FILE PHOTO: Nigerian pilgrims.
FACED with tough choices, President Bola Tinubu’s decision to subsidise the 2024 hajj pilgrimage to Mecca is a pandering to politics and religion. In 2024, the Federal Government will subsidise the Muslim pilgrimage with N90 billion. This is a hefty bill to shell out on religion during economic turmoil.
Coming from this administration, it is shocking. It is inconsistent with Tinubu’s “subsidy is gone” mantra on his Inauguration Day that has imposed untold economic hardship on Nigerians. To take Nigeria out of the woods, the President should be more resolute and strategic before reversing his policies.
Ordinarily, religion is a private matter. In Nigeria, it seems not so but it should be. In December, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria initially pegged the hajj fare at N4.8 million at the exchange rate of N897 per $ 1 after the Tinubu administration’s policy to float the naira in June. The naira has depreciated heavily since then to about N1,400 per dollar, forcing NAHCON to hike the fare with each pilgrim to pay an additional N3.9 million. Of course, many intending travellers complained against the increment.
This is how Tinubu uncharacteristically intervened with the N90 billion subsidy. This is a political move; it has nothing to do with economics. It reinforces the primitive politics of Tinubu’s predecessors. This saw them subsidising pilgrimages and giving pilgrims discounted forex. Tinubu is biting off more than he can chew because he will be forced to subsidise the Christian pilgrimage or be accused of religious bias.
The hajj holds in Saudi Arabia in June.
For a President who cancelled petrol subsidy within one hour of assuming office and stopped the naira subsidy two weeks after, the economics of hajj subsidy does not add up. The hajj does not in any way help the Nigerian economy. It does not put food on the table or reduce the price of petrol. There is no law against subsidy payment, the only caveat is that it should go for productive activities. Tinubu should be consistent, which is the way to run a modern economy.
Already, Nigerians are groaning because of Tinubu’s policies. From the N197 per litre Tinubu met it in May, petrol is currently selling at between N580 and N700 per litre. Diesel goes for around N1,300 per litre, a serious encumbrance on businesses.
National debt has risen to nearly N100 trillion. About 140 million citizens are multidimensionally poor. Nigeria has an infrastructure deficit of $3 trillion or $100 billion annually over the next 30 years. There is no electricity to power industry or light up homes. Subsidising hajj will not reverse this woeful reality.
Just like Tinubu, some state governors are also subsidising the hajj. There are reports that Kano, Kogi, Ogun, and Kebbi have all subsidised the hajj fares.
It is all to attract political patronage by succumbing to religious sentiments. This is unwise primarily because the financial position of the states is as woeful as that of the Federal Government, if not worse. This newspaper reported that because of their dire financial straits, 13 new governors borrowed N227.8 billion from domestic and international financiers in their first six months in office. Sixteen states have raised their debt stock to N509.3 billion in the same period.
Therefore, Tinubu and the governors concerned should adhere strictly to the constitution, which declares Nigeria’s secularity. In Section 10, the 1999 Constitution states: “The Government of the Federation or of a State shall not adopt any religion as State Religion.” This is the way to go.
