Tinubu Took The Bullets For Nigerians To Remove Subsidy – Alake

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has said President Bola Tinubu took political bullets on behalf of Nigerians to remove fuel subsidy, warning that if the President had not taken the decision when he did, Nigerians would be using a wheelbarrow to carry currencies to buy one loaf of bread.

Alake stated this while speaking to newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday, insisting that Tinubu deserves accolades and not condemnation for removing fuel subsidy.

According to Vanguard, he said the President inherited a battered economy and had no option but to take the drastic action, likening Nigeria’s situation at the time to a man inside a hole who must stop digging to avoid sinking deeper.

“It does not need me to tell you or elaborate on the fact that we knew what the Nigerian economy was before 2023. And it does not need me to inform you that all the reforms and the policies that were and are necessary to correct these distortions and contradictions in the Nigerian society were there and identifiable by those previous governments. The only thing lacking was the courage to take those decisions.

“And there is no shortcut. They say, our elders say, when you are in a hole, what do you do? You stop digging. Because the more you dig, the deeper you sink,” he said.

According to him, previous governments lacked the courage to stop digging for short-term political expedience because they were afraid of elections and losing return to office, so they shifted the hard decisions that ought to have been taken.

“But because those previous governments lacked that courage to stop digging, for short-term political expedience, they were afraid of elections, they were afraid of bringing them back to office and all that. So they shifted those decisions, the hard decisions they ought to have taken,” he said.

Alake recalled that the issue of subsidy removal had dominated national discourse for many years with protests, noting that the government at that time knew subsidy should be removed but backtracked because an election was coming.

“When there were protests, it backtracked, because there was an election coming. And so people swallowed the bitter pill. But somebody came and decided to swallow the bitter pill, to take the bullets on behalf of Nigerians.

“It shows in all sense of fairness and objectivity. Give commendation to who it is due. If a man, who is a politician himself, who should be very sensitive to elections, government back to office, decided to take the bullets, regardless of the consequences on his own political career, on behalf of the nation, because the nation had to be reset, it is just very important for us to appreciate that. And that is the kind of person Nigeria needs, for consistency,” he said.

He argued that it takes a leader with courage to take such a decision, apparently disagreeing with the position of the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC.

Alake added that there is no government policy that is 100% foolproof, especially when it has to deal with human beings who are the most difficult factors of economic production.

“There will never be the right time, except you have the vision and the knowledge and the courage to take that decision at the psychological moment. If we hadn’t taken that decision, if the President hadn’t done it the day he did it, three, four months thereafter, you would be using a wheelbarrow to carry currencies to buy one loaf of bread,” he argued.

He also dismissed suggestions that President Tinubu is not democratic, describing him as the most liberal democrat in the current political firmament.

“We don’t want dictatorship in any form. And the President we have, I smile at the ignorance of those who believe that he is a good people. There is no politician in the political firmament of Nigeria today, to the best of my knowledge, who is more of a democrat than a liberal.

“And they have empirical verification on ground. I worked with him before he was governor, during his reformation, and after, up to today. So I’m not speaking out of partisanship,” Alake said.

He challenged those who have been in public office as governors or vice presidents to point to landmarks they left in their various spheres of authority to justify their aspiration to lead.