Democracy Day: Tinubu Promises To Ease Subsidy Removal Pains
President Bola Tinubu, on Monday, hailed the winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola with a promise to ease the pains of fuel subsidy removal.
He described the late businessman who died in suspicious circumstances after his election was annulled by the late Gen Sani Abacha, as the symbol of democracy.
Tinubu, who acknowledged the hardship being faced by Nigerians in the aftermath of the fuel subsidy removal, said his administration will “reward” their sacrifices with “massive investment” in transportation infrastructure, education, regular power supply, healthcare, and other public utilities that will improve their quality of life.
The President who said he identified with the pain of Nigerians argued that the temporal discomfort was necessary to save the country from going under.
“I feel your pain. This is one decision we must bear to save our country from going under and take our resources away from the stranglehold of a few unpatriotic elements,” Tinubu said in his maiden Democracy Day address to Nigerians as President.
In his inaugural speech on May 29, the President stated that subsidy can no longer justify its ever-increasing costs in the wake of drying resources. Therefore, it had to go.
The aftermath of Tinubu’s announcement was the increase in petrol pump price from N195 to N557 nationwide, alongside an ancillary price increase.
“Above all, those who disagree with the outcome of the elections are taking full advantage of the constitutional provisions to seek redress in court and that is one of the reasons why democracy is still the best form of government invented by man,” Tinubu added.
Reminiscing on the 1993 struggles that ushered in a civilian government in 1999, the President venerated the Chief MKO Abiola, Kudirat Abiola, Alfred Rewane and Maj-Gen Shehu Yar’Adua who were silenced by the military junta saying “They gave their yesterday for the liberty that is ours today.”
“We can easily recall the sacrifice and martyrdom of Chief MKO Abiola, the custodian of the sacred mandate that was so cruelly annulled.
“He sacrificed his life in unyielding, patriotic defense of the ideals of democracy as symbolized in his choice, by his fellow countrymen and women, as their duly-elected President.
“There was an easier choice for him. It was to forgo the justice of his cause and opt for the path of ease and capitulation in the face of the tyranny of power. To his eternal credit and immortal glory, Abiola said no. He demonstrated the time-tested eternal truth that there are certain ideals and principles that are far more valuable than life itself,” said the President.
Therefore, he urged Nigerians not to take the liberty they now enjoy for granted as it was obtained through great sacrifice.
