Prof Samuel also called on the Federal Government to subsidize
fertilizers for farmers, crude for local refineries, and tax relieve for
manufacturers.
The experts made the disclosures during a Zoom Meeting organized by
Chartered Institute of Transport Administration of Nigeria on Thursday,
September 21, 2023. The event was CIOTA Roundtable Discussion on Effective and
Defective Palliative Delivery Strategies.
Prof Samuel said “Everything possible should be done to ensure security
of lives and property in the land, significant increase in crude production to
sure up revenue to strengthen the naira, the oil thieves must be exposed and
punished to stop the larceny going on in the Niger Delta, we can subsidize
production (subsidized fertilizers for farmers, subsidized crude for local
refineries, tax relieves for manufacturers).
While speaking on the sub-topic, ‘Getting it Right: Effective and
Sustainable Palliatives’, he advocated payment of hardship allowance,
sustainable salary increase for workers, payment of retirees’ pensions and
arrears and all debt owed workers.
He also stated that the N5billion given to each of the 37 state governors
should be used for rolling out Gas Conversion and Dispensing infrastructure; and
that government should direct and assist petrol stations to be able to achieve
triple dispensation, fuel, gas and electricity.
Prof Samuel also urged the government to palliate the roads to make
them passable for all and to facilitate fuel distribution by the tankers and
trailers, use of train to move cheaply and securely fuel and solid freight to
relieve the roads of excessive weight; and increased refined fuel supply.
He urged citizens to challenge the states and local governments to be
more creative, and address their local challenges, saying that local and state
governments should stop depending on the federal government for ideas and
funds, and advised then to mobilize the media to make the state and local
governments more responsible in the palliative deliveries. He said that states
should stop complaining that it was only N2billion that was disbursed out of
the N5bllion promised and should show what they did with the N2billion and
their own bonanza monthly revenue allocations.
Prof Samuel called on government to ensure effective communication with
the citizens; sincere and robust engagement with Labour, avert any strike calls
that will worsen the situation and tip the economy further downhill; among
other measures.
Earlier, Prof Samuel maintained that there is no doubt that removal of
subsidy is inevitable, adding that the delay till now has made it more
excruciatingly painful. He said “We ought to have taken the bitter pill in
2012, but now we must take a painful injection.”
He said any delay beyond this point would require an invasive surgery,
saying “Indeed we could not even continue if we wanted to, because we have to
borrow to continue the bazaar, and again nobody is willing to lend money to
Nigeria for such economic debauchery anymore.”
He said after the big bang “subsidy is gone” and Forex reform that
followed, fuel price tripled, transportation cost went up, prices of goods and services
went up, and therefore, suffering descended on the land, and the cries of
Palliatives rent the air.
Having defined palliative as ‘…a medical care relieving pain without
dealing with the cause of the condition’, he said because it was not thought
through what should be done aftermath of the subsidy removal fire brigade approach was adopted, throwing
money, foods, transportation and other so called palliatives at it. He said the
decision was taken without budget allocation, before Tinubu was sworn in. He
therefore stated that the essence of the discourse was to find solution and not
just to describe the problem.
Speaking on current palliatives and its defects, he paid particular
attention on the allocation of N5billion to each state as palliative, saying
that states are neither equal in population nor size, adding that state
governments lack transparency, prudence and accountability on such largesse in
the past, citing Ondo State where the Deputy Governor is being accused of
spending N300million from the fund to buy Bullet Proof Jeep which is reason he
is being impeached.
Other palliatives that have not been well managed include Cash Transfer
of N8000 per family from the $800million Word Bank loan meant for 12million
families for six months.
Distribution of food items, maize gains, 40, 000 bags; rice 5 trucks
per state, fertilizers, 100 trucks.
He said the current 11,000 Gas-powered vehicles, 55000 conversion kit,
500 buses have their defects for apart from being inadequate, there is no
concerted efforts and no clarity in the distribution template.
He decried loan/grant for SMES, and industrial sector, student loan,
salary increase, refinery repair, saying there is slow action on fulfillment, and
that programme at conception not thought through completely.
