 Thanks for staying with us now. According to the Nigerian Tribune, fuel subsidy are a form of government intervention to reduce the cost of fuel by providing direct financial support to oil companies and, as such, subsidize the product to consumers, which are Nigerians in this case. Now, Nigeria is one of Africa's largest producers of crude oil, and it relies heavily on these resources for its economic growth, with the withdrawal or the removal of fuel subsidy. Analysts believe that Nigeria's projected debt stock of $171 billion will be raised by a further 0.47%. Now, this development will also raise the sinking funds for refinancing and servicing of the debt stock from 29% scheduled in 2023, a proportion bill to 43.8% of the 2020 financial year. Now, according to, rather additionally, removing the subsidy could lead to social unrest and protests, as people may perceive the government as insensitive to their needs, and there is also a risk that the removal of the subsidy could lead to a rise in fuel smuggling and other illegal activities. So today, we're asking what the subsidy, what Nigeria should expect with the subsidy removal. Now, please, let's hear what you have to say. Remember, you can join the conversation, send us an SMS or WhatsApp to the rate 1-803-4663. You can also tweet at us at WeishuAfrica1 with the hashtag Weishu. All right, so this is interesting. First of all, if you have no business going outside, don't be out. Don't be out. Just stay inside of your house. So it's actually very, so for me, I think Nigerians actually were the biggest problems that we have as a people. This thing was announced, and all of a sudden, yes, I understand that we would always have these panic buyers, would always have people like really, my tank was at the last, what do they call that thing, that last quota or whatever they call it, right? And I kept on saying, don't worry, I'll buy it, I'll buy it, but my mind kept on saying, well, just fill your tank, fill your tank. So when I was coming back from the, what is it called? Thankfully my tank is not where you have much crowd because my tank is on the right side. So usually the queues on my side are very short. That's why I actually like the brand of the car that I drive, right? But hey, this thing, the scarcity and all of those things, this is man-made, right? For God's sake, a lot of fuel stations, they have stock, it's not like they don't have stock, but because this announcement has been made, all of a sudden some people have already even hiked their price. My mom called me today and said, they're buying fuel in Kaduna at 700 Naira per liter, right? So already people are already increasing the prices, even though the NNPC boss has said they have stock and there's fuel. So now government officials are also taking some kind of measures, because I saw, I think it was quite a state government. I said, if you dare, you know, hold fuel or whatever, they would, they would, they would draw your seat of all, they will seal up your station. So, I mean, if we take up all those measures, maybe we'll find a solution. But today is just really, how do we start to manage ourselves as the fuel crisis is happening? Let me hear your thoughts and I'll come to the ladies on the Zoom. Well, it's, first of all, when it comes to the subsidy in Nigeria, I know that the government has spent a lot of money in the last couple of years. I know that between, I think between 2005 and 2020, one, the Nigerian government has spent at least up to about 3.9 trillion on just, you know, four subsidy and things like this. So it's costing, we know that it's costing from all the analysis that has been done. It's costing us a lot of money in order to... We don't have a problem with then removing the subsidy. I think it's just the structure. Yes, around the... And it seems like it is abrupt. There was no plan, right? So these are the issues. So in our usual way, we don't plan and when we do plan, we don't carry the people along. So, and that's what causes this panic buying because the people are not sure exactly what is going on. This news just came out just yesterday and just before, within the next 12 hours, this is what is happening. And that's just because, like you said, it wasn't properly communicated in a way. Everyone would know, if you've been in Nigeria long enough, you should know that even having such a statement from the president of the federal republic... Carrying a lot of weight. Carrying is a lot of weight and he just entered the office. So I understand that you want to reassure the people on all the things that you said just before the elections and you want to come through on your promises. But some of these things, you need to let the people know that there is a process of getting there. And this is the process that you and your team would take in order to make sure that this doesn't affect the nation in a negative way. And this is just barely 24 hours later and see what is everywhere is madness. Just to pick a card, most of, just to pick a card from one point to another point, which maybe used to cost an individual a thousand Naira, now costs on any of the apps down to the cheapest, now costs about 2,500. So I had a lot of my colleagues who didn't know how to get home and some of them were even on, they use this service called Shotlass. And guess what? Just before the end of close of business today, they all