From “Jonathan tax” to “Subsidy is gone”: Nigeria’s déjà-vu politics — and who pays?
Nigeria’s current government sells its reforms as brave and new, yet the record shows key figures loudly opposed the same moves in 2012; today, fuel prices, inflation, and living costs prove the public is footing the bill. Reuters, National Bureau of Statistic
This is not about whether subsidies or currency fixes were ever sustainable; it’s about political honesty, timing, and cushioning. When leaders rally crowds to kill a policy, then take power and implement that same policy in a—harsher, faster, and with thinner safety nets—then citizens deserve the receipts and a better playbook. Financial Times
Here are the facts, and timeline for your due diligence...
- Jan 1–16, 2012 — Jonathan administration removes petrol subsidy; nationwide “Occupy Nigeria” protests erupt; government partly restores subsidy after strikes and unrest. The Guardian, nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu
- Jan 11, 2012 — Opposition leader Bola A. Tinubu publishes a statement calling subsidy removal a breach of the “social contract,” condemning the move as a New Year “ambush.” PM News Nigeria. Please make sure not to miss even a single line from the links here, I did not make them up. They are the receipts and facts to bear evidence because the internet never forgets!
- May 29, 2023 — Now-President Tinubu declares in his inaugural address: “Subsidy is gone,” formalizing removal as state policy. Statehouse Abuja
- May 31, 2023 — NNPC Ltd “adjusts” PMS prices nationwide; Reuters reports pump prices tripled within days, catalyzing a new cost-of-living shock. NNPC, Reuters
- Apr–Jul 2024 — Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act re-enacted and loan scheme launched through NELFund; applications open online (loans, not grants). Statehouse Abuja, Premium Times Nigeria, nelf.gov.ng
- 2024–2025 — Inflation runs at multi-decade highs as reforms bite; NBS records headline inflation above 30% for much of 2024 with a gradual easing into mid-2025. National Bureau of Statistics
“PPPRA issued a statement abolishing the fuel subsidy. By this sly piece of paper, the federal government breached the social contract with the people.” — Bola A. Tinubu, Jan. 11, 2012. PM News Nigeria
“Subsidy is gone.” — President Bola A. Tinubu, Inaugural Address, May 29, 2023. Statehouse Abuja
Multiple outlets—and the administration itself—agree on the facts: subsidy removal in 2023 was immediate and sweeping; NNPC promptly repriced fuel to “reflect market realities,” and global wires recorded a near-instant tripling of pump prices. Supporters argue the change was necessary to stop leakages; critics say shock-therapy without robust cushions punished households already on the brink. Financial Times, Reuters, NNPC
Economists have long said what to do (phase out distortions) is less controversial than how (pace, sequencing, and protections). The ODI notes Nigeria’s 2023 move succeeded where earlier ones failed—but warns execution and social protection are decisive. In 2012, many of today’s reformers made that exact argument…against Jonathan. Cambridge University Press & Assessment, ODI: Think c
And here are three (3) quick pointers to what this means...
- Hypocrisy tax: You cannot denounce a policy as a betrayal in 2012 and crown it as courage in 2023 without explaining what changed besides who benefits. The archive says the core economics didn’t. PM News Nigeria
- Shock without seatbelts: The administration’s sequencing—subsidy removal + FX devaluation—magnified price spikes. Better cushioning (targeted transfers, phased removal) was feasible and flagged by analysts in real time. Financial Times
- Loans ≠ palliatives: Student loans (by law) must be repaid; they’re not relief. Branding credit lines as “help” while real incomes shrink is policy sugarcoating. Statehouse, elf.gov.ng
A Nigerian proverb says: the masquerade that danced yesterday comes back today wearing a new mask. In 2012, “breach of social contract” was the drumbeat. In 2023, the same drummer called it bravery. If policy is a river, you don’t enter the same one twice by diving from a higher cliff—unless your plan includes a life jacket for the people below. PM News Nigeria
Watch out for: real-world relief (not slogans) to offset energy, transport, and food costs; transparent savings use from subsidy removal; credible timelines on local refining; and student-loan repayment mechanics that don’t trap graduates. Independent stats (NBS) and official notices (NNPC/State House) should guide public judgment—not victory laps. National Bureau of Statistics, NNPC, Statehouse Abuja
All sources provided above are verifiable
- Official — State House: Tinubu inaugural address (“Subsidy is gone”). NNPC Ltd: pump-price adjustment notice. NBS CPI report (July 2024).
