The Pan Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, on Friday, described President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s policies as anti-people, saying the present administration is insensitive to the sufferings and plights of Nigerians following the sudden and harsh removal of petrol subsidy.
The group lambasted the present administration in the country for compounding the suffering of the common Nigerians through the multiplier effects of the removal of petrol subsidy, intractable fall of the Naira and surreptitious increase in school fees in Federal Government secondary and tertiary educational institutions.
Afenifere’s position was contained in a statement issued by the group and signed by its Secretary General, Chief Sola Ebiseni, who maintained that the implementation of the thoughtless policies will further plunge Nigeria’s economy down the slope.
Ebiseni lamented that the policies had improvised more people with a number of extremely poor Nigerians has continued to grow and said “It is indeed a matter of grave concern that a party and its candidate which made subsidy removal a cardinal campaign issue, did not have a plan on ground to introduce the necessary countervailing palliative to protect the people and the economy”
He called on President Tinubu to look into a way to reduce the cost of governance, while saying that no one will kick against the need to sacrifice for the country but said those in the leadership position must first lead by example in order to reduce the cost of
According to him, no one will frown over the need for sacrifices by citizens to restore the fiscal viability of the country but said sacrifice must be made by all, and in a progressive manner, saying those in positions of leadership must lead by example in order to address the inordinate cost of governance
The statement read: “Nigeria is currently caught in a labyrinth of inclement weather of a convoluted election process and its unwieldy outcomes, intractable security problems and the nightmarish aftermath of a sudden and harsh removal of petrol subsidy on the other.
“In less than six weeks, an already asphyxiating economy reeling under the crushing impact of hyperinflation, unemployment, mass hunger and poverty foisted by the gross ineptitude and incompetence that characterized the watch of eight years is looking like an episode drawn straight out of Dante’s Hell.
“Afenifere as a political group and the rallying platform for social welfarist progressive ideals inexorably committed to the greatest good of the greatest number of Nigerians cannot afford to fold its arms or be seen to maintain silence, neutrality or ambivalence in the face of this latest body blow on an already traumatized citizenry.
“Our well-informed position to tarry on comments on the governance of the federation until the final determination of the true holder of the people’s mandate through ongoing judicial processes may inadvertently be taken for abandonment of our historic role as the people’s ombudsman in the political space, acquiescence in the face of the rudderless ship of the state or mistaken to have joined the league with those befuddled by chauvinism in laundering incompetence and nepotism or celebrations of inanities”
He said “Nigeria despite being touted as the 55th largest economy in the world currently ranks 142 out of 167 on the global prosperity index with the expected total number of Nigerians plunged into the deep end of multidimensional poverty to gross 133 million before the end of 2024.
” In the same vein, the number of extremely poor Nigerians for the same period is estimated to hit 71 million which may now be compounded by the multiplier effects of peremptory removal of petrol subsidy, intractable fall of the Naira and surreptitious increase in school fees payable in Federal Government secondary and tertiary educational institutions.
” It is feared that this latest gross act of thoughtless policy implementation and its unintended consequences will further push Nigeria’s economy down the slope as Nigeria has officially overtaken India as The New Poverty Capital of the World”
According to him, “There has emerged a wide consensus that the petrol subsidy regime as it had been managed, especially in the last eight years, was becoming ruinous to the economy and could no longer be sustained.
“The management had been opaque, with no accountability, scant oversight and huge allowance for extreme avarice by a few privileged officials and their private collaborators.
“NNPC was the sole importer of petrol and did indeed go into oil swap contracts with some foreign refiners in an arrangement otherwise called Direct Sales-Direct Purchase (DSDP) arrangement. Under this arrangement, NNPC supplied crude oil to these refiners in exchange for refined petroleum products in already pre-defined quantities.
“NNPC then supplied these products to Nigerians and paid itself huge amounts in the name of “petrol subsidy”. How the subsidy came about and how it was calculated was only known to NNPC whose finances and cash returns to Nigeria are not subject to any oversight by the government”
Ebiseni noted that: “While the top three Presidential candidates in the last election agreed that the wasteful and corruption-infested Petrol Subsidy had to go, no one however, expected that the Subsidy would be removed in the sudden manner it was done: a seeming off-the-cuff declaration of the removal of the subsidy, totally ignoring the impact on the people and the economy.
“Such a huge economic decision with clear potential for serious deleterious impact on disposable incomes of the already impoverished citizens should never have been made in the cavalier manner as was witnessed.
“It is indeed a matter of grave concern that a party and its candidate which made subsidy removal a cardinal campaign issue, did not have a plan on the ground to introduce the necessary countervailing palliatives simultaneously to protect the people and the economy.
