If we are to rank the countries of the world according to how confused her people are, I bet you Nigeria will top the list. Do people really think at all in this country? The author made mentioned of how countries that are forcing us to remove subsidies are subsidizing their own people and yet people just choose to ignore that part. Are we not supposed to ask them why they are subsidizing their own people while asking us to stop ours? Oh yes we talked about corruption as if the people involved in it will just disappear from the county because subsidy is gone. I laugh in Swahili. These guys will go after the money no matter where you divert it to.
We should be talking about stiffer laws and enforcement and not chasing shadows and always looking for easy way out of things. Obi, Atiku, Tinubu will not change anything in this system where people even admit commiting financial crime on TV and still go scut free.
Mr. Majid and this author got my respect on this topic. Respect Sir.

galantjoe:
Fuel subsidy should be renamed to govt assistance, it should also reorganize abd restructure for better service delivery to the people. It's total face out is no no meaning that govt is no longer providing any welfare to it's citizen.

In USA and western world, where most of our policies and laws are derived from, they have welfarist policies such as old people home, free medical, unemployment benefit, food stamp, etc. Now, having derived our economic policies why can't our govt restrategize on how to maintain at least, this fuel subsidy which is the most popular welfare and people oriented policy that every citizen enjoys.

Govt assistance should be encouraged for better and equitable society for all

In USA and Western world, welfarist polices are paid for by taxation.

Also, in the US, free medicals, unemployment benefit, and food stamps are for their poorest of the poor, and the elderly. And you have to qualify for the thing, which means that if you earn one dollar above, you don't get nothing

(A big problem with Medicare and Medicaid, if you go on either of them, the hopsital you are using can stop attending to you because it does not reimburse them enough..ie pay them enough)>

USA...they run a profit system in their health care. You have to be on insurance, which COSTS MONEY, and the insurance only pays part, you pay the rest out of pocket, and it is usually a lot of money. (To the point that some people mortgage their houses...ie take loans against their house...to pay back the bills.). Medications are expensive...so expensive, even more than what we do here in Nigeria.(Insulin in the US costs a small fortune. In Nigeria)

Even other western countries that have free stuff...in return you pay heavy taxes...sometimes as much as half your income per annum. Imagine Ebola doing the same in Nigeria. Also, your city charges municipal taxes...which can be as high as the equivalent of N100000 monthly. And in countries like the UK...and many European countrie,s utilites have long since been privatised...so you pay a lot of money for power, water, etc.

Even television...UK, Japan for example, you pay something called TV licence fees...which goes to funding the public broadcaster. (Here , it would be like Ebola telling you to pay N150000 yearly for NTA to work well...on top of what they get from government, so long as you have a tv set. Foreigners included.).


Nigeria is barely affording free stuff. Tax rates are at 24%, most ciites don't even collect municipal taxes, and we rely heavily on oil. As a result, we can't have the goodies they have in the West. And even then, our corrupt politicans steal from the little we have...making matters worse.

If we want goodies. we have to pay for them. Nothing like free lunch. US, UK and co pay heavily for their free stuff.

Simeon88:
If we are to rank the countries of the world according to how confused her people are, I bet you Nigeria will top the list. Do people really think at all in this country? The author made mentioned of how countries that are forcing us to remove subsidies are subsidizing their own people and yet people just choose to ignore that part. Are we not supposed to ask them why they are subsidizing their own people while asking us to stop ours? Oh yes we talked about corruption as if the people involved in it will just disappear from the county because subsidy is gone. I laugh in Swahili. These guys will go after the money no matter where you divert it to.
We should be talking about stiffer laws and enforcement and not chasing shadows and always looking for easy way out of things. Obi, Atiku, Tinubu will not change anything in this system where people even admit commiting financial crime on TV and still go scut free.
Mr. Majid and this author got my respect on this topic. Respect Sir.

The subsidy they pay in developed countries is paid to working refineries, to try to bring down production costs. Prices may fall, but not by much.Crucially, the refineries still make a profit, because they sell above the production cost...but it is not like they sell fuel at N200 and below in the USA or UK. Fuel there is expensive.

Here in Nigeria, we forced the petrol sector to sell us petrol below production cost, and government paid a subsidy to cover the resulting loss. Which most of the time is not enough , so over the years, prices have to go up to enable us afford subsidy. And yes, free government money equals corruption.

(Yes, I know, many countries sell fuel cheaper. Venezuela is the cheapest, and it also has lost all its refining capacity, and relies heavily on China and co for refining. Libya is able to refine at home and sell fuel cheap, because they earn the same amount we do, and they only have 8 million people. Not our 200 million).

Why the thing went? We are in serious debt, partly due to years of subsidy payments causing a deficit, years of oil money over reliance, which means we have to take loans when prices do not favour us (as long as oil is below 100 dollars per barrel, we have to take loans other wise, we lose money), and corruption and looting. And at the moment we can't keep paying. We keep paying, we run out of money. We run out of money, we end up with no cash for anything, not even in the banks for you an dme. And then the IMF comes with a loan and the kind of conditons that would even make matters worse.

And no, I don't support this government, I don't like APC, PDP, LP, and I am angry with the years of army rule. I hate that subsidy has to go. I am not a tinubu supporter. But right now, it is either subsidy goes, or we get burnt for nothing in a few years time. And yes, I wish there was another way.

Ttalk:
Kperogyi, this useless man again with a Korean name should go and meet Atiku and gives him advice on how to win the election in 203

And Tinubu won election to plunged Nigerians into deep suffering