Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser on Media and Information Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, pointed out that many Nigerians tend to blame the President for the country’s problems due to their “short memory” and forgetting the situation before Tinubu took office.
During an interview on Arise TV, Onanuga emphasized that people are too quick to criticize the current administration without considering the state of the country prior to the President’s tenure.
“Let me start by saying that many of us in this country, many Nigerians, we sometimes exhibit the problem of lack of memory. We have very short memory.
“We forget where we started from and we just start blaming President Tinubu for all the problems that Nigeria is going through,” Onanuga said.
He highlighted the fuel crisis that Nigeria was already facing when Tinubu assumed office in May 2023, with long queues and supply shortages nationwide.
Onanuga mentioned that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) faced challenges due to the federal government’s substantial unpaid subsidy claims, resulting in reduced imports and difficulties with foreign suppliers.
He said it was under these difficult conditions that Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy on his first day in office.
The move led to an immediate rise in pump prices and efforts by the government to restore fuel supply.
“I remember, for instance, in May 2023 when Tinubu took over the government, there was fuel shortage in this country.
“People forgot that all through the election of that year, there was fuel shortage. So when the President announced on day one, the day was sworn in and said he was removing fuel subsidy.
“The immediate reaction was called by NNPC, which has been the major supplier of fuel, was to increase the pump price. Because as at that time, NNPC was no more willing to import fuel.
“NNPC was saying the federal government was owing it over 4 trillion Naira and it was also owing its suppliers abroad. So what the federal government did, what President Tinubu did, was to bring some life into NNPC to resume importing fuel so that fuel can be available,” he said.
Onanuga said people forget these facts easily. He stressed that Nigeria could no longer afford to maintain fuel subsidy because the country lacked the resources.
