So a few people think government should subsidize the price of petrol. I do not agree but let's assume this is the right thing to do. Shall we play with some figures? Good.
The current price is N145 per litre. Let's assume the government decides that people should pay N110 per litre. That means govt is subsidizing our fuel consumption at N35 per litre.
Now, the general consensus is that Nigerians consume 40 million litres of fuel every day. Let's assume this figure is too high and the actual figure is something like 35 million litres every day.
Let's also assume there are 365 days in a year.
What this means, my people, is that Nigeria will be subsidizing fuel consumption with N447 billion per year. This is assuming that crude oil price or exchange rate doesn't go up. If any of this goes up, the amount of subsidy also goes up.
Where will this money come from?
In the 2016 budget, Nigeria budgeted N268 billion for over 206 roads, N99 billion for power supply infrastructure and N66 billion for housing. That's a total of N433 billion. Are we then saying instead of spending money on roads, power and housing, we should spend money on fuel subsidy (and it may not be enough still).
Last year, the Nigerian federal government spent N19 billion on road in total. This year the government wants to spend N268 billion on roads. This amount is not even enough but at least it's something. That's partly why they did not budget for subsidy in 2016 - they want to spend money on real infrastructure. But it seems Nigerians prefer subsidized fuel instead of good roads and better power supply.
The time has come for us as a people to determine what we really want. We cannot continue to eat our cake and have it.
"Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. Whatever you sow, that is what you will reap" - Galatians 6:7
Selah
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