By Osaretin Osadebamwen
The Chairman/CEO of the Economic Growth and Development Centre (Economic Centre) and former National Coordinator of the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), Prof. Magnus Kpakol, has called on the Federal Government to introduce a subsidy scheme for public transportation to cushion the impact of rising living costs on poor Nigerians.
Kpakol said while the removal of fuel subsidy had become a reality, government should consider targeted assistance in the transportation sector, particularly for vulnerable Nigerians struggling with the high cost of movement.
Speaking on Nigeria’s economic challenges, the economist said, “I think we should have a type of subsidy. I know that subsidy is gone. But I believe that we have to be able to subsidise transportation for the poor.”
He specifically advocated the return and expansion of subsidised CNG-powered public transportation, saying the initiative could help reduce the burden of rising transport costs on households.
“The CNG buses should come back, because I don’t see them anymore,” Kpakol said, adding, “We need those CNG buses. We need the so-called KK, we need taxis, the public transportation vehicles.”
According to him, government could introduce a temporary assistance mechanism that would enable operators and vulnerable commuters to access cheaper transportation.
“We can give them a temporary economic assistance card that they use to buy fuel, so that they can lower the cost of transportation,” he said.
Kpakol explained that the worsening hardship confronting Nigerians was largely linked to the disconnect between incomes and the rising cost of living.
“The problem that people are having