Former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, has described President Bola Tinubu’s removal of fuel subsidy as a good reform implemented wrongly, saying the policy has worsened poverty and inflation in Nigeria.
Speaking on Monday during a panel session at the ongoing Nigerian Bar Association conference in Enugu, Ezekwesili said defending the current administration was a “Herculean task” given its “wrong-headed policies.”
“You can have the right policies, but if you implement them the wrong way, there will be problems,” she said. “The subsidy removal was not prepared for. It was a good reform done the wrong way. Inflation is punishing the populace, and the poor have nowhere to run.”
She faulted President Tinubu’s abrupt declaration of “Subsidy is gone,” arguing that it plunged millions into penury. “Inflation hits the poor so hard. This was a reform done wrongly,” she insisted.
Ezekwesili also urged lawyers and the judiciary to resist prebendal politics and avoid endorsing practices that enrich the political elite at the expense of the masses.
“The idea that politics is the pathway to wealth is an anomaly,” she said. “Any profession that rewards such behaviour cannot claim to care about tomorrow. We have 133 million Nigerians living in poverty, yet the political class continues to fail them.
The legal profession must not reward prebendalism.”
In his keynote address, Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji Ojo, emphasised the need for Nigeria to prioritise research and development to drive sustainable economic growth.
“Four of the five biggest economies in the world are also the highest spenders on R&D,” he said. “A firm that fails to invest in research cannot grow beyond its research. In 2022, Nigeria spent 96.3 per cent of its revenue on debt servicing, leaving little for capital projects. We promoted consumption over investment and production, but we are working to correct that.”
Ojo urged lawyers to review outdated laws governing the fire service and correctional services, while stressing the importance of channeling resources into both infrastructure and research.
Another panelist, George Etomi, expressed concern about the judiciary’s independence.
“Our judiciary was more independent under the military,” he lamented. “Democracy is being abused today. We must protect the judiciary.”
Participants at the session also expressed dissatisfaction with President Tinubu’s economic policies. When asked whether the country was on the right track, the majority responded “no.” Similarly, when asked if their hope had been renewed under the “Renewed Hope Agenda,” the answer was again a resounding “no.”
