The recent decision of the Federal Government to remove the subsidy on petroleum products has been met with mixed reaction by Nigerians.
Callers who spoke to Sunny Side host, Joyce Onyemuwa, were unconvinced the decision was taken in the best interest of the public despite the government also announcing a =N=5000 grant for 40 million Nigerians below the poverty mark to cushion the effect of the subsidy removal.
While airing his frustration, one caller described the decision as "illogical."
"If the government wants to "chop" money, they should go straight to the point rather than beat around the bush because this is illogical", he says.
He continues, "How do you want to replace =N=1.8trn (subsidy total) with =N=2.4trn (=N=5000 grant)? This does not make economic sense."
For him, the fact that the conversation for subsidy removal comes up at the end of every year, plus the deep lack of trust in government gives little or no credence to the move.
"If it were to be that the subsidy would be removed with no replacement, and we could see the impact, it would have been fine but the problem is that this conversation always comes up towards the end of the year," - he wondered.
However, another caller sees this move as being beneficial in the long run, especially with regards to infrastructure and debt financing.
He said, "I know there are a lot of leakages and a lot of corruption in government but even if we remove all of that, we still cannot afford to pay for subsidy."
