Subsidy Removal and Palliative Measures: The State of the States

By Juliet Agoyi

Palliatives or palliative measures have been on the lips of most Nigerians for months now. In fact, the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu can be described as that of palliatives or the viral talk of them since Nigerians of all classes have to suffer for what is absolutely not their fault.

This is as a result of President Tinubu’s proclamation on May 29 that “subsidy is gone.” This caused massive unrest in the economy as price of fuel suddenly skyrocketed, moving from 195 naira per litre to over 500 naira. Before Nigerians could finish lamenting the multiplier effects of the increment in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly known as fuel, the marketers jerked up the price again to over 600 naira with excuse of market forces dictating the price regime.

President Tinubu has therefore has had his job cut out for him explaining to people why they have to bear the brunt of the subsidy removal policy which his predecessor put in place and which he is faithfully abiding with.

In an effort to address the situation, President Tinubu established a committee to give cash of N8000 per month to 12 million poor households for six months. However, after facing criticisms and questions on the amount to be shared and the integrity of the national social register, the President suspended the policy and promised to review it.

While in a recent nationwide broadcast, he outlined a couple of things he wanted to do the 500 billion naira fund from the World Bank which emphasises the growth of MSMEs etc, there was no further mention of the 8,000 naira and no one is sure if that has been cancelled completely.

But since the fuel pump price was increased and people started groaning in pain, the Federal Government promised a couple of palliatives to reduce the impact on them. While Nigerians are waiting on the Federal Government to roll out their proposed palliatives, some states have taken certain measures to ease the impact on the residents of their states.

We are often too fixated on the federal government that we sometimes fail to realise that it takes local government and state government to have the federal government and we often ignore the efforts of the state governments and all they do in their capacity for the residents of their states.

ECONOMIC CONFIDENTIAL checks across the states show that some of the governors have taken up the initiative to use the excess money that is coming from the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) to make life easy for their residents and indigenes.

Lagos

The Lagos State Government recently slashed the cost of transportation on all its transport systems by 50 per cent as a palliative measure to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.

The state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who disclosed this after the monthly security meeting of the state, said the policy would take effect immediately.

Sanwo-Olu also said that arrangements had been made with various projects private transport unions to give a 25 per cent discount as well. He said his government would be proactive to make life bearable for the residents of Lagos state.

Also Read: Oil Marketers Lament as Diesel Price Rises to N950/per litre

He said the state government would roll out the palliatives, including the distribution of foodstuff to the vulnerable to ease the effects of the fuel subsidy removal on Nigerians.

Kwara

The Kwara State government has taken quite a number of measures to ease the effect of fuel price increase on the residents of the state.

The state government opened a students’ palliative portal for indigenes of the state in public-tertiary institutions in Nigeria for the purpose of paying what it called fuel subsidy removal palliatives to the students.

According to a statement signed by Shehu AbdulRaheem Adaramaja, chairman of the government committee on students’ palliatives: “His Excellency, the governor of Kwara State has approved payment of fuel subsidy removal palliative to undergraduate students of Kwara State origin in public-owned tertiary institutions in Nigeria.”

Prospective beneficiaries were told to visit the portal and click on the “Students’ palliative” link to register their bio-data on the platform to obtain login details.

All eligible applicants have between August 7, and midnight August 30, 2023 to register.

Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq also approved the deployment of government buses to support the movement of students and workers in public tertiary institutions within Ilorin and its environs.

The government also reduced working days for civil and public servants to three days per week to reduce the money they have to spend on transportation.

The state’s Head of Service, Mrs Susan Modupe Oluwole, announced this in a statement issued in Ilorin by her spokesman, Murtala Ayotebi.

Oluwole said: “The State Governor, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, has directed that the workdays be reduced from five days to three days per week for every worker.”

She directed all heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the state to immediately work out a format indicating the alternating work days for each worker under them.

The Kwara State Head of Service warned the workers not to abuse the magnanimity of the governor, stressing that the regular monitoring of MDAs by her office would be intensified to ensure strict compliance.

Borno

The Borno state government launched a substantial food and non-food palliative distribution exercise to mitigate the impact of the hardship following the removal of fuel subsidy.

During the flag-off ceremony held at the Muna garage suburb of Maiduguri, the state governor, Babagana Zulum, said the initiative was targeted at 300,000 households of six members each, equating to approximately 1.8 million people.

