Comrade Ibrahim M. Zikirullahi,
There comes a moment in the life of every nation when truth must be spoken without trembling; when citizens must rise above the fog of elite narratives and insist on reality as lived—not as recited. Today, in response to Ben Murray-Bruce’s “Mass Transit Policy,” that moment has arrived.
Ben Murray-Bruce says he wants to “start with the thing nobody wants to say.” But the real unsaid thing—the one burning in the belly of every Nigerian mother, every jobless youth, every man trekking miles because transport fare has become a luxury—is this: the removal of fuel subsidy was not a reform; it was a calamity.
A unilateral, unstudied, unconsulted economic detonation whose shockwaves continue to rip through the lives of over 130 million Nigerians now trapped below the poverty line.
Ben speaks of forty years of subsidy benefiting “a few men billionaires.” But what exactly has changed? Are those billionaires suddenly poor?
Have smugglers vanished from our borders? Has subsidy removal put money into the pockets of the tomato seller he invokes so casually?
No. The only thing that has changed is that suffering has deepened, hunger has sharpened, and the distance between government and governed has widened into a canyon.
The Myth of Presidential Courage
Ben praises President Tinubu for “doing the hard thing.” But what is courage without consultation? What is reform without a plan?
What is leadership that announces an economic earthquake on inauguration day—without cabinet, without data, without a safety net for the people who would be crushed beneath the rubble?
Courage is not measured by how quickly a policy is announced. Courage is measured by how many lives it protects.
And on that score, Nigerians know the truth: this policy protected nobody but the same elite class that has fed fat on every national crisis—including the president himself.
The Convenient Blame Game
Ben insists that transport is a state matter, that governors must subsidize movement within their borders. Constitutionally, he is right. But morally, he is evasive.
Because before transport became unaffordable, fuel became unaffordable. Before governors failed to act, the Federal Government acted rashly.
Before FAAC allocations “exploded,” the cost of living exploded faster. After all, the governors were not the ones who removed subsidy.
You cannot set a house on fire and then lecture the tenants on how to arrange their furniture.
The People Are Not Numbers
Ben quotes bus fares rising from ₦644 to ₦1,431. But behind those numbers are human beings:
• The child who now stays home because transport to school is a luxury.
• The worker who spends half his salary commuting to a job that barely pays.
• The mother who must choose between transport and medicine.
• The families whose meals have shrunk from three to one.
These are not statistics. These are lives unravelling.
The Real Question
Ben asks governors: “What have you done with your allocation?” But Nigerians ask Ben: What has the Federal Government done with the nation—and with the subsidy savings?
Where is the security? Where are the jobs? Where is the relief? Where is the plan? Where is the hope?
No electricity. No roads. No food. No accountability. No transparency. Just taxes, levies, and more burdens on already broken backs.
Banditry thrives. Kidnapping is an industry. Ritual killings, cultism, armed robbery—these are now daily headlines.
The streets are not safe, the markets are not safe, the farms are not safe, the highways are not safe. And yet we are told that subsidy removal was a patriotic act.
A Nation in Pain Cannot Be Lectured
Ben Murray-Bruce speaks of “common sense.” But common sense is not a policy. Common sense is not a shield against hunger.
Common sense does not fill an empty stomach or reduce a transport fare. Common sense does not justify policies that deepen suffering.
Common sense would have demanded consultation. Common sense would have demanded phased removal. Common sense would have demanded palliatives that actually reached the people.
Common sense would have demanded leadership that listens. Common sense would have demanded fiscal accountability.
The People’s Verdict
Nigerians are not asking for miracles. They are asking for survival.
They are asking for policies that do not crush them. They are asking for leaders who do not speak from balconies of comfort.
They are asking for a government that understands that hardship is not an academic debate—it is a daily wound.
Ben Murray-Bruce says subsidy should not return. But Nigerians say suffering should not continue.
Ben says governors must act. But Nigerians say the Federal Government must stop pretending innocence.
If the presidency sits up today and focuses on the real business of governance—not sycophancy—the governors will fall in line.
Ben says this is “not rocket science.” But Nigerians say this is not compassion.
In Conclusion
This rejoinder is not written to score political points. It is written because a nation is bleeding. It is written because hunger has become a national anthem. It is written because the truth must be spoken plainly:
The removal of fuel subsidy, done without consultation and without cushioning, has plunged Nigeria into unprecedented hardship. And no amount of elite theorizing can erase that reality.
Governors must act, yes. But the Federal Government must accept responsibility. And leaders must stop telling citizens to endure what they themselves will never experience.
Nigeria deserves better. Nigerians deserve relief. And history will remember who stood with the people, and who stood with the policies that broke them.
Comrade ZIK is the Executive Director, Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED)
