President Bola Tinubu’s idea to give N8,000 to 12 million households as a subsidised palliative has been criticised by the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), an Igbo interest group.
In a press release signed by President General Goodluck Ibem, the organisation referred to the proposal as a “Greek gift.”
The group claimed that Nigerians will continue to struggle even with a monthly N8,000 payment to offset the effects of the elimination of the petroleum subsidy.
“It is a Greek Gift for President Tinubu to say he wants to pay 12 million Nigerians N8000 a month when he is the same person who makes it impossible to use N8000 just to cook a pot of soup for a family of three, by removing fuel subsidy which has been paid for till July 2023 by the previous administration,” the group said.
That “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s plan to pay 12 million households N8,000 for 6 months is another plot to syphon the resources of the nation,” the group claimed. Sadiya Umar Farouq, who served as Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management under President Muhammadu Buhari, also accomplished this.
“The said Minister was collecting N500 billion monthly from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, for the same purpose Tinubu wants to commence now, but no household was seen benefiting from the said initiative. To drain the national coffers, it served only as a conduit.
The group claimed that Nigerians are sick of hearing about such schemes and that the plan will actually cause more hardship and suffering for the country’s citizens rather than the better life the president had promised.
The rising cost of petrol, diesel and other petroleum products has caused a spike in the costs of consumer goods and services, making it difficult for many Nigerians to afford basic essentials like food and transportation.
“The people of Nigeria have had enough of being lied to by those in authority.
We don’t want policies that would push Nigerians deeper into poverty and misery like the recent elimination of the country’s fuel subsidy has.
