The Director-General of the National Orientation Agency, NOA, Lanre Issa-Onilu, has urged Nigerians to map out survival strategies under the current economic hardship in the country.
Mr Issa-Onilu, who gave the advice during an interview on Channels TV on Wednesday, said the poverty rate in the country will worsen if the petrol subsidy is returned.
The return of the petrol subsidy is one of the major demands by the #EndBadGovernance protesters.
“Anybody who is making a demand that subsidy should be brought back is making an emotional demand, not an economic demand, because you have to also prove that if it is brought back, it will solve the issue of poverty; it will not, it will aggravate it.
“So, what we should be doing is: How do we survive in spite of the removal?’ We need to promote all the efforts of this government to ensure that we survive without that subsidy.”
He also admitted the trust deficit between leaders and followers in the country due to repeated cases of broken promises over the years.
“It is difficult to talk to a people who have for several years been let down. Nigerians feel let down.
“The first question they ask you is: ‘Is this another promise that will not be kept?’ So, we must prove to Nigerians that this government is keeping to its promises,” he added.
