Fuel price hike: The U-turn by Tinubu, el-Rufai, others
One thing that last week’s hike in fuel pump price from N87.00 to N145.00 by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government has exposed is the selfish but true colours of some prominent Nigerians and groups.
These Nigerians few years ago were at the forefront opposing increase in pump price of petrol, but now have turned round to support the policy.
Some of these Nigerians and groups condemned the the decision by the immediate past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan to increase pump price of petrol in 2012. Many of them deployed huge resources and mobilised Nigerians to protest the decision.
But now, these individuals are lending support to the decision by the Buhari administration to hike the price of petrol. They are now calling for patience on the part of Nigerians, saying the decision is the best in the present circumstance.
One of such persons, former Lagos State Governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, last Thursday, commended President Buhari for removing the subsidy on petrol, describing it as “a bold step”. He told Nigerians that “this pain is necessary”.
In the same vein, Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, a prominent voice against a similar policy in 2012 by the then Jonathan administration, in his first official reaction on Thursday, to the latest hike in pump price, urged calm and praised the orderly response of Kaduna people to the new policy.
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) are also among groups supporting the new pump price.
The question these individuals and groups now supporting the present hike in fuel pump price by the incumbent administration should answer is: why were they opposed to the same decision by the Jonathan administration? If the policy was not good then, why is it good now? Until Nigerians do away with self-interest on policy issues, the tendency to condemn a policy by one administration and embrace same under another administration will continue drawback the country.
