Nigeria: No Fixed Date for Removal of Fuel Subsidy and Deregulation
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Friday, 23 December 2011 |
Nigeria’s Federal Government has said that it has not fixed a date for the removal of the fuel subsidy and the full deregulation of the downstream oil sector.
Minister of Information, Mr. Labran Maku, said that the economy could get into further trouble if one-third of the national budget continued to be set aside to subsidise fuel. He added that those against the removal of the subsidy and full deregulation had become emotional, while also pointing out that the move was inevitable. He warned that if proposals were not actioned, Nigeria could not move forward and could not develop.
He appealed to assembled media at his announcement to be more positive about the steps the government has proposed and pointed to the broadcasting industry as an example of what deregulation could achieve. “Before now, it was only the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) until government deregulated broadcasting in the country,” he says. “Before, you could not set up a private radio station in this country or a television station. When the government deregulated, what do we have today? We have private television stations that are now competing with the NTA and the FRCN. If government had decided to control broadcasting in the country, all of you would have been out of a job. Every sector we opened up has produced results.”
PetrolWorld 23122011
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