By Seyi Babalola

The Coalition of Civil Society Organizations/Labour Center commended President Bola Tinubu’s national broadcast and the steps he suggested to mitigate the effects of the removal of the petroleum subsidy on Nigerians.

The Coalition applauded President Tinubu for the audacious economic move of eliminating the subsidy in its Communiqué at the conclusion of the meeting, stating that the benefits have already begun to show in increased savings of an unprecedented one trillion naira within two months, giving the government more money to grant democratic dividends to the populace.

The Convener, Campaign for Dignity in Governance, Comrade Rasaq Olokoba made this known to Newsmen during a one-day Town Hall meeting on Tuesday in Lagos.

According to him: ” It is a fact that the removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government through painful and inevitable has also resulted in some economic gains to the country, the benefits of which will become manifest soon. Some of these benefits can be gleaned from the reduction in our daily petrol consumption from 66 million litres to 40 million litres, savings of about 1 trillion naira in just two months, reduction in the cases of PMS smuggling across our borders and even the World bank has projected a savings of N3.9 trillion naira from fuel subsidy removal by December 2023″.

The Civil Society Coalition urged Nigerians to show patience and understanding in this matter, stating that it’s a temporary price to pay for a more promising and long-lasting future.

“As we plead for your patience and understanding over the economic pains and inconvenience that we are all going through temporarily, we are of the strong belief, that there is light at the end of the tunnel as we will not fail or falter in our social responsibility of societal watchdog to hold government at all levels accountable to their promises, this is a commitment we solemnly make to you”.

The Coalition urged the three levels of government to implement social safety nets to improve the plight of the weak in accordance with international best practices.

It further stated that civil society organizations must monitor the palliatives and other measures implemented to ameliorate the economic hardship of Nigerians as a result of the elimination of fuel subsidy for the purpose of transparency and accountability

The Nigerian people “are determined to defend democracy with all legitimate means necessary for our collective good,” the Coalition stated in its Communiqué.

“Nigerians and groups are enjoined to ventilate their views on the fuel subsidy removal and other issues within the purview of the law and not allow themselves to be hoodwinked or provoked to anarchy by anti-democratic elements.

“We commend Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos state for outlining his administration measures to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal.

“We say no to the breakdown of law and order in the guise of exercise of fundamental rights of citizens and call on the security agencies to be alive to their responsibilities.

“We wish to alert Nigerians to beware of the threat to national security by persons and groups using the fuel subsidy removal issue for political capital.

“Local government council administrations are enjoined to follow the paths of the federal and state governments in outlining their palliatives and measures to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal on the citizenry, the coalition group stated.

Those in attendance at the Town Hall meeting include Razak Olokoba of Campaign for Dignity in Governance; Nelson Ekujumi, Centre for Social and Economic Rights; Titi Akosa, Centre for 21st Century Issues; Linus Okoroji of Humanity Services Project and Raji Rasheed Oyewunmi, Yoruba Citizen Action for Change, amongst others.