Bayero Salih Farah, Director General/Chief Executive Nigerian Institute
of Transport Technology (NITT) Zaria, an apex Multi-modal Management
Development Institute for the Transport and Logistics Industry in Nigeria and
the West African Sub-region, while speaking on NITT Template of Effective Technological
Palliative, began with what he titled Fuel subsidy regimes in Nigeria. He said Fuel
subsidies began in the 1970s and became institutionalized in 1977, following
the promulgation of the Price Control Act which made it illegal for some
products (including petrol) to be sold above the regulated price. While the
concept of subsidy itself is noble, according to him, its administration in
Nigeria has been plagued with serious challenges, which include; the Unsustainable
financial cost of subsidy, Economic distortion, Smuggling of fuel outside the
country, Endemic corruption, Reduced Investment in the downstream sector, among
others.
Speaking further on what he called The NITT Initiative he said, “Saddled
with the mandate to “Drive innovations through development of new technologies
to meet the demands of the transport and logistics Industry”, the Institute is
researching and developing alternative fuel solutions for the transport
industry.” These initiatives include: Bio-fuel
from different sources e.g Jatropha, hibiscus, organic wastes and sunflower; Electric
Vehicles Solutions with emphasis on renewable charging solutions, and Autogas
(both LPG and CNG) solutions through conversion of Fossil fuel engines to
Autogas fuel engines or hybrid engines.”
Farah also stated that the Institute is adopting a tactical technological
transformation and migration to alternative fuel (Autogas) especially for the
transport and other economic sectors through the production of grassroot
manpower to drive the migration and through the provision of adequate enabling
facilities, equipment and infrastructure to support the migration.
Furthermore, leveraging on the mandates of the Institute and the
emerging technology in Autogas (LPN & CNG), according to him, the Institute
initiates actions that could stimulate Vehicle and other Equipment conversion in
a more formal and standardise way (best practice) across the Country.
He disclosed the NITT Aspiration is which to Provide pool of qualified
technicians for conversion, repair and maintenance across the country; Provide
conversion centres across the country for vehicle conversion and training technicians;
among others.
He disclosed what he called NITT vision
on Palliatives which include Making Vehicle Conversion simple for everyone in
the society, Minimize the effects of fuel subsidy removal to the people; Continue
to promote Autogas as alternative Transportation Fuel; Provide economic
opportunities by creating new jobs and grow a low carbon skills-based through
innovation; and Creating a flexible, smart and digitized Autogas conversion
system.
On his part, Prof. Callistus Ibe,
a Professor of Transport Management, Federal University of Technology Owerri
Imo State, spoke on the topic “Offering the politicians suggestions on
palliative delivery; the productive ways of effective palliative delivery”.
He said that whenever the
transport sector sneezes, all other sectors catche cold depending on the
severity level of the sneeze of the transport sector. Consequently, the
sneezing of the transport sector as a result of fuel subsidy removal has
brought about intense hardship on the people leading to increase in cost of
living and poverty.
Ibe added that a productive way
of distributing the palliative should follow the Chinese Path of Teaching the
Citizens How to Finish Instead of Giving Them Fish Through deliberate, focused,
persistent, patriotic and sustainable government policies.
On what he called Proper Ways of
Delivering Palliatives, he talked about Greener Mass Transportation Alternative
and Productive Distribution
He said “The act of distribution
of raw food items at best is a fire bridge approach, it is not focused nor is
it persistent and cannot be sustainable over some period of time. It is a non-productive
process that is based on consumerism approach rather than a productive approach
that would have reduced the sufferings occasioned by the fuel subsidy removal.”
Ibe stated that the consumerism approach has created billionaire
businessmen and women overnight who buy off these food items in the market
thereby compounding the initial problems the policy is meant to address.
He added that a more effective and productive way of reducing the
sufferings of the people is to Reduce the cost of transportation through mass
transportation and alternative energy sources. “This productive approach would
create jobs, open up employment and income will be earned; This single approach
will have positive multiplier effects; It will be focused, persistent,
patriotic and sustainable; The operators of the mass transit would be given
guidelines to form business combines among themselves through co-operatives and
vehicles would be allocated through the co-operatives and not individuals,”
among other ways.
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