Fuel Subsidy - Masses suffering for the inefficiency of government

The Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary defines subsidy as the 'money that is paid by a government or an organization to reduce the costs of services or of producing goods so that their prices can be kept low.' The Longman Contemporary English Dictionary, on the other hand, defines it as the 'money that is paid by a government or organization to make prices lower, reduce the cost of producing goods, etc.' The latter dictionary describes fuel as 'a substance such as coal, gas, or oil that can be burnt to produce heat or energy.'

However, in our context, fuel will be restricted to gas and oil. In layman's terms, fuel subsidy can, therefore be defined as the money paid by the federal government to reduce the prices of imported petrochemical products. What they supposed to subsidize are article not available in Nigeria and that are not easily affordable for the masses. This is as good as subsidizing personal service  you render to oneself.

Moreover, the question that comes to mind is that, why the need for fuel  subsidy  in Nigeria? Nigeria is blessed with mineral resources such as crude oil and a host of others. It now sounds somewhat absurd to hear that our government now need to pay any subsidy on what really belongs to us, and that is extracted from our own very soil.

 As a matter of fact, the genesis of fuel subsidy is traceable to the lapses on the part of our government. Why must we sell out our crude oil to the advanced nations of the world and latter buy it from them at an exorbitant rate in a refined form? How much will it cost us to reconstruct and rebuild our dysfunctional and moribund refineries? Do we mean we are not rich enough to even build new ones? Our crude oil will be sold out at a cheaper rate.

This crude oil, when it has now been refined, will later be bought at an extortionate, outrageous price from the same countries that bought it from us cheaply in its crude state. As a result, the price of the fuel will now become unaffordable for an average Nigerian. Thus, it is seen as a calculative attempt by government to squander tax payers money and our natural resources. The government on the pretense that they are helping the masses introduced subsidy to enrich themselves. Imagine kerosene, consume mostly by the poor, is costlier than petrol - shame. This is craziness, inconsistent and ignominiously absurd on part of past and present administrators of Nigerian economy.

In conclusion, any subsidy on fuel can never be regarded as a help from government. But rather, it is a show of flaws and faults in the administration of our self-centered leaders. Well, God dey sha!

- Emmanuel Alabi

Harvard Business Publishing