Faith Nwadishi, Executive Director of Centre For Transparency Advocacy (CTA), a civil society organisation, has advised the Federal Government to urgently engage Nigerians to find workable solutions that would mitigate the hardships trailing the removal of fuel subsidy.
She made the call in Abuja on Monday at a one-day National Dialogue on Subsidy Removal, facilitated by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Palladium.
Nwadishi said that besides its disruption to lots of development in the country, the hasty removal of subsidy had led to untold hardships.
“It has led to people suffering and the inability of many people to meet up with the high increase in transportation, goods, services and other basic needs needed for survival.”
According to her, in the spirit of transparency, accountability and citizen participation, it has become critical for government and the political class to engage the people whom they have vowed to serve.
“This is to find out their specific problems, needs and how best they could be addressed as the voices of those directly affected by the subsidy removal must be heard and considered.”
“The decision to remove fuel subsidy has had significant implications on the lives of our fellow citizens. It has resulted in increased costs of living, affecting transportation, essential goods, and services.
“As we gather here today, it is imperative that we recognize the urgency of coming up with sustainable recommendations to mitigate the hardships faced by vulnerable groups in our society.”
One of the participants, Dr Micheal Uzoigwe, said that it was of strategic importance for government to cushion the socio-economic effects of the subsidy removal on citizens.
According to him, there is a concern that the fundamental problems that underline the failure of the subsidy regime in Nigeria may yet be ignored.
He said that fuel subsidy failed to achieve its aim in Nigeria because its administration was flawed and characterized by lack of transparency, mismanagement and corruption.