got a message that they needed to cancel their ride for today because the driver wasn't able to get any petrol. So everyone who left the mainland to the island to work was stranded. Let me hear your thoughts, Utsi. Then I'll come to you, Noma. Well, NTJ has sort of mentioned the bit, I think that is most frustrating for me. We're just coming off an administration where it was clear that communication was- What's the problem? Practical problem, right? And to have something as important as the inaugural address. I mean, I understand wanting to make bold statements, but I mean, typical inaugural addresses are about unity, about coming together, about working together, about putting aside all the divisiveness of the electoral or the election process. That's what it's about. But to then take such a sensitive and important topic and to just throw it out there, to give me a tactic of any other thing to say but yeah. Like, how people supposed to react? We know Nigerians. We know that issues of hoarding, of buying, of people being concerned about implementation. I mean, this is a topic that we've been talking about for many years, to just throw it out there without any context. I don't know what the expectation was of that kind of declaration. I mean, it was so ill-timed, it was so not structured properly. I hope that this is not a sign. I mean, I keep saying it, PR is like, I mean, come on. When are we gonna get it right within Nigerian government? When? It is just so frustrating. And the fact is, you know, having such a quality delivered, I don't even know what to call it. Just, of course, nobody's surprised. I mean, I was speaking to someone this morning and the president said, look, when I heard that yesterday, I was lying down in my bed. I literally dropped up, got dressed, drove my car out, filled my tank, filled my work tank, bought four cakes. I mean, that's the natural response like that because we know the marketers will hoard. We know people will panic buy. We know that, I mean, I am literally not upset today because as I speak to you, my car still has been been trying to buy petrol since 9 a.m. this morning, has been to four or five different petrol stations. And as I speak to you now, 12 hours later or almost a hour later, I still haven't bought petrol. So what little petrol I had left has the expense going for petrol station tried to find petrol. That today is the first working day of the week, completely messed up today. I don't even know what tomorrow is going to look like if we don't get petrol today. So the fact is, first of all, the good cause of this is just very, very, in very poor taste. Now, on the other side of it, like I hear you at first thing, I heard somebody say this morning is ah, it's not for selling for 500 a liter. Now, we keep blaming the government. But let's be honest, we serve our hands inside. We don't like ourselves, we don't love ourselves. Right? These elements that we keep saying corruption like it's somebody else's problem, it grows everywhere. Right? Because if you are trying, because of an announcement, you are trying to essentially hike the price and take advantage of it. You are still being paid subsidy for the current fuel that you have. Nobody has given you an official date. I mean, I was a bit annoyed to now see that there was a bit of a piggybacking today to come and back and say that they didn't say it was instantaneous, that it was gonna be I think the end of June, before it was going to be removed. Again, this comes to implementation. This comes to how we think about the impact of the things that we do. Even if you want to young kids, is it in 30 days? Like, isn't there a process? Isn't there adjustment? Isn't there planning? Why do we do things like this in a chair? And then the average man is suffering. And then you think that they're gonna have faith in the government. Sometimes it's hard, want to be positive. You won't say the government is doing things. But whenever they do things like this, they have to shut up. It's really hard today. Uti is not the happy camper. I even don't know. As in, he's trying to spot it. Uti, you'll be alright too. Let's go on a very short break. We'll come back, we want to open our phone lines. Hopefully we hear from our viewers there. We also speak to Noma. Stay with us, we'll be right back. Alright, thanks for staying with us. Now, if you're just tuned in, we are discussing subsidy removal. And we're asking what Nigerians should expect, right? Please let's hear what you have to say. Remember, you can join the conversation. So then there's an SMS or WhatsApp to read 1-803-4663. You can also tweet at us at Weisshow or call one with the hashtag Weisshow. Now our phone line is now open. The number to call is 070-25-077-49. That's the number to call. Remember to turn off the volume of whatever device it is that you are watching us or listening from, right? I mean, Noma, let me hear your thoughts. Even though you have escaped. Well, only briefly, just may we feel the pain. We have family members who still live there and who will still depend on you to either send something or to help one or the other. So you're gonna feel the impact one way or the other. I guess, of course, this subsidy issue has been a conversation that has been had for several years, as it were. And it was still, what I have to say, it was still tally with what UTI and NJ have already mentioned. And