The Arewa Youth Assembly (AYA) has called for understanding, calm and support for the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration over removal of subsidy on petrol and subsequent adjustment of pump prices.
Speaking to newsmen in Kaduna, the speaker, Mohammed Salihu Danlami, said removal of oil subsidy was a tough decision but a courageous one which previous administrations failed to take.
He noted that it was very thoughtful, a sign of good faith and continuity for President Tinubu to keep up with the subsidy removal, which foundation was laid by the immediate past administration.
The AYA speaker commended the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) in addressing the nation and promptly making adjustments to the price of PMS to tackle hoarding.
Danlami noted 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 temptation and instigation by those fanning the embers of hate to cause chaos and instability in the country.
He further noted that subsidy removal is in conformity with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA Act) 2021 which provides for total deregulation of the petroleum downstream section to drive investment and growth.
He noted that subsidy had been the reason why Nigeria remained stagnant for years because it benefits only a few rich Nigerians who don’t even need the subsidy.
According to Danlami, a 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 are faced with high rate of unemployment 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 are channeled to paying subsidy.
The speaker stressed that in the opinion of the Arewa Youths which reflects the opinions of most Nigerians, payment of the subsidy is 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 in all kinds of untold sufferings on Nigerian masses and pushes millions of youths into different forms of terrorist activities and insurgency,” he added.
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