President Bola Tinubu’s decision to end Nigeria’s longstanding fuel subsidy on inauguration day was described on Monday as a painful yet necessary move aimed at rescuing the country’s struggling economy.
The reaffirmation came from Nigeria’s Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris Malagi, during the quarterly meeting of the Progressives Governors’ Forum held in Minna, Niger State.
Speaking to a gathering of Information Commissioners from All Progressives Congress (APC) states, Malagi emphasized that the bold reform was essential to stop economic waste and redirect funds toward critical infrastructure projects.
“One of the boldest and most consequential decisions of this administration, which is the removal of the fuel subsidy, was a painful but necessary reform,” Malagi said. “Beyond saving the economy from fiscal collapse, this decision has significantly blocked areas of leakage and waste.”
He highlighted that the funds freed by eliminating the subsidy are now being channeled into major infrastructure developments, including the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Superhighway, the Sokoto-Badagry Super Highway, the Calabar-Abuja Super Highway, the Kaduna-Kano Standard Gauge Railway, and the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Expressway.
“These projects represent the physical manifestation of our Renewed Hope Agenda,” Malagi said. “They are proof that the sacrifices made by Nigerians are translating into long-term national gains.”
Malagi urged the state commissioners to serve as conduits for government communication, ensuring that the public is not only aware of the federal reforms but also informed about how they can directly benefit from them.
“It is our duty, as information managers, to ensure that the citizens of this country, across all the states of the federation, not only know about these reforms and programmes but also understand how to access and benefit from them,” he said.
The minister underscored the importance of the conference in aligning national and state-level communication strategies, stressing that effective messaging is key to the success of Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“You are the voice and face of government at the state level. You must go back home with renewed energy, armed with facts, stories, and strategies to effectively mobilise your people,” Malagi told the commissioners.
He noted that rebuilding public trust and encouraging citizen participation in government programmes required transparency and grassroots engagement. “This conference reflects our shared responsibility to communicate the government’s achievements and promises to every citizen, in every community, across the country,” Malagi added.
The meeting comes at a time when the administration faces growing public scrutiny over inflation and hardship caused by subsidy removal. However, federal officials remain confident that the long-term benefits of the reforms will outweigh the short-term pains.
