Equivocating over palliatives
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
President Goodluck Jonathan ignited controversy last week when he submitted that his government’s plan to provide palliatives to ease the pains of increased fuel prices in the country is no longer feasible.
The president, who ordered the immediate withdrawal from circulation of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment (SURE) programme document at a recent National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of his party, said the scheme could no longer be implemented because it was based on a zero-percent subsidy regime, which has since been replaced with partial subsidy, and reduction of fuel price from N141 to N97 a litre. The SURE document encapsulates the interventions planned under the palliatives scheme.
Expectedly, Jonathan’s position has drawn flaks from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and other concerned Nigerians who have expressed doubts about government’s sincerity, ab inito, on the palliatives plan.
The official volte-face on SURE has been interpreted in many quarters as a confirmation of the people’s initial doubts on government’s commitment to the implementation of the programme.
Apparently uncomfortable with the adverse public reaction to the unpopular decision, government, through the Federal Executive Council (FEC), announced the approval of a N15 billion revolving interest-free loan to labour and competent transporters, to boost public transportation as part of the palliative measures.
Under the scheme, the NLC and TUC will receive and manage 450 and 150 mass transit buses respectively, out of 1,242 freshly ordered by the Federal Government. The balance will go to competent transport investors.
Federal Government’s dalliance and equivocation on palliatives to ease the pains of increase in price of petrol from N65 to N97 is in bad taste. In one breath, the president said the palliatives, which include building of critical roads, railways, bridges etc are no longer possible. In another, the FEC, which he heads, has given out details of what the government is doing under the scheme.
The Jonathan government had promised a whole lot of things under the SURE palliatives programme. Many of them were apparently not well thought through. They were panicky measures hurriedly put together to placate Nigerians during the one-week fuel price hike protests early in January. It is instructive that barely two months after, the president is saying the programme as documented is no longer realistic.
It would appear that the president’s sudden prevarication on SURE is borne out of a sudden realisation of the enormity of the promises he made in the heat of the fuel price protests. We expect him to do everything within his power to fulfill these promises. The government must be mindful that there is a significant reduction in the subsidy it pays on petrol, from about N75 to 43 on each litre. Nigerians should enjoy the full benefit of this reduction, as it has made more money available to the government for its programmes.
The partial subsidy regime should not mean an end to SURE. The money saved under it should be applied to implement a significant portion of the palliatives programme. Faithful implementation of the programme with the funds available will encourage the people to embrace the zero-subsidy plan in future.
Nigerians are interested to know which of the SURE programmes will be implemented under this partial subsidy regime. Government should let the people know what is to be dropped and what will be retained. President Jonathan’s unceremonious and panicky order for withdrawal of the programme document from circulation is not the way to go.
The SURE document is a serious policy statement that Nigerians have taken for what it is — a covenant with this administration. It should not be dropped. If it is to be tinkered with, let it be done speedily and released so that the people know the substance of the new policy. Hurried withdrawal of the document from circulation sends wrong signals that the government does not intend to implement it at all. This may not be the intendment of the administration.
The president should, therefore, not make light of the SURE promise. Nigerians expect faithful implementation of a credible palliatives programme to ease the pain of higher fuel prices.
