The Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, has said that the hardship Nigerians are currently grappling with as a result of fuel subsidy removal will soon be a thing of the past.
Oba Gbadebo said that he shared with Nigerians the pains occasioned by the subsidy removal with the attendant increase in prices of goods and services, saying that he is, however, sure that the pains would soon become a thing of history.
The monarch gave the assurance on Monday at a press briefing held at the Ake Palace to herald the 37th Lisabi Festival beginning on March 4.
The monarch said, “Yes, the pains of the fuel subsidy removal is real, it is sharp but President Bola Tinubu has taken the right step because it is some people that are stealing this money, so it must go and I want to assure Nigerians that these pains will soon become a thing of the past, things will soon turn around for the good of the country.
“And when everything stabilises, then the government should think of putting this subsidy on food, Nigerians must not go hungry, likewise on health and education of our children.”
The monarch said that this year’s week-long Lisabi Festival with the theme, ‘Encouraging Youth Entrepreneurship in Agric Business: Pancea To Solving Youth Employment In Egba Land,’ is tailored to boost food production by encouraging the youths to take to agriculture.
Oba Gbadebo said that the theme for this year was carefully selected to tackle the realities of the current economic global crisis, saying that employing the country’s teeming youths through agriculture would help a great deal tackle issues of hunger and poverty.
The traditional ruler explained that “aside from promoting culture and tourism, this year Lisabi Festival will also be used to encourage our youths to embrace agriculture which has lots of economic gains and values.
“There will also be screening for diabetes while many of our people will also benefit from free eye care services. It’s a celebration that has been carefully designed to have a good impact on our people.”