I would always come from the perspective of consideration and our humanity. I think Nigeria will need leaders that really feel the pulse of the people. I know that subsidy is supposed to help us as a people because we cannot, this is something that has been said times without number that we cannot continue in this manner because it's gonna run our nation completely to the ground, right? And if it is removed, there are definitely some benefits that will come in the place of being able to use resources, the amount of resources that are prompted to false subsidy can be diverted to other equally important issues concerning healthcare, concerning infrastructure and all of that, right? But then again, the impact, that's what we're talking about. How we go about doing things is a very serious problem and I would pray that this administration would get it right, even though it's almost like they're falling our hand already because with this information from the speech that the president gave, the reaction, we saw it across board, Ibadon, Lagos, every aspect of Nigeria is being affected. Panic buying, of course, people have already started increased price. Nigerians, like UTI said, we are not fair to ourselves. You still have patrol and this is not the one that is affected by fuel, subsidy and already you are thinking of how to hide the prices. There are people who cannot commute to their local places of work or even do their daily duties and responsibilities because of increasing prices. We already have cases of inflation, definitely there's gonna be inflation, there's going to be reduced purchase, purchasing power of people. People can no longer afford to imagine that some, I mean, there was a chart that was going on in one of the groups that I belong to. People are saying that, can you imagine prices hiked to 500 or to a thousand Naira? I mean, it's almost unbelievable because at the end of the day, people who could not even afford 500 that you can imagine cost of people who could not even afford to pay their T-fair having increased amounts to pay for. It will only lead to a lot more, a lot more incidents of protests on rest and all of that. So I think it's something that our leaders need to really pay attention to. Even the fuel smuggling, there are people that are going to redraw the fuel that they have. Here is some of them. I heard some of the filling stations shut down completely while some others opened, but the prices were really high. So it's going to affect people, but not afford to even, the cost of living is going to also increase. People will no longer be able to afford food, even food. Now, everything is going to be blamed on fuel subsidy. We've seen it happen time to that number. The next is something that you bought today, tomorrow you go to buy, they say, ah, it's fuel subsidy. But everything is actually tied, normal, it's not like the small business owner is deliberately trying to hike the price. Because again, you must consider as a business person if they are going to go and restock that thing. Okay, so somebody was saying that commuting from Ajaf, for instance, to VI, before was like 300 Naira. Now she needed to pay 1000 Naira to get to Ajaf. So you don't expect that if somebody has spent that amount of money, probably going to go and get goods or whatever, the price of the goods will definitely change. But I was just going to say that let's not dwell on the challenges now. We are looking for how to cope in the midst of this fuel subsidy. So these are like small steps. So for us as a small business, we've decided to do a structure for a high bridge structure in terms of workers. Because again, you really can't have them come in every day. Because interestingly, we had just had a conversation with a member of my staff and we talked about how it was really expensive for her. And by the time she made the suggestion about what's it called, hybrid work, do three days on two days off, it made sense. So maybe small business issues should start to consider options like that so that they don't have to come in every single day to the office. Because the truth is, as it stands now, small businesses cannot afford to say they want to do salary increment or whatever. Because where is the money even going to come from? We really don't have those resources, right? So by all means, if there are ways, you can cushion the effect of this because it will impact heavily, right? And for people that are very, very, what's it called insensitive to the fact that everybody's going through this thing. Unnecessary, you've suffered to get the feel that you don't spend like hours again trying to navigate your way out of traffic. So today I was coming to the studio and a two lane way that it goes to both ways. The people that are going and I was coming, they had blocked up the entire road, you understand? Because their lane had a very, very massive heavy traffic and it was caused by a fuel station. But you see, you do that, you are okay. But you're not considering somebody else that is even going, okay, their roads are free. So a lot of these things are man-made and because of that, people kind of like, they take the senses, it takes a break, that they take leave of their senses. Like people just act very irrational without even considering that somebody else would probably use this road. Somebody else, I mean, you go to the fuel station, there's