- Wires/majors — Reuters on price hikes after subsidy removal; FT on reform shock and hardship; The Guardian/AP on 2012 protests and partial reversal.
- Primary record (2012) — Bola A. Tinubu’s statement condemning subsidy removal (“breached the social contract”).
- Policy/implementation — Student Loans Act 2024 (State House); student-loan portal launch (Premium Times); NELFund official site.
By Streaming Naija — Updated: Aug 11, 2025, 14:32 WAT
Visual Evidence: Tweets & Public Statements Says it All...
🔹 Tinubu's 2012 Opposition to Subsidy Removal
🔹 Bola Tinubu's 2012 article criticizing the fuel subsidy removal.
🔹 Tinubu's 2023 Announcement of Subsidy Removal
🔹 President Bola Tinubu announcing the removal of the fuel subsidy in 2023.
Timeline Graphic With Subsidy Policy Shifts
+---------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Date | Event |
+---------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Jan 1, 2012 | Jonathan administration announces fuel subsidy removal. |
| Jan 11, 2012 | Tinubu publishes article criticizing subsidy removal. |
| Jan 16, 2012 | Government partially reinstates subsidy after protests. |
| May 29, 2023 | Tinubu announces complete removal of fuel subsidy. |
| Jun 2023 | Fuel prices increase significantly post-subsidy removal. |
+---------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
📌 Summary
Do you still see a Messiah, or the one who locked the chains around you?
As you read through these receipts, ask yourself: what is the true face behind the claims of audacity, boldness, and revolution? Do you still believe this is the group of politicians who genuinely offer solutions, or are they simply dressing up their hypocrisy with a shiny new crown?
Look closely. The Bola Tinubu administration, now brandishing the banner of "audacity" and "revolution," is riding on the very policies they once rallied against. They create the problem, then walk up with a dazzling smile and claim the mantle of saviors. You remember? The same people who opposed Goodluck Jonathan’s attempts to remove fuel subsidies now want us to believe their own sudden, harsh imposition of the same policies is some act of bravery. The hypocrisy is so thick, it can be sliced with a machete.
Where were these so-called revolutionaries when the Jonathan's administration and former CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi foresaw the storm we’re now enduring? Jonathan laid out solutions, and it was this very group that fought tooth and nail to sabotage his plans. In 2012, they led the charge against the removal of subsidies, bombarding the airwaves with rhetoric. They claimed that doing so would ruin the common man, make life unbearable—yet here they are, doing the same thing with even more brutal tactics. Now they claim to be the messiahs? The same people who mocked the idea of student loans now make loans the centerpiece of their policy proposals. Loans, not grants, loans to people who are already drowning under the weight of past mistakes. This isn’t progress, it’s exploitation wrapped in the cloak of “help.”
This group has done nothing but hijack policies they once ridiculed, presenting them as their own new ideas, when in reality, they are recycling what others had already foreseen. They present themselves as the solution when, in fact, they are the ones who created the problem in the first place. It’s the classic playbook: sabotage, then step in as the hero. But do you really want a hero who created the mess in the first place?
Is that revolutionary? No. That’s cowardice. Even a dead clock is right twice a day. Yes, their policies may somehow find success, but success built on the backs of lies and manipulation isn’t a victory—it’s just the illusion of progress.
Let’s face it: their version of revolution is nothing but a recycled version of their old anti-progressive stance. The true revolutionaries are those who saw the danger long ago and proposed solutions that didn’t rely on taking us backward. Those who foresaw the storm, tried to warn us, and were ridiculed for it. The revolution was never theirs to begin with—it was ours, the people who saw the real need for change, and who continue to call out the hypocrisy.
So, do you still see a messiah? Or do you see a group that once sabotaged, took power, and now feeds us the same old poison with a new label? As Nigerians, we deserve better than this. We deserve leaders who are committed to the true vision of progress—not those who have mastered the art of sabotaging progress, grabbing power, and then claiming they’re the solution.
Remember the words of the wise: You cannot enter the same river twice. The river of change is flowing, but it needs real leaders—not those who stand on the banks, pretending to lead while watching the current destroy us. The true revolutionaries are those who understand that change is never about repeating old mistakes—it’s about crafting a future where we don’t have to be shackled by the same hands that once held us back.
