One thing that will help make the shock therapy more bearable is a drastic cut in the cost of governance. In a properly functioning system, the elite must always sacrifice more than the poor. | Buhari’s shock therapy for Nigerians | TheCable thecable.ng/buharis-shock-…
I don’t support the total removal fuel subsidy (have never done), especially at the same time as other price hikes and new taxes. It is even more difficult to support while the cost of governance remains high and the tax net still far too narrow.
I get the argument that it was the rich that was benefiting from the subsidy payments and not the poor. However, that a scheme is being abused is not, in itself, a reason to scrap it. We should, instead, reform the system to stop the abuse by anyone, rich or poor.
The argument that we simply can no longer afford fuel subsidy would be a very persuasive one if we were also cutting other things that we simply can no longer afford. Examples include the cost of maintaining our legislators and the fact that we refuse to streamline agencies. End.