a decent queue, but you see somebody that would come from nowhere and say they want to enter. So all these little, little things, it adds up. And that's why again, government is coming out. I mean, I saw, I sent a video of the Lagos State governor also questioning people that these things is not, is not government at this point. It is us that is actually dealing with ourselves. So I mean, if you understand that, if you have no business going out, stay home, if you, I mean, limit your movement, then for small businesses, you're able to even cope with a structure that helps your staff do hybrid work fine. Then now, again, people really need to start considering how, I don't even know how to explain it now, but it's even tough because cost of living is high. And normally, people go far distance to work, right? So if I say that I want to live closer to my work environment, would I be able to afford, you know, pain rents in that area? So it's a very multiple problem. And it has a ripple effect. Yeah, but I think we have a caller. Good evening. Hello. Hello. Hi, you're live. Go ahead. Okay, good evening. Good evening. Yes, I, I don't know, I got your contact somewhere, other online. So I wanted to find out something. Can you? Yes, go ahead. Okay, now I want you to do a public call. Okay, I think you have to call back. I don't know what to say. That's it. The place you are is noisy, you know. Yes, because we're on a live show. Obviously, you're not watching. You're just calling a number. So maybe you should send the text or whatever it is that you want your inquiry. This will, all right. So I mean, so Ooty, let me come back to you. Then we'll wrap up this conversation. Well, I mean, if we're talking about what people should expect, I think you've hit the nail on the head. I mean, some of the suggestions you've made, perhaps more feasible than some, because I think of a lot of small businesses, they may not have that, their business structure may not essentially allow you to have a shop. It's not possible for your staff to work remotely. So that's what I mean. But yeah, for me, I think that the impact of what we're looking at is, I want to be hopeful in how the removal of the subsidy will be implemented, right? Several times in the past, we've called to say if we had had smaller increments over a space of time, right? That would have allowed people to gradually adjust. You know, moving from, what are we now, 186 narrow, I think that's where we are, officially. Moving from that to a 400 narrow or a 500 narrow is like over 100% increase, almost 200% increase if my math is correct, right? That is not an easy adjustment to make for anyone, regardless of who you are and what your financial circumstances are. If you look at the cars on the road, the size of the engines of the cars. I mean, some people, a cost of a full tank of petrol is going to almost triple. So the fact is, no matter what it is, everybody's going to have to make an adjustment. Whether it's how many days you drive your car, whether it's how you plan your movements, all of these things will impact businesses who run staff buses, all of these things, they all have massive repercussions. So to even then hear that, oh, we're saying, oh, by June 30th, I mean, is that really feasible? I think we all agree that the subsidy has to go because we can't afford it. I am number one in that part of the perspective, but there must be a concrete plan in terms of how it is going to be discontinued. It's not like a sheet of paper that you can just rip it off and say, okay, let's start writing on the next page and it's all fine. It's not that simple, right? We're already dealing with high inflation, all these sorts of cost of living. Let me use the phrase that is running around in the UK, cost of living crisis that we're dealing with, right? All of these things are impacting us as Nigerians. And let's not forget that when these things happen, they have bigger ramifications on things like security. So everybody then is in one way or the other at risk. So in implementing this, my only feedback and comment is please, let's look at the implementation in a way that is not going to, I mean, no matter what, it is going to negatively impact, but in a way that is not going to be completely utterly detrimental and devastating to the average Nigerian man. I think I'll leave it there. I was just going to add that then I'll come to you Noma and NJ to just wrap up. I was going to add that it would be nice for over the years we've not seen transparency when it comes to figures and numbers, right? It would be nice if for once our government is a bit transparent because we know what the price of oil or the price of whatever is. And let's not forget that the Damgo Teh Refinery, you know, would start very soon, like in terms of like full on operation. So I don't know how that would impact, but you know what, moving from 190 something there all the way to 500 Naira, that's a lot. It's, I mean, it's something that I don't even know how people are going to cope. You know, but people would argue with you that they have been buying fuel for a very high price for a very long time, you know, in the East, in the North, you know, other places. But it has doubled. So now what it means that those ones that have been buying 500, they're buying 1,000. But let's take another caller. Good evening. Hello. Good evening. Good evening. Yes, go ahead. Yes, please go ahead, Adelike. Okay. My suggestion, I think that before we talk with the former government, let's say, if you convert to using camp, then someday we can do that, something to that direction. Okay. Or what do you think? Convert the cars to what? That would be you. