February 10, 2025

Current Petrol Pump Price Hike : Hardship’ll Not Be Permanent, Babalola Tells Nigerians

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*Urges oil marketers to be fair

Emmanuel kehinde,Ilorin 

A former  Kwara State governorship aspirant, Pastor Engineer Sunday

Adebayo Babalola, on Thursday, empathised with  Nigerians over the

current hardship they are going through as a result of the removal of

subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise called petrol or fuel.

He stated that the current hardship will not be permanent, adding that

they should endure and persevere.

In an interview with journalists, he urged them to only spend on

essential things and cut costs.

Babalola, a retired Deputy Director of the defunct Department of

Petroleum Resources, urged the Federal Government under President Bola

Tinubu and the organised labour to avert the impending strike.

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, gave the Federal Government a

seven-day ultimatum to reverse all perceived anti-poor policies,

including the recent hike in the pump price of petrol, or face an

indefinite nationwide strike from August 2.

He said the strike threat by the NLC,  if not averted, could plunge

Nigeria into deeper economic woes and more hardship for Nigerians.

He said would further dislocate businesses and lead to unquantified

financial losses and reduce Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product.

He urged the FG and labour to dialogue, adding that labour should not

go ahead with the strike.

He also called on the FG to display fidelity to its promises to

Nigerians and agreement with labour as a way of averting the strike

and cushioning the hardship Nigerians have been plunged into since the

removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise called

petrol or fuel.

The energy expert advised oil marketers to be fair in their dealings

Babalola said, ”We should be patient. This hike will settle itself

out. When they removed the subsidy on diesel, 3, or 4 months ago, we

were buying diesel for about N1000 per litre. But right now, it has

come down to N600 per litre. So it will be moving up and down. Now

Nigerians should also be sure that whatever is happening now is

temporary. It will abate. I want to assure Nigerians that hard times

never last but tough people do. The hard times will, without doubt, go

ahead.

“I want to advise Nigerians to cut costs from those things that they

are doing that are sincerely not necessary. For somebody you want to

call and discuss something, call the person on the phone and not you

must see the person. There is a saying that ‘talk is in the eye.’ You

do not need to see the person before you talk. So cut unnecessary

expenditure. If and do those things that are truly necessary,

everything will eventually stabilise. It is better for us to go

through this than for us to pretend that we are doing subsidies

whereas a few are embezzling the nation’s treasure.

“The marketers should import the refined product. It is now an open

system. I want to advise everybody that this thing is not one-way

traffic. So many things will be affected by what we are doing now. The

exchange rate will affect it, oil prices will affect it.

“The government should just be focused and do the right thing. They

have the facts. They have the data. My advice will be based on what we

read in the newspapers and hear on the television news. But the real

advice is if you have the raw data and you analyse it. Then you can

give proper advice. But on the surface, they should be focused. 

The issue of palliative subsidy should be totally de-emphasised because we

do not have good statistics that will clearly show who is getting

what. So we will be enriching a few people.

. A few years ago, we had

pensioners’ money eaten and some people who are there are still

looking for a way to make money out of government. They will just

raise a few people or the same set of people who will now find ways to

corner the money. Even without NIN, there are fake accounts. You can

see it because a lot of people are still doing 419.

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