FOR more than three years, Nigerians have been told to endure economic pain in the name of necessary reforms. The removal of petrol subsidy, foreign exchange market liberalisation, soaring electricity tariffs, punishing inflation and the collapse of household purchasing power have all been presented as sacrifices that would eventually deliver prosperity.
Yet, as petrol prices surged beyond N1,400 per litre amid renewed global oil-market turmoil, the Federal Government has responded with a 30-day discount scheme whose limitations are glaring even before implementation.
This is not economic rescue. It is a token gesture dressed up as bold intervention, offered to a population already exhausted by years of sacrifice.
Coming after mounting public anger, labour agitation and opposition criticism, the scheme looks less like a coherent response to a national emergency than an attempt to quieten public discontent without confronting the underlying crisis.
For a country bleeding from structural decay, offering a
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