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that is very possible. I mean, I know that in adult state, there was a year I went to adult state. I took a cab and the cab actually drove into a gas station and it was LPG. It was, yes, it was gas. Thank you, Adelike. And I think it's cheaper. And in fact, from what the driver, because I had to like engage the driver and the driver said, see, gas is cheaper and at the same time maintenance, you know, it's not as, you know, because the combustion that happens doesn't leave as much engine load the way what's it called petrol does, right? So I mean, it meant even the engine maintenance efficiency of the car, all of that, it's more effective. So I mean, if there's an option for people to start again, I know that I think it's Oando that wants to partner with Lamata to bring in electric buses. So very soon, you know, we're just gonna say that pending when all of these things really take full effect, right? I know I don't state they were really big on gas. We still have an LPG supply issue. So yeah, but you see, even if we have an LPG supply issue, right? Uti, so instead of gas flaring, so we're thinking, okay, how do we convert those? And people use them because it's way cheaper. And guess what? Even the combustion, it doesn't burn as fast as petrol. Right? So it's a better option. So people just go, they need to do some conversions. I don't disagree with you. I don't disagree with you that it's a better option, right? But we're talking about scalability, right? And feasibility. You are talking about converting, so how many hundreds of thousands, millions of cars? We have to, these things don't happen overnight. So it's not like it's not an alternative. People have been converting cars to LPG, you know, privately, but it's not a mainstream solution. For us to move to a different source of fuel, it's not a year, it's not two years, right? Look how long it's taking for electric cars, and it still hasn't had a 100% foothold. So the fact is, it comes down to us having a plan to say, okay, we're going to reduce what, even the MDG goals. You're talking 20, 30 years, it's a long time. These things don't happen overnight. So even if you say you want to use LPG, or you want to use vegetable oil, I mean, there's all sorts of alternatives. But it's not going to happen overnight. Because guess what? You still need mechanics who are going to be able to fix these cars. Today we are talking a pure, I mean, even if you have a diesel car in Nigeria, it's not that easy to maintain. Absolutely. So there's a long way to go from there. I mean, it's a great suggestion, but it's now about how we build a plan that gets us to the promised land. Okay, so let's quickly take comments. So I have a comment here that says, Good evening, my dear beautiful sisters of what are you saying ways? Subsidy removal, what should Nigerians expect? I don't really understand what is happening. This administration did not start well. When you start like this by removing subsidy and the full queues surfaces, then you did not, then you did not give, you did not start well. That is my own take. The first impression counts. If we start a new administration like this, then there will be problem, confusion everywhere. God help us. Now we are forced to stay at home for no just cause. I hope we have not entered one chance in this present and in administration. My name is David Illo. Daniel Illo. Daniel Illo, sorry. Where is regular fan? Okay, I think we ran out of time. So we can't even take any more comments. But thank you so much, ladies. Hopefully we'll be able to, let's, I think what Norma said about consideration, let's just consider that there are other people buying this thing together. We're all in it together. If you consider the next man, you will not act selfishly. And all this kind of, what's it called drama that we're seeing happening, the queues and everything, it would actually subside. But hey, Nigerians will always be Nigerians. Thank you so much Uti. Thank you Norma. Thank you, NJ. Now, before we go, do ensure you follow us across all our social media handles that way so Afghans can interact with us further. Drop a comment and more importantly, follow all our engagements on social media, like share and invite your families and friends to watch and follow the conversation. Now, if you missed our quote for today, here it is again. The fuel subsidy is gone. Subsidy can no longer justify its ever increasing cost in the wake of dying resources. We shall instead rechannel the funds into better investment in public infrastructure, education, healthcare and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions of Nigerians. And this is from President Bola Ahmed Tunibu. Now, this conversation around rechanneling the subsidy funds, what we are asking for from the government is transparency. Let's actually even see what it is that we have and what we're working with. Let's be different for once and not do things, same old and expected different results. We'll see you guys tomorrow at 8 p.m. Also bring another great conversation to your screen.