Atiku’s Subsidy Warning: Why Global Oil Shocks Hit Nigerians Harder

Global crude prices are rising amid the Middle East conflict, and Nigeria is exposed because petrol prices now move with both international oil prices and the naira. Countries that use temporary tax relief, price controls or targeted support can reduce the immediate impact on households. Nigeria has few such buffers in place. The 2023 subsidy removal was meant to free funds for transport, health and education. Instead, commuters, okada riders, traders and families now bear fuel-price shocks directly. Higher petrol prices raise transport fares, food costs and the cost of running generators when public power fails. The old subsidy was costly, vulnerable to abuse and increasingly unsustainable. But its removal came before local refining, affordable mass transit and CNG alternatives were available at scale. The problem was not only ending the subsidy, but doing so without enough protection for ordinary Nigerians when global events push prices higher.

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