By Comrade Kunle Sodipo, ANIPR
Nigeria has finally found the courage to remove fuel subsidy. We celebrated. But we forgot to remove the more dangerous subsidy – *the subsidy on poverty, laziness and mediocrity.*
Yes, we removed fuel subsidy, but we still subsidize poverty with reckless sharing of palliatives. We share rice instead of building rice factories. We share 5k instead of teaching 5 skills. We empower poverty instead of empowering people.
Look around you. That is why poverty is not reducing.
The real trending issue in Nigeria today is not the price of petrol. It is the price of productivity.
*THE HARD TRUTH:*
In Nigeria today, it is more profitable to be unproductive than to be productive.
The young man who does Yahoo-Yahoo makes more in one night than a first-class graduate who has been job hunting for 3 years.
The beggar at the traffic light in Oshodi goes home with more cash than the primary school teacher who taught him.
The influencer who does nothing but dance on TikTok gets endorsements, while the farmer who feeds the nation cannot get fertilizer.
We have created a system where we TAX productivity and SUBSIDIZE poverty.
How?
A small business owner in Abeokuta pays tax, pays rent, pays NEPA, pays for diesel, pays for POS charges, pays for local government levy – just to keep his shop open. But the man who does nothing waits for palliative and government handout. Who is being punished?
*THE EDUCATIVE ANGLE – WHAT WE MUST DO:*
As a Public Relations professional, I know that perception drives policy. And our perception of empowerment is wrong.
*1. Stop Sharing Rice, Start Sharing Knowledge.*
The Federal Government’s Student Loan (NELFUND), the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) program, and the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiative are more powerful than any rice palliative. But we are not communicating them well. Our youth don’t know they exist.
*2. Tax Consumption, Not Production.*
Why must a young entrepreneur pay 7 different levies to start a small business? Why must a content creator pay more to buy data than a smoker pays to buy cigarettes? Data is the new petrol. Reduce cost of data, reduce cost of productivity.
*3. Make Hard Work Famous Again.*
We must bring back the dignity of work. Our media must celebrate farmers like we celebrate BBNaija housemates. Our awards must celebrate teachers like we celebrate skit makers. Until hard work becomes attractive, Yahoo-Yahoo will remain attractive.
*CONCLUSION:*
Nigeria will not develop by removing fuel subsidy alone. We must remove the subsidy on laziness, on begging, on entitlement mentality.
We must start subsidizing productivity: subsidize skills, subsidize small businesses, subsidize innovation.
The fuel subsidy kept us poor for 40 years. This poverty subsidy, if we don’t remove it, will keep us poor for another 40 years.
Let us think.
*Comrade Kunle Sodipo, ANIPR, is a Strategic Communication Consultant and Public Affairs Analyst based in Abeokuta, Ogun State. He writes from ckswritings@gmail.com*
