The plan by President Tinubu to pay ₦8000 monthly to 12 million households as fuel subsidy removal palliatives is commendable. It gives a human face to the harsh economic necessity of petrol subsidy withdrawal.
But to help our nation grow, I would suggest to the President that he ties the ₦8000 monthly payment to the condition that children in recipient families MUST attend school and have their payment vouchers signed by the principal/headmaster of their school proving that they attended school throughout that month, failure of which they will not be paid.
That way, Nigeria will reduce her current population of 20 million out-of-school children. And it will have an immediate impact on our economy, as educated children tend to be healthier, less likely to engage in terrorism and criminality, and also less likely to be teenage parents.
Furthermore, as a nation, we should not only give fish to people experiencing poverty. We should also teach willing Nigerians how to fish.
I, therefore, recommend to the President that he may want to provide free training and business grants (not loans, but grants) to at least half a million Nigerian youths to enable them to start up verifiable small and medium-scale enterprises. Nigeria’s situation is similar to that of the United States of the 1930s, and this was how President FDR Roosevelt empowered Americans through the New Deal.
In that way, the President will help Nigerian youths to help themselves as well as to help Nigeria.
Once again, good job, and kudos to the President. If he, however, does wrong, he should also expect knocks.
~Reno Omokri
via Twitter @renoomokri