ABUJA, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-The Special Adviser on Media and Information Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga, has attributed widespread criticism of the current administration to what he described as Nigerians’ “short memory” regarding the country’s condition before President Tinubu assumed office.
Speaking during an interview on Arise TV on Friday, Onanuga argued that many citizens are quick to fault the current government without acknowledging the challenges it inherited.
“Let me start by saying that many of us in this country, many Nigerians, we sometimes exhibit the problem of lack of memory. We have very short memory.
We forget where we started from and we just start blaming President Tinubu for all the problems that Nigeria is going through,” he said.
Onanuga pointed out that Nigeria was already grappling with a severe fuel crisis prior to President Tinubu’s inauguration in May 2023.
He noted that fuel scarcity was widespread in the months preceding the general election, with long queues and shortages reported nationwide.
He explained that at the time, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), then the sole importer of fuel, had cut back on imports due to outstanding subsidy debts exceeding N4 trillion owed by the federal government. This financial strain also left NNPC unable to pay its international suppliers.
It was in this challenging context, Onanuga said, that President Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy on his first day in office a move that triggered a sharp rise in pump prices as NNPC adjusted rates in response.
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“I remember, for instance, in May 2023 when Tinubu took over the government, there was fuel shortage in this country. People forgot that all through the election of that year, there was fuel shortage.
So when the President announced on day one, the day he was sworn in and said he was removing fuel subsidy,” he said.
“The immediate reaction was called by NNPC, which has been the major supplier of fuel, was to increase the pump price. Because as at that time, NNPC was no more willing to import fuel.
NNPC was saying the federal government was owing it over 4 trillion Naira and it was also owing its suppliers abroad. So what the federal government did, what President Tinubu did, was to bring some life into NNPC to resume importing fuel so that fuel can be available,” Onanuga explained.
He maintained that the government had no choice but to remove the subsidy, citing dwindling national resources and the unsustainable burden of the subsidy regime.
In his words, “And we were just spending the money that ought to belong to the future generation. So the resources are not there so government just ought to do the right thing. Yeah, problems followed what the President did.”
Onanuga said the administration has acknowledged the hardships that followed the policy shift and has since launched various measures to alleviate the impact on citizens.
He also highlighted progress in restructuring the country’s foreign exchange system as a major milestone.
He urged Nigerians to recognize the President’s efforts in addressing long-standing issues ignored by past administrations, particularly those under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“So I want to start from there and say, look, Nigeria should give this President some credit for stopping the arbitrage that characterised the foreign exchange regime under previous administrations, including PDP.
But people are just not willing to give him any credit. Some critics,” he said.
“But we know that what he has done are very important, are very necessary, and they are for the benefit of our people. And we can see the results of the efforts he has done so far.
You can see the results, the gains that have accrued to this country, the reforms that have taken place, and the gains are showing and to the benefit of our people,” Onanuga concluded.