Tinubu Defends Fuel Subsidy Removal, Claims Previous Economic Prosperity Was Illusory

President Bola Tinubu has declared that the economic wellbeing Nigerians previously experienced was artificial and destructive, defending his administration’s controversial decision to remove fuel subsidies as a critical intervention to prevent national economic catastrophe.

Speaking during the combined 34th and 35th convocation ceremonies at the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) in Ondo State, Tinubu, represented by University of Ilorin Vice Chancellor Professor Wahab Egbewole, emphasized that the dual policies of fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate unification were strategic measures to rescue Nigeria from impending economic disaster.

The President characterized the previous subsidy regime as fundamentally flawed, arguing that despite being ostensibly designed to support the poor, the system actually harmed the very population it was meant to protect. “The subsidies were meant to support the poor and make life better for all Nigerians,” Tinubu stated. “We are all aware of the fact that the poor and average Nigerians were the sufferers of what was supposed to give them succour and improved standards of living.”

Describing the previous economic conditions as a “fake” prosperity, Tinubu asserted that without drastic intervention, Nigeria was heading toward total economic collapse. The subsidy removal and exchange rate unification were presented as urgent, necessary steps to “salvage the future of our children and bring the country back from the brink of collapse.”