The call to return the fuel subsidy has struck a chord, especially among the masses. It has received an overwhelming positive feedback from the Nigerian public. It is now a popular opinion and a conversation no serious politician in Nigeria can avoid, since the proposition to reverse it was made by the Presidential Candidate of the rival African Democratic Congress (ADC), former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Since the promise was made, incumbent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has unleashed his proxies to suppress the conversation or reduce the former VP’s promise to empty political talk. However, as they desperately try, the topic keeps resonating among the people and gaining more traction.
The President himself described Mr Atiku’s proposal to restore petrol subsidy as evidence of serious ignorance of governance and the economy. Nyesom Wike, Nigeria’s Minister of Federal Capital Territory, described former Vice President Atiku as a confused politician and a voodoo economist. Other sympathetic analysts mocked him as someone who is posing to be compassionate but changes his mind often. Yet as the days go by, it appears that the public is becoming more sceptical, impatient and hostile to the current administration. They seem to have run out of patience after waiting for more than three years for the reforms to bear fruit that positively impacts the poor.
