Following the widespread anger by Nigerians, on Tuesday due to the hike in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and other oil marketers across the country, An outspoken chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC)Amb Hussaini Haruna Coomassie has called on the Federal Government and the President in particular to as a matter of urgency look for a lasting solution before the country is turned into turmoil.
According to him, Nigerians are tired of consistent increase in hardships which are meted on them from various angles and the president should look for a way to cushion the effect of these crises.
Coomassie who spoke to some select media in Kano urges the government to work out modalities that will help Nigerians who voted him into power.
“Nigerians are in pains. They are lamenting yet there is nothing on ground to abate their situations. The coat of living has skyrocketed to more than 100 per cent. Nigerians are not smiling anymore. If the government continues to delay implementation of lasting solutions to these crises, they will be fanning the ambers of anarchy.
“As you’re removing subsidy from petrol, are you subsidizing foodstuff? Are you providing cheaper transportation for workers and goods? Where are those busses that were used in the previous regimes? And why can’t they be put to use?
“This is not the time to sit and wait for a miracle, this is the time act fast. You don’t want to see another protest that would ground the country and plunge it into chaos. The president should know that the poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer. If he does not do the needful expeditiously, he should not expect support for his government from the people,” he advised.
In Kano and Abuja, for instance, the cost of petrol jumped from about N537/litre to between N617 and N630/litre, forcing the cost of transportation to skyrocket within hours, and leaving thousands of passengers stranded in many cities. The same people that were struggling to commute to various places just a day before. According to him he was on a que at AA Rano filling Station along Maiduguri road, Kano where pms was selling at N540. Unfortunately for him when it got to his turn the light of the filling station went off. “Which I knew it was deliberate, after waiting for about 45 minutes we were asked to move to the next pump, only to notice that the price has been changed to N617/litre. Many motorists angrily left but I had no option but to buy it at N617. Imagine the same commodity that they stocked at old price but, due to inhumane behaviour and impunity, they changed it to a new price on the same old product.”
The Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress and many other citizens lambasted the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government for being so tough and lack of apathy towards citizens by allowing the continued hike in the price of petrol.
Although the NNPCL and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, both Federal Government entities, explained that market forces caused the hike in petrol price, since the commodity had been fully deregulated, Nigerians expressed frustrations over the continued sharp increase in the cost of the product and despite the fact that how the previous price was arrived at was questionable. Nigerians are definitely not ready for this unexpected hardship, therefore the President should come to our rescue before things get out of hand.
Also on the issue of 8,000 palliatives, the Ambassador insists on using the money to fix our refineries, secure enough buses to operate at subsidized rates across the country, build more infrastructure, mass housing to bridge the gap, improve health and education among others. N500bn can buy not less than 8000 buses which is enough to be distributed nationwide as mass transit buses. He added.
Nigerians do not need handouts, we need Good Governance.