By Adesina Wahab
Parents, under the aegis of the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria, NAPTAN, have appealed to President Bola Tinubu not to allow any more hikes in the price of fuel, saying it will lead to the collapse of the national economy.
They also opined that most Nigerian parents are already reeling under severe economic crunch and are finding it difficult to meet their obligations to their families, including their children in schools across the country.
The Deputy National President of NAPTAN, Chief Adeolu Ogunbanjo, stated this in a chat with Vanguard.
To allow for seamless importation of petroleum products into the country since the nation’s refineries are still not operational, the NAPTAN boss suggested that the federal government should allow importers of fuel access the necessary foreign exchange at a concessionary rate.
“To contemplate another hike in the price of fuel at this point in time will be too hard on the economy and the general public. In fact, such a step could lead to the total collapse of the nation’s economy. Already most businesses and industries are not finding things easy. The cost of production is too high and unfortunately, the purchasing power of the people has been terribly eroded.
“As parents, many of our members are finding it difficult to meet the needs of their wards and children regarding payment of fees and buying books and other items. If another hike is done, one can imagine the level of stress the people are going to experience. Already, the prices of books and writing items have gone too high.
“On the part of our children who are students in different schools, they are undergoing a lot of challenges. How much can a parent give as allowance to a child in the university now that can be enough?. We all know that once the price of fuel is hiked, the costs of almost everything would be on the rise.
“Our appeal to the President is not to allow further hike in the price of fuel. He can let importers access forex at a rate that would make the price to be bearable. We learnt that the NNPC imports fuel not using parallel market rate of forex, that should be extended to others too,” he said.
Ogunbanjo called for government’s support for modular refineries in the country and that it should expedite work on the rehabilitation of the nation’s refineries, adding that if the refineries were working, the nation would be better for it.
Recall that importers of fuel into the country few days ago raised the alarm that the price of petrol could rise again next week following the poor value of the naira against major currencies, as the importation is done using forex.
Source: Vanguard
