The President of the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR), Dr. Kehinde Prince Taiga has called on state governments to complement efforts being made by the federal government in mitigating the sufferings which the removal of fuel subsidy has imposed on Nigerians.
He made the call while reacting to the recent setting aside of ₦500 billion by the federal government, with a plan to expend it on palliatives, to cushion the effect of the removal of fuel subsidy on Nigerian citizens.
According to him, “The provision of palliatives to solve the problems occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy should not be left for the federal government alone, because every state should have a role to play. Besides, they have their own budgets too. They receive allocations from the federal government and generate internal revenue as well.
“If we continue to leave the provision of palliatives for the federal government alone, the federal government might not be able to do it to the satisfaction of the citizens, but if the state governments contribute their own quota, it will go a long way in serving the people’s interest, which is the primary aim of government.”
Dr. Taiga called on governors to make buses available at non-commercial rates across major routes in their respective states, as a way of subsidizing the cost of transportation for commuters, thereby making life easier for their citizens.
He recalled that Delta state used to have such transport system under former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, and implored the present administration of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to revive the scheme, stressing that government is a continuum.
“Delta state used to have a robust transport system under Uduaghan, which was beneficial to the generality of Deltans, but the immediate past administration of Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa did not build on it. So, what the current administration of Oborevwori should do is to recover the vehicles, which are now in private hands, and re-introduce the scheme,” he said.
While also recalling the free health care initiative for indigent Deltans under Uduaghan, the CDHR president decried the reckless abandonment of projects initiated by previous administrations by their successors, maintaining that such amounts to waste of public resources as well as contributes to the rise in cost of governance in the country.
