Review Govt Policies, Nigerians Losing Patience – Former NOA DG Tells Tinubu

Nigerians would appreciate the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu if sharing of the accruing proceeds were equitably done.

A former Director General of the National Orientation Agency, Dr Mike Omeri, stated this on Tuesday during the ‘State of the Nation’ programme of the Africa Independent Television.

According to him, a majority of Nigerians feel that while they are subjected to untold sufferings, some privileged few are benefitting from the fuel subsidy removal policy.

He said, “There is no problem with the removal of the fuel subsidy, but how the proceeds are being shared is the problem. Some people are using the dollar proceeds from the removal to influence what is happening in the country.”

He suggested injecting the subsidy proceeds into researches aimed at making Nigeria a producing nation instead of its current consuming status.

In his words, “Let us come back home and re-plan. There is the need to inject funds to research institutes. We have universities carrying out researches; at the same time, we have specialised institutes carrying out the same researches. Merge such institutes and fund their researches. This is the only way to make their outputs available in markets and to generate revenue to the country. We need to get serious and be standardised. I am yet to see products of our various institutions in markets, all because of poor funding and lack of seriousness.”

He also advised President Tinubu to relieve non-performing officials in his cabinet of their duties because ‘Nigerians are gradually losing patience’.

He said, “Governance should be a performing institution and not a learning process. From the day-one of the inauguration of an administration, the work starts. But in this case, many months down the line, it seems it is still a learning process. And if one makes an opposing expression, he or she will be proactively attacked. Such a person will be insulted. It is expected that an incoming administration would have articulated what it will implement before assumption of office.

“Nigerians are looking for a government that cares. There are some basic fundamentals in nation-building. What are our values today? There are crimes everywhere, including in public offices and on the roads.”

On the way forward, Omeri said, “There is the need to harmonise the nation’s strategic economic goals. There should be a timeline for policy implementations. There should be plans for everyone. Presently Nigerians are working in different directions.

“The government should review its policies. In the case of insecurity, community-based approaches should be adopted. You ask people to go to farm, and over there, they are maimed! If everywhere is secured, then prepare the people for farming. It is not about promising to acquire tractors when only the rich would have access to such facilities.

“Then, for farming to be effective, we must consider our comparative advantages. It is not everywhere that rice should be planted. The same applies to cassava and so on. And that is where we need to make our research institutions more pragmatic for professional advice.”