“Progressive governance, which they have always professed, would have put ahead of everything, the welfare of the citizens and should never be, or made to seem like, an afterthought. If the body is troubled by a tooth that has to be removed, only a quack dentist would dare to pull off the tooth without administering necessary painkillers before, and even after, the removal.
“Those whom our warped and strange constitution has put in the saddle while their legitimacy is yet subject of judicial inquiry are nonetheless expected to act expeditiously to restore hope to the weak in society and protect the economy by introducing quickly, the much needed palliative measures.
“Hitting the ground running is more than a slogan or braggadocio declaration, the run must be well coordinated by competent hands available nationwide and not confined to actors whose efforts have only been exaggerated by the spatial limits of their past endeavours”
He stated further “No one today questions the need for sacrifices by citizens to restore the fiscal viability of the country. However, that sacrifice must be made by all, and in a progressive manner. Those in the leadership of the country must lead by example. It is time we addressed the inordinate cost of governance in a very open, substantial and substantive way.
“The gargantuan waste of public funds in running the government with a multiplicity of agencies and offices of doubtful benefit to society must end. Oransaye’s Report must be updated to capture new agencies that have been added to the Federal Bureaucracy since the Report and to reflect the new compelling and urgent need to reduce the cost of governance.
“The notoriously opaque, obscene and unconscionable salaries, allowances, perks and “retirement benefits” of Executive and Legislative arms of government at all levels unbelievably more generous than the remuneration of public officers in eminently wealthier nations, must immediately be brought in line with the reality of our economy and productivity.
“Similarly, a review of the Code of Conduct and the General Service Rules must be instituted to rid the service of the mentality that has allowed the reckless abuse and leakages in the system under the false impression that the country is rich.
“There is no virtue in profligacy, but there is honour in prudence. For example, while public officers at all levels move around in endless motorcades of exotic bulletproof foreign cars and the Presidency keeps a fleet of eleven Presidential jets, much richer nations do not indulge in such frivolities and extravagance. Nigeria can no longer afford these excesses and we must put an end to them going forward.
“The social misery index is at an all-time high. More Nigerians are resigning themselves to hopelessness as mass poverty slowly gathers strength and heightened tensions escalate. If nothing concrete is done to ameliorate the current level of hardship on the people, it may lead to massive unrest the country may not be able to contain as things spiral out of control.
“It is unfortunate, though we are not surprised, that there is nothing exciting in terms of innovation of ideas than the recycling of the huge corruption in the management of Fuel Subsidy regime and the oil industry characterized by manipulation of the volume of petrol imported into the country, the theft of crude oil, the massive smuggling under the noses of our Customs officers and security and intelligence personnel, the perennial and atrociously costly Turn Around Maintenance and refurbishment of moribund refineries that produce no products.
“Nigerians expect no less than a courageous and fine-tooth-comb investigation with a view to recovering public funds and those culpable made to pay for established crimes. Nigerians must no longer be saddled with the burden of the gargantuan and wasteful funds spent on the fat emoluments of “Refinery” workers who produce nothing but are kept on obscene job packages that cost our people N70bn per annum (by estimates published two years ago). This is the justice that Nigeria and Nigerians deserve and expect for the calls for their sacrifice.
“It is after the huge corruption in the oil industry and its management is identified and redressed after political leaders and policymakers have implemented their own cost-cutting measures to save Nigeria and its economy, that poor Nigerians may justifiably be convinced to see the reason for perseverance.
“There seems a complete loss of ideas or confusion in the corruption-infested management of “palliatives” of N500bn for 200m Nigerians but hugely cornered at the topmost level of governance while the people are mocked by their representatives in the Senate with the motion of “Let The Poor Breathe”.
“The planned disposal of the “palliatives” in cash and the obvious confusion on the exact modalities of the “palliatives” suggest a total ignorance of the current realities and the gigantic remedial needs of the populace.
“Rather than pay cash that will evaporate and provide only momentary relief to a minuscule few, effective plans ought to be put in place to provide facilities that will ameliorate the suffering of the masses right across the country in a sustainable manner.
He said “As to the gigantic mountain of debts, domestic and international, that has been amassed in the name of Nigerians, the people expect, in the true spirit of transparency and accountability, the publication of a detailed report of the various debts and what they were spent upon. This is the true oversight function of the National Assembly.
“Afenifere is not oblivious of the parlour’s state of security in the land by which the sovereignty of our county is rubbished in its inability to guarantee the safety of life and property. The situation is made worse by the army of non-state actors who profess friendship and protection of the interests of leadership even at the apex of the nation’s political pyramid.
“We remain committed to the restructuring of the federation such that the federating nationalities and states will have the true capacity for internal security”
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