President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday launched a
fresh campaign to totally remove the subsidy on fuel, barely a year
after a similar campaign and forceful removal of subsidy almost brought
the country to a standstill.
Jonathan said only the total removal of subsidy on
petroleum products would attract investors to the oil sector and put an
end to the importation of petroleum products as it is currently being
done.
About this time last year, the President, in his
budget estimates submitted to the Senate, proposed total removal of
subsidy on petroleum products and in spite of public protests removed
subsidy on January 1, 2012.
The President’s action was greeted by spontaneous protests among the citizens.
A mass action coordinated by civil society groups
paralysed activities in the country for about two weeks until the
government backpedalled and announced a partial removal. Per litre pump
price of petrol was consequently reduced to N97 from the initial N141
under the zero-subsidy regime.
The pump price of the product pre-January 1, 2012 was N65.
Jonathan started the fresh campaign to totally remove
subsidy while receiving the report of the graduating participants of
the Senior Executive Course 34, 2012, of the National Institute of
Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, near Jos, at the Presidential Villa,
Abuja.
“Why is it that people are not building refineries in
Nigeria despite that it is a big business? It is because of the policy
of subsidy, and that is why we want to get out of it,” the President
said.
Like the President did late last year, he argued that
while the total removal of subsidy could be painful to Nigerians he
said they would be happier at the end if they could bear the initial
pains.
Jonathan said, “To change a nation is like surgery.
If you have a young daughter of five years who has a boil at a very
strategic part of the face, you either as a parent leave that boil
because the young girl will cry or you take the girl to the surgeon.
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