The time has come for Nigeria to see through the illusion. Don’t fall for the rebranding. Don’t let these hypocrites continue to ride the wave of their own past failures, claiming to be the new hope. The true hope lies in understanding the past, addressing the present, and building a future that is not a mirror image of the same old lies. The revolution we need is one built on truth, transparency, and real solutions—not on borrowed ideas disguised as audacity.
Now tell me, what do you see after all these receipts?
Do you still see a Messiah—a savior sent to deliver us from our woes—or do you now see the very one who put you in chains? Do you still see a group of revolutionaries, boldly claiming to be audacious, fearless, and transformative? Or do you now see hypocrites who were hungry for power and, once it was handed to them, had nothing new to offer except the same tired, old rhetoric?
Let’s take a step back and evaluate. The Bola Tinubu administration, now branding itself as the new Messiah of Nigeria, has woven a narrative of boldness and reform. But in truth! This is a classic case of terminal amnesia, both for them and for us. We’ve all seen this before—the same policies, the same mistakes, repackaged with new labels. And it’s the arrogance with which they present it that makes it all the more appalling. They try to paint themselves as revolutionary, but all they’ve done is recycled the same strategies and tried to pass them off as new. The audacity of it all.
Let’s get one thing straight: this is not revolutionary. It would have been, if no one had thought of it before him or them as they claimed! But Bola Tinubu and his people are not the brightest or the smartest—far from it. What they are is opportunistic. They’ve hijacked ideas that were already in the pipeline, championed by the Goodluck Ebelle Jonathan administration. They were the ones who sabotaged those policies, ridiculing the very same solutions they now claim to be the architects of. If the Jonathan administration had been allowed to act on them then, we might have saved ourselves years of agony, and antagonizing pains, wasted time, and unnecessary struggles. But no, these same people, driven by their thirst for power, denied the solutions that could have set Nigeria on a better path. Now, they want to turn around and call themselves the messiahs for doing what they once critiqued.
But what have they really done? They’ve created more hardship for the people, especially the grassroots. Student loans, they claim, are a revolutionary policy. But let’s be clear: loans are not palliatives. Loans are debts that must be repaid. How is that progress? How is that audacity? All they’ve done is make Nigerians more dependent on a system that should have empowered them to be independent. People who once could do for themselves now have to beg for handouts. Is that progress or regression?
And here’s the kicker: they created the problems, and now they present themselves as the only ones with the solutions. That’s the true essence of cowardice. You break it, then fix it, and claim credit for “saving” the same people you’ve put in harm’s way. This isn’t revolution; this is manipulation at its finest.
Like i've said numerous times and over again, even a dead clock is right twice a day, and that’s exactly what we’re witnessing. These self-proclaimed revolutionaries may find some success here and there with their policies, but that doesn’t mean they’ve done something new or innovative. They’re simply capitalizing on the mess they created. They’re doing what others were too afraid to do, because they are the once that made them to be afraid in the first place, but they’re doing it wrong. They’re shaking things up recklessly, without any real consideration for the consequences, for the people they’ve sworn to serve.
The true revolutionaries—the ones who foresaw these issues and tried to address them long before this administration got in power—are the ones we need. We need the thinkers, the strategists, the visionaries who understand that true progress doesn’t come from recycling old policies and expecting it to work efficiently even when implemented in different timeframe, location, and circumstances, and then forcing them down people’s throats. We need leaders who understand that you cannot step into the same river twice, especially when the current is flowing in a completely different direction. These so-called messiahs need to realize that their old tricks won’t work anymore.
So, what do you see now? A group of politicians trying to sell you the same empty promises under a new guise, or the true leaders who understand that change requires not just boldness, but wisdom, empathy, and foresight? The truth is clear: the policies they’re pushing are not revolutionary. They’re simply the same policies they once opposed, now rebranded and sold as salvation.
It’s time to recognize the truth and reject the lies. We need real thinkers and innovators, not the same group of power-hungry opportunists who will do anything to maintain control. The real revolution lies not in repeating old mistakes, but in charting a new course that benefits everyone, not just the elite few. The question is: are you ready to see through the smokescreens and mirrors? Or will you continue to let them sell you the same false hope, while they quietly benefit from your struggle?
Also read: Squid Game Season 2 Review: Why It's Trending (And What Tinubu Has to Do with It)
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