration, some Nigerians made a joke out of it, like this one: *Tinubu’s Inauguration party is currently been held across all filling stations in the country ????????????….. The turnout is very encouraging.*
But the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) were unsparing of the President, unleashing vitriolic attacks against the new administration. Joe Ajaero, the NLC President, said the act is inviting curses to the administration, as anger continues to grow and the social media is agog with attacks.
However, in a swift move in an explanatory tweet on his verified Twitter handle @NgrPresGCFR, Tuesday afternoon, President Tinubu said he was merely communicating the status quo.
“The public is advised to note that President Bola Tinubu’s declaration that “subsidy is gone” is neither a new development nor an action of his new administration.
“He was merely communicating the status quo, considering that the previous administration’s budget for fuel subsidy was planned and approved to last for only the first half of the year.
“Effectively, this means that by the end of June, the Federal Government will be without funds to continue the subsidy regime, translating to its termination.
“The panic-buying that has ensued as a result of the communication is needless; it will not take immediate effect.
“Furthermore, President Tinubu was clear about his plans to re-channel the funds previously devoted to the payment of subsidies into better investments that will cushion the effects of the removal on the general public, especially the poor of the poor.
“This includes but is not limited to investments in public infrastructure, education, healthcare and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions of Nigerians and increase their earning potential.”
His blame trading, a feature of the Muhammadu Buhari administration for eight years, blaming the previous Goodluck Jonathan administration before it for every woe, appears not to be calming frayed nerves as Nigerians only revved up criticisms on mainstream and social media.
An eleven years article the President wrote to criticise and lampoon Jonathan in 2012 for contemplating fuel subsidy removal is currently trending, with the NLC in a statement quoting copiously from it.
Recall that Tinubu, along with others, initiated and executed a protest that rocked Nigeria and forced Jonathan’s government to beat a hasty retreat on the unpopular move. The move continues to remain unpopular, even though economists and analysts insist it is the way to go.
Evidently, the Labour unions and many opponents are not against the removal of the subsidy, but the manner of its removal, as well as concrete palliatives.
But Ekiti State government stands out for now it handled the situation.
According to reports, he opened a dialogue with petrol marketers and dealers.
He was said to have aborted the brewing fuel crisis in the State by requesting answers to two questions;
Why they decided to inflict pains on Ekiti people?
What changed between Monday night and Tuesday morning?
The marketers apologised to the Governor and pledged not to hoard fuel and also ensure fuel is sold by every station that has the product in Ekiti at the approved price.
