By Dada Ahmed.
Premium Times Nigeria.
Many motor mechanics, motorists and other segments of population in Lokoja, kogi state, on Thursday, intensified lamentation over the removal of fuel subsidy in the country.
According to those who spoke to The Reporters’ correspondent, the removal of fuel subsidy has brought a lot of untold social and economic harships to them and their dependants.
“The rate at which customers visit my workshop has gone down seriously to the extend that I hardly repair one or two vehicles per day instead of six or seven cars, since this government removed subsidy on fuel.
“They all lay blame on the removal of fuel subsidy, saying that they can no longer fuel their cards with the hike in the pump price of fuel, not to talk of repairing them, Mr. John Samuel, a motor mechanic told our correspondent in an interview.
” I have resorted to calling my customers through telephone, but all with no encouraging response,” he said.
A private car owner and a public servant, Nuhu Abdullahi, who corroborated Samuel’s plight, described the removal of fuel as a deadly bloat to all,mostly car owners in Lokoja and its environs.
“With my meagre monthly salary that hardly meet my monthly family financial commitments, coupled with the astronomical increase in the price of fuel, I have resorted to ground my car for now.
” To accomplish my trip within Lokoja, I now patronise either commercial motorcycle, otherwise known as “Okada” or Kekenapep in coping with the stark economic reality in the country which is further triggered by the removal of fuel subsidy,he lamented.
A kekenapep driver, Augustine Audu, told our correspondent that though more car owners now patronise his services, most of his proceeds go for buying of fuel.
“Before the removal of fuel subsidy, I spent N3,000 to fuel my kekenapep per day but this has gone up to N12,000 for the same day due to the removal of fuel subsidy.
“In some cases, I have to reduce my fare as some passengers complain of not able to afford it.
“At the end of the day, I hardly make up N5,000 profit, instead of the former N10,000, profit,especially on market day.
“In other words, commercial transportation does not attract the desired profit again,”he said.
An economist, Mr.Richard Adebayo, called on the state and federal government to give priority to providing the people with palliatives to ease the social and economic hardship created by the fuel subsidy removal.
“This fuel subsidy policy, though not bad perse but has brought a lot of economic burden beyond the capacity of the masses to bear.
“The state and federal government need to wade in without wasting time by providing palliatives for the people, particularly the poorest of the poor, to cushion the effect of this policy.
“The palliative should include provision of buses to convey people to various destinations at affordable fare, flood market with foodstuff such as rice,beans and other grains to crash the exorbitant prices among the basic needs of the common man,” he urged.
“There should be re-establishment of marketing board, to ensure stablisation of the price food stuff among other functions.
Others stressed the need for the federal government to put all the refineries in functional capacity to ensure abundant fuel in the country , a development they believe, would put to pay fuel importation and force down the price of the product.
Recently,Kogi State Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, called on the Kogi State Government to urgently put measures in place to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.
The Chairman of the Council, Comrade Gabriel Amari, made the call while speaking on the hardship being faced by the people, especially workers consequence upon the removal of fuel subsidy.
Comrade Amari noted that while the Federal Government was working out its palliatives for the people, there was need for the state government to also set in motion special measures to assist the populace.
He emphasized that other states across the country had instituted measures in various ways to reduce the effects of the subsidy removal on the people, adding that such measures should be emulated by the state government.
Comrade Amari noted that the economy had been virtually paralyzed in all spheres and called on Governor Yahaya Bello to do something urgent to stem the negative development.
The labour Chairman maintained that if nothing is done, it would be difficult for workers to improve productivity as a result of high cost of transport and goods, generally.
He said, “Since the inception of the present administration of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, fuel price has been increased two times; first from N200 to N500 and now from N540 to N617 per litre.
“This is unbearable as our people can no longer pay their bills, feed their children and meet other basic family obligations”.
Meanwhile, the Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has approved mult-ibillion naira palliatives to neutralise the effects of recent removal of fuel subsidy cutting across different sectors and demographies of the state.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, told a news briefing in Ilorin.
According to him, on top of the palliatives is a cash support of N10,000 for every public sector worker in the state, which will begin in July and last until a new minimum wage is introduced, to enable workers cope with the economic shocks created by the subsidy removal.
He said:”In deference to the new advisory of the National Economic Council for states, to design their own independent responses to the development, the Governor has directed the leadership of the civil service to continue a staggered work schedule — not exceeding three days a week — to reduce transportation expenses for workers.
“The Governor has also approved for the Kwara State Social Investment Programme (KWASSIP) to activate a N500 million worth of conditional support for petty traders and MSMEs in the state.
“The state government will receive fertiliser and grains from the Federal Government and pay for same.
“It is not free, modalities for the handling of these will be made available later. This is to boost farming outputs and food security in the state.
“The government, meanwhile, will be setting up a committee to interface with marketers on the need to curb extortionist tendencies as seen in arbitrary fixing of prices of food stuff.
“This practice imposes hardship on everyone. The government will be willing to collaborate with the patriotic market leaders on how to tackle this challenge.
“The Governor identifies with the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for his strong commitments to sustainable economic reforms and well-being of the Nigerian people, believing that the current discomforts are just like the pains that precede the joyful birth of a child.”
“Government team to be supported by respected stakeholders who would get inputs from traditional rulers, religious bodies, market leaders, trade unionists, and community based organisations to generate the lists of beneficiaries and disburse accordingly.
“The whole idea of these interventions which gulp billions of naira of public funds is to show empathy and deploy as much resources as the state can afford to support the people at this special time.
