Renowned musician and activist Seun Kuti has voiced strong opposition to President Bola Tinubu’s decision to remove the fuel subsidy, labelling it a ‘wicked decision’ that undermines the welfare of Nigerians.
The outraged singer addressed the issue during his recent Instagram live session, stressing that the Nigerian government has proven they don’t need funds from the general public to provide for them.
He began, “Don’t let anybody tell you that there is something in Nigeria that the government cannot afford or that they need some private person to invest. If someone tells you that, tell the person to shut up!”
Kuti drew a comparison between government officials’ spending on luxury items for themselves and the lack of investment in education and infrastructure. To drive his point, he highlighted the $150 million spent on a private jet for the president, questioning the priorities of the government.
He asked, “Who donated for the $150 million jet for Tinubu? Who did they ask for donations?”
“That $150 million do you know how many schools it will build? Or how long it will run a primary school? 10 good primary schools would be run on that money for at least 20 years. 10 good primary schools would be built and run, that will educate ten generations of African people,” he added.
He further criticised the government’s reliance on public-private partnerships for essential services for the people, arguing that such measures only come into play when it involves community investment.
“When it comes to their enjoyment and building houses of billions of naira, they don’t say that they need the public to donate money. But when it is time to build for the people, that’s when they need a public-private partnership. Nonsense talk!” he said, outraged.
Kuti slammed the government, saying, “The president cannot tell us that this petrol matter is not in his control. He is the president and minister of petrol. They say they take tough decisions but there is no tough decision taken here. President Tinubu took a wicked decision, this whole subsidy and floating the dollar there is nothing tough about it.”
