Removal of Fuel Subsidy will strenghten the economy – Amb. Fidel Ayogu

Before being nominated by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua as Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Uganda, Ambassador Fidel Ayogu served in the House of Representatives as the Minority Whip and even contested for the governorship position of Enugu state during the 2003 elections. In this interview, Ambassador Ayogu whose tour of duty ends in February speaks on the benefits Nigerians stand to derive from the removal of fuel subsidy. He also speaks on his experience in Uganda and the in roads Nigerian companies are making in the east African country. Excerpts:

By BEN AGANDE, Abuja

What has been the experience transiting from the legislature in Nigeria to being a diplomat at ambassadorial level?

It has been both challenging and fruitful. When I went to Uganda with concurrent accreditation to Rwanda, I realised that Nigeria’s bilateral relationship with Uganda was okay but there were more openings for Nigerians to come to the country and help contribute in areas of investment. With my presence, United Bank for Africa, UBA, Bank PHB, Access Bank and Global Trust Bank came into the country. With the discovery of oil in Uganda, many Nigerian firms are trooping into Uganda to look for oil blocks and licenses and by the grace of God, Nigerians might be successful because a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between Nigeria and Uganda to pave way for Nigerian Investment in Uganda. By and large, it has been a very successful tour of duty for me. During my stay, the President of Nigeria visited Uganda twice and the Ugandan President also visited Nigeria twice.

The experience in other African and even western countries is that Nigerian communities are known more for negative things than positive things. What is the situation in Uganda?

This is why I feel I am a very lucky man because since I went to Uganda hardly can you find any Nigerian in Ugandan prison. As I am talking now, there is no Nigerian in Ugandan and Rwandan prison and we have sizeable Nigerians in the two countries. I have a very strong Nigerian community in Uganda and the High Commission is liaising with the Nigerian community in Uganda for everything that requires the intervention of the High Commission. What I tell the Nigerian community is that we are all ambassadors of our country so the image of our country should remain a priority for each and every one of us. I made it known that anybody who comes to me and is not a member of the Nigerian community may not get the required attention. The idea is that if you are a member of the community you will live within a particular standard of behavior. We try to ensure that Nigerians are not unnecessarily harassed by the security agencies in Uganda. Nigerians for now are doing very well in Uganda.

Having lived in Uganda for four years, what in your opinion would Nigeria learn from the Ugandan experience?

It is a wrong assumption to think that because a country is not as endowed as your country, you can dismiss such countries. They are better in terms of certain areas than Nigeria like tourism, wildlife and the management of these resources. Their weather and land is very conducive for agriculture. They have specie of cattle that produce huge quantity of milk. Their real estate is booming. There are many things that Nigeria can learn from them. We have similar culture with Uganda and the Nigerian Nollywood is making in roads into Uganda by teaching them how to make quality films. Nigerian films are hugely popular in Uganda and these are areas of cooperation. We have a lot of Nigerian producers living in Uganda and making impacts on the film industry there. There are many things we can benefit from each other. While they have just discovered oil in that country, we have over 50 years of experience in the oil industry. We can tap in and provide our expertise in this area.

Sometime ago, there was a bomb blast in Uganda that caught world attention. Now, bomb blasts are common features in some parts of our country. What lessons can Nigeria learn from their experience and the way the incident was handled?

The circumstances are not the same in the sense that the incident in Uganda came from outside the country because Uganda is taking part in a peace keeping operations in Somalia. The militant group in Somalia decided to strike in Uganda in order to force the country to withdraw its military men in Somalia. What happened in Uganda was that they were very fierce in handling the matter. All the routes the terrorists used were scoured and secured. Ugandans seem to be more ready to combat terrorism than Nigeria. Though the security would handle the challenge, the willingness of the people to divulge what is happening in their neighbourhood will give room for a clean job as it was done in Uganda. Even the people who were privy to the discussion of the matter were arrested.

This is because the people were ready to cooperate with the security agencies. Because the Ugandans have fought wars they are more security conscious and are more meticulous on security matters. Even on ordinary days, everybody is subjected to serious search before being allowed into hotels. The circumstance in Uganda and Nigeria cannot be compared.

The removal of fuel subsidy by government has provoked huge outcry in the country. As an investor in that sector and somebody who has lived in other countries where there is not subsidy, what is your reaction to government’s decision?

I know that the removal of fuel subsidy is critical and a bit harsh but I align myself with the government 100%. For many countries that I have traversed where they don’t have fuel subsidy, the goods there are cheaper than what we have in Nigeria. In Uganda for instance, it takes three times the money we use to fill the tanks of our cars hereto fill the tank of the car of same make and capacity in Uganda. But shockingly, a bag of cement for instance is equivalent of N1,400 and a loaf of the best bread is about N150. A full chicken for instance goes for N600. The cost of fuel there is determined by market cost and not by government regulation.

Secondly in Nigeria, fuel subsidy is paid on the quantity of fuel that comes into Nigeria, brought by the dealers. When the subsidy money is paid to the dealers after taking the stock at the ports, the fuel is now emptied into the storage facilities from where Nigerians are expected to pick the fuel at subsidized rate to the outlets. But in most cases, a sizeable percentage of this fuel that come into Nigeria do not go to our filling stations but go into neighbouring countries. Government is trying to ensure that there is no fuel scarcity as we used to have in the past and the cartel in charge of this subsidy and the dealers are taking the fuel to our neighbouring countries. If you go to Cameroun, Niger Republic, Chad and Benin Republics, it is the subsidized Nigerian fuel that they use. Who is now paying for this? It is the Nigerian masses.

It is not these people who have the money. The fear that the removal of fuel subsidy will lead to an increase in the prices of food stuff is unnecessary. When the government brings out a road map on the improvement in power supply; and the rail starts working and the inland water ways start operating, Nigerians will now realize that the removal of fuel subsidy is the best thing for the country. The removal of the subsidy will really benefit the masses. Those creating fears in the minds of the people are those who are benefiting from the subsidy.

Most of them have filling stations around the boundaries of neighbouring countries. Once the fuel is discharged, they move them under the cover of darkness to these neighbouring countries. Government should educate the people on the benefit of the removal of fuel subsidy rather than be intimidated by the few people who are benefiting from the subsidy.

There is no way we can sustain the economy with the subsidy in place. We must think beyond where we are. No country spends 70% of its budget on recurrent expenditure and moves forward.