The National Orientation Agency has cautioned that reinstating the petrol subsidy would exacerbate poverty in Nigeria.
According to NOA Director-General Lanre Issa-Onilu, demands for the subsidy’s return are driven by emotions rather than economic rationale.
In a televised appearance on Wednesday, Issa-Onilu emphasized that the subsidy’s removal is a necessary step towards economic recovery.
He urged Nigerians to focus on developing survival strategies to mitigate the impact of the subsidy’s removal.
Issa-Onilu acknowledged the widespread distrust among Nigerians due to past unfulfilled promises by leaders. He stressed the need for the current administration to demonstrate its commitment to keeping promises and implementing effective policies.
This statement comes on the heels of President Bola Tinubu’s recent address, in which he ruled out the possibility of reinstating the petrol subsidy.
The government’s decision has sparked heated debates and protests across the country.
“Anybody who is making a demand that subsidy removal should be brought back is making an emotional demand, not an economic demand, because you have to also prove that if it is brought back, it will solve the issue of poverty; it will not, it will aggravate it,” Issa-Onilu said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily breakfast show.
“So, what we should be doing is: How do we survive despite the removal?’ We need to promote all the efforts of this government to ensure that we survive without that subsidy.”
Issa-Onilu, a former spokesman for the President’s ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, also admitted the trust deficit between leaders and followers in the country due to repeated cases of broken promises over the years.
“It is difficult to talk to people who have for several years been let down. Nigerians feel let down. The first question they ask you is: ‘Is this another promise that will not be kept?’ So, we must prove to Nigerians that this government is keeping to its promises,” he said.