Zulum said the initiative was in response to the recent economic hardship triggered by the withdrawal of subsidy from petroleum products.

The beneficiaries, including displaced persons from the Mafa local government area, expressed their gratitude for the timely assistance, as they had been facing food scarcity and rising commodity prices, making survival difficult.

The governor also commissioned hundreds of mass transit buses for the purpose of conveying people from one part of the state to the other.

Edo

The state government has increased the minimum wage for workers from the approved N30,000 to N40,000.

It has also reduced the number of work days that civil and public servants go to work from five days a week to three days a week till further notice.

According to the office of the State Head of Service, workers will work from home two days in a week.

Imo

The Imo State Government has approved an additional N10,000 to the current salary of workers in the state, as part of efforts to mitigate the impact of the federal government’s fuel subsidy removal.

The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Oguwike Nwachukwu, stated that Governor Hope Uzodinma granted the approval in addition to the transportation benefits that workers are already enjoying.

This move will also see an increase in the number of buses available to transport workers to and from work. Ten new buses will be added to ensure that every area of the state capital is covered by the bus routes, bringing the service closer to every worker’s doorstep.

Ebonyi

Ebonyi State Government has also increased workers’ salaries by N10,000.

Governor Nwifuru Francis Ogbonna has equally approved the employment of 1,454 individuals into the civil service to mitigate the effects of the sudden subsidy removal.

“I am concerned that Ebonyi civil servants receive only N30,000 as minimum wage, which translates to N1000 per day for a man with dependents. Besides providing for the family, it covers rent, school fees, and medical expenses.

“Before I became governor, my companies paid a minimum of N50,000 to any employee, including even the security guard. By paying your workers well, you gain the confidence to hold them accountable if they fail to meet expectations,” he said.

Rivers

The Rivers State government has initiated a free transportation intervention scheme to assist the residents of the state who are facing economic challenges due to the removal of fuel subsidy.

Deputy Governor Professor Ngozi Nma Odu, representing Governor Siminialayi Fubara at the flag-off, announced that 17 luxury buses assigned to different routes will provide free transportation services.

This free transportation initiative is already operational in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

Bayelsa

The Bayelsa State government has also introduced 106 vehicles to ease the challenges faced by commuters in the state due to the federal government’s removal of fuel subsidy.

Governor Douye Diri stated that these vehicles, consisting of 100 taxis and six luxury buses, are part of the administration’s efforts to enhance the transportation sector. The Bayelsa State Transport Company will oversee the management of these vehicles.

Oyo

Governor Seyi Makinde has announced the deployment of additional mass transit (Omituntun) buses to the city to alleviate the harsh effects of petrol subsidy removal. He emphasised that there would be no increase in transport fares for users of these buses and mentioned that children and elderly individuals would pay half of the regular fare.

Ogun

The Ogun State Government is working on introducing vehicles that run on gas instead of petrol.

Governor Dapo Abiodun dropped the hint at an interactive meeting with transport union members from Ogun Central.

According to the governor, the conversion project christened ‘Ogun Going Green Project’ is necessitated by the hazard posed to the environment by carbon emissions and also the increase in the pump price of fuel which put Nigerians under increasing economic pressure.

“It is no news that Ogun State enjoys the crisscross of gas pipelines coming from the Delta and goes to neighbouring countries. That is why we have the proliferation of industries in the state, and we have decided to take advantage of the network of gas pipelines. We have the Ogun Going Green Project and that project allows for the reduction of carbon emissions like it is done all over the world.

“We want to start by ensuring that our vehicles utilise other sources of fuel that will reduce the number of emissions which are the largest contributor to global warming. So, we are starting with our transportation sector.

We are going to provide them with vehicles and these vehicles and with the one they have now will be converted through a pilot project. We will be using a combination of gas and fuel, but the fuel will only be used to start the vehicles and after that, the gas takes over,” he said.

It is clear that governance does not start and end at the federal level. A lot takes place at sub national levels which the media, civil society and masses need to pay attention to.

Nigerian governors have been scandalised to be corrupt and self-serving. But the above proactive measures taken by a couple of them to cater for people at a difficult time have shown that the above allegation is either not true or that is not the complete story.