By Uloma Peace Okorie
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu came to power on the promise of Renewed Hope, but for the average Nigerian in Onitsha Main Market, in Mararaba, in Mushin, that hope has turned into hunger.
This is a government for the elite.
He Removed The Subsidy He Once Fought To Keep
When Goodluck Jonathan attempted to remove fuel subsidy in 2012, it was Bola Tinubu himself who led the Occupy Nigeria protest, calling subsidy removal anti-people. He enjoyed that cheap fuel system for decades as a political godfather, as a businessman, as a two-term governor of Lagos.
On his first day in office on May 29, 2023, without a palliative plan, without a cushion, he declared “Subsidy is gone.” Overnight, petrol moved from N195 to over N1,000. Transport fare tripled. A bag of rice that was N35,000 became N90,000.
The rich can afford it. The elite with 20 cars in their convoy do not feel it. But the poor okada rider, the market woman, the student, pays the price.
Where Is The Subsidy Money Going?
The government told us removing subsidy would save Nigeria over N10 trillion a year. The question is, where is the money?
It is not in your pocket. It is not in reduced school fees. It is not in cheaper food.
It is in FAAC. Every month, the Federal Government shares over N1.6 trillion to the 36 governors. Allocations that were N700 billion before are now double. Governors are building new mansions, buying new SUVs, flying private jets, while in their states there is no water, no primary health care, no minimum wage implementation.
Tinubu’s government has made governors richer and the common man poorer. It is elite profit-sharing.The masses suffer the pain, the elite share the gain.
Proof That It Is An Elite Government
Look at the pattern:
Elite Tax, Poor Tax: He gives tax waivers and customs duty exemptions to billionaires importing for their new refineries and factories, but imposes heavy taxes, levies and high electricity band A tariffs on the small man.
Elite Palliatives: N5 billion to each state governor for palliatives that never reached the streets, N100 billion worth of new SUVs for National Assembly members, new presidential yacht and jet, while Nigerians are told to be patient and tighten their belts.
Elite Economy: Naira floated to please IMF, World Bank and portfolio investors in Lagos and London. The market woman does not understand floating, she only knows her capital of N100,000 can no longer buy one carton of goods.
THE WAY OUT FOR THE COMMON NIGERIAN
Nigeria cannot continue like this. The way out is clear:
Make Subsidy Savings Visible: The Federal Government must publish every month how much is saved and where it went. If it is given to governors, there must be public tracking of what they did with it.
Invest Directly In The People, Not Through Governors: Stop routing money through governors. Use direct investment – revive direct payment to workers, fund free primary education and primary health care directly, and create a national transport subsidy scheme with CNG buses owned by the people, not private elite companies.
Return To People-Centered Governance: Any economic reform that makes the poor poorer in the first two years has failed. Government must reverse the electricity tariff hike for ordinary homes, crash food prices by opening borders for food for 12 months, and peg transport fares.
Until then, the verdict on the street remains true: Tinubu’s government is a government of the elite, by the elite, and for the elite.