Amidst the escalating cost-of-living crisis that has made basic food items unaffordable to millions of Nigerians, it is economic irresponsibility for lawmakers to demand that the Nigerian government spend state funds to subsidise religious pilgrimages. With the naira depreciating daily and is near the N2,000 per $1 point, the national debt stock at N87.9 trillion and food inflation at 35.41 per cent, the duty of the legislators is to enact laws that will help in shoring up the value of the national currency, not to add to its woes.
Left to the House of Representatives, Nigeria should put more pressure on the naira by unwisely subsiding the 2024 hajj for Muslims. Legislators canvassed this at plenary last week in Abuja. The major argument of the parliamentarians is that the naira has been seriously devaluated, forcing the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria to increase the fare for the 2024 hajj. Initially, NAHCON had announced a N4.5 million fee, before raising it to N4.69 million for intending northern pilgrims and N4.8 million for pilgrims from the south.
A lawmaker, Umar Ajilo, while moving the motion, described the fees set by NAHCON as “exorbitant” and emphasised the need for the government to make the 2024 hajj more affordable. He pointed to the unsuitability of the current fare, especially for middle- and low-income intending pilgrims. Eventually, the House adopted the motion.
The lawmakers are burying their heads in the sand, failing to come to grips with the deteriorating fate of the naira and the economy at large. This is dangerous. Funding a religious pilgrimage now at the expense of the economy is a misplaced priority.
Indeed, as canvassed in many quarters, the preferential exchange rates given to pilgrims before President Bola Tinubu’s administration unified the naira rates last June lacked economic intelligence.
The folly of such a principle is clear. Tinubu removed petrol subsidy on May 29 and followed that with the naira exchange rate merger two weeks later. The two policies are causing economic shocks. If the government is not subsidising petrol and the naira, it is absurd that the same administration will turn round to subsidise religious pilgrimages.
Already, the government is battling with electricity subsidy, estimated at N3.3 trillion by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu. Subsidising the hajj pilgrimage, or any religious pilgrimage for that matter, is uneconomic.
Furthermore, the timing of this proposal couldn’t be more egregious. While the masses suffer under the weight of economic hardship, the political elite, represented this time by the parliament, seem more concerned with appeasing religious interests than addressing the urgent economic needs of the populace.
The House of Representatives’ proposal represents a betrayal of the principles of secularism. It elevates religion above the needs of the country. If the Tinubu administration accedes to the request, there will be no end in sight to religious subsidies, as other religions will demand to be treated the same way.
In contrast, the Lagos State House of Assembly, at its plenary on February 13, advised the Federal Government to reduce international trips for conferences and seminars, and religious pilgrimages. This is laudable. The unnecessary overseas trips by the federal and 36 state governments contribute to the rapid depletion of the naira rate. This is the time to wake up to that reality.
The Nigerian people, who are suffering extreme privation now, must reject this proposal unequivocally and focus instead on how the government can address the economic challenges facing the country.
The HoR should focus on the things that matter, including privatisation, economy, restructuring, and insecurity.
Source: Punch Editorial Board
