Key questions this article answers:
-
What is a social contract, and what defines Nigeria’s social contract?
-
With the end of subsidies, what should the new social contract in Nigeria consist of?
After 46 years and multiple attempts by the Obasanjo and Jonathan administrations to end fuel subsidies, the music finally stopped on May 29, 2023.
During his inauguration speech, it fell to the new president Bola Ahmed Tinubu to step up to the podium and hit ‘stop’. Such speeches are often bland, with platitudes like “I belong to everybody, and I belong to nobody”. But this one came with a hammer – “Fuel subsidy is gone” – which shattered the peace of the long weekend.
Off to the petrol stations, many raced. But it was too late.
Many Nigerians will tell you that cheap petrol is one of the main benefits they get from the government. This is especially true