A former Presidential Spokesman, Mr. Reno Omokri, has called on Nigerians to appreciate the Federal Government’s decision to remove the petrol subsidy, warning that reversing the policy would bankrupt the country......See Full Story>>.....See Full Story>>
Omokri, in a statement after a visit to his former boss, President Goodluck Jonathan, in Abuja, said that given the subsidy’s negative impact on revenue, it would be challenging for the government to provide the adequate infrastructure Nigerians had been yearning for.
The rising cost of living, arising from escalating petrol prices, forced many Nigerians to demonstrate in August, and some civil society organisations are threatening to begin another round of protest today, Nigeria’s Independence Day.
However, the former presidential aide pleaded with aggrieved Nigerians to keep the peace, explaining that continuing the subsidy would worsen the country’s already low revenue base.
“We cannot afford to artificially reduce the price of fuel by paying subsidy. We will go bankrupt,” he said, adding, “Protest will not erase this economic reality.”
Omokri explained that Nigeria’s low tax rate and oil production output did not match its rapid population growth, noting that the country was not as rich as Nigerians believed.
He compared Nigeria with other oil-bearing countries like Saudi Arabia, saying the former could not match the latter’s development strides because of the considerable differences in population and resource output.
He stated, “Saudi Arabia has a population of 35 million and makes $350 billion annually from oil. That is $10,000 per citizen. Nigeria has a population of 220 million people and generates approximately $36 billion from crude annually. That is $150 per person. At 2.6 million people, Qatar is just one percent of our population. Yet, their annual revenue is $68 billion. Two and a half times that of Nigeria.
“Nigeria is not “oil-rich”. We are oil-poor. On a per capita basis, Ghana is more oil-rich than we are. We produce 1.5 million barrels per day for a population of 220 million people. Ghana produces 200,000 barrels per day for a population of 32 million.”
He lamented the country’s low tax rate, estimated at less than eight percent, and wondered how Nigerians expected the Federal Government to fund its operations and provide social infrastructures such as schools, hospitals, water, and roads.
Comparing Nigeria with other developed countries like the United States and Germany, he said, “59.9% of Americans pay taxes, and their tax money is mainly used to fund the government and the military.
“If you earn N58,597 in Germany, you will pay 42% of your income or N24,610 as taxes. There will be riots if you ask Nigerians to pay this level of tax. But we want a German level of delivery from our government. So, where will the money to run Nigeria come from?”
He noted that post-independent Nigeria could care for its needs because it had a low population. “1960 Nigeria could afford that because our population was 45 million, and we needed to raise an educated class speedily. By 1970, we could still afford it, and we did provide it because our population was approaching 50 million, and we still had a shortage of qualified persons.
“But this was no longer practicable by the 1990s when our population topped 120 million. And when we are twice that, at 220 million, it would be ruinous.”
Omokri said Britain went through similar stages of development, explaining that former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was forced to end birthright citizenship, introduce council tax, and privatise every government-owned business, including giants like British Telecom, British Gas, British Energy, British Aerospace, and British Airways.