AUDIENCE PERCEPTION OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REMOVAL OF FUEL SUBSIDY

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate Audience perception of federal government removal of fuel subsidy in Warri metropolis. Three main research questions were formulated for the purpose of this study and other sub questions aimed at prying into audience perception, causes and effects of fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria. Survey research method was used because of its convenience, reliability and cheapness. The study population was Warri Metropolis. A total of 200 respondents were selected, using the purposive random sampling. The number of retrieved questionnaire was 195, representing 97.5% response rate. Statistical analyses of data collected were performed using, frequency distribution, percentages, tables while Chi-square formula was used to test the formulated hypothesis. Results revealed that audience perceived the removal of oil subsidy as an act of selfishness, wickedness and the federal government means of promoting their selfish interest, thereby making the masses to suffer. Corruption in the oil sector and gross mismanagement and also due to few corrupt individuals that are united to promote their private interest among other factors have been found to be the reasons and causes for the removal of fuel subsidy. These in turn have led to increase in prices of fuel pump oil products; increase in prices of food commodities, transportation and increase in operating costs of micro and small enterprises. The researcher recommends that there was a significant relationship between fuel subsidy removal and cost standard of living of the general populace. She suggested that the federal government should look into other sectors of the economy such as agriculture, tourism etc. in other to boost the economy.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background of the Study

For some number of years, Nigeria enjoyed subsidy on petroleum products. This came to an end on January 1st, 2012, after a declaration from President Goodluck Jonathan that afterwards, the subsidy was to be removed (Zaccheus, 2011). In Nigeria, the issue of appropriate pricing of petroleum product has always been a controversial policy issue. Successive governments have dealt with this problem to no avail. Suffix to say that in Nigeria, subsidy removal implemented by governments had always yielded negative effects on the citizens. According to Centre for Public Policy Alternatives (2012), a subsidy by definition is any measure that keeps the prices

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consumers pay for a good or product below market levels for consumers or for producers above market. The essence of having subsidy in place for products and services is that it has direct positive impact on poverty reduction in the lives of the poor masses who could not afford high prices (Nwaoga and Casimir, 2013).

Subsidies were introduced in the Nigerian en creeping phenomenon, the value of the subsidies has gone from 1 billion in the 1980s to an expected 6 billion Dollars in 2011. In this period the specific products targeted for subsidy have changed. Diesel oil has had its associated subsidy redacted while petrol, gasoline; kerosene continues to enjoy a 54.4 % subsidy over the international spot market price at the Nigerian pump. Economists believed that social welfare is maximized when the price of each good and service is freely determined by the interaction of buyers and sellers in open competitive markets. In practice and especially in developing countries however, policy is often driven more by political consideration than rational economic theory. The risk of social unrest, street riots, and threats of civil war very easily make introduction of market distorting policies justified. Nigeria as a case in point is under increased pressures to grow its economy. Yet countervailing forces of corruption, mismanagement of public resources and poor governance conspire to frustrate efforts to sustain growth in the face of rising population numbers and demands for a democratic dividend by the citizenry (Centre for Public Policy Alternatives, 2012).

According to Centre for Public Policy Alternatives, the justifications for introduction or removal of subsidies vary markedly. In developed economies Environmental issues, international trade and maintaining competitiveness are the main drivers of policy. Whereas welfare, poverty alleviation and election cycle politics largely underpin the reasons for which subsidies are introduced in developing countries. A new factor in the current mix of policy drivers is the

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renewed emphasis on governance reform championed by the Bretton woods institutions-The World Bank, IMF and the donor community. Lending urgency to this scenario is the global economic downturn and consequent rationalization by lenders, aid granting countries. As domestic demand for funds increase in these countries amounts available for aid, FDI and subsidies diminish. The consequence is a demand for greater efficacy in the economies of the aid receiving countries of which Nigeria is one.

Furthermore, the issue of fuel subsidy removal has torn this nation into two factions, the government and the economic experts on one hand and the masses on the other hand. The last fuel subsidy removal on 1st January, 2012 sparked an uprising that almost led to a revolution; this attracted a lot of public debate, opinions and reactions leading to NLC strike and demonstrations in various states. Therefore, the major focus of this study is to investigate audience perception of federal government removal of fuel subsidy in Nigeria on January 2012.

• Statement of the Research Problem.

Fuel is central to the economic pursuits of Nigerians, whose sustenance daily bread is tied to this bye product of Nigeria‟s rich crude.ThePetroleumoilProductdepositsPricingRegulatory Agency (PPPRA) regulates the downstream Oil and Gas industry on behalf of the Federal Government and by the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol), the downstream sub-sector of the Petroleum industry is deregulated for Petrol. Deregulation leaves market forces as the sole determinant of product prices. While over the years, many Nigerians have opposed the implementation of the policy in the Oil and Gas Industry, international finance and donor agencies like the World Bank and IMF have been very harsh in their criticisms of the successive governments that have sustained the policy for a single inher…

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THE NATURE AND CONSEQUENCES OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY IN NIGERIA: A STUDY OF ENUGU NORTH LGA, ENUGU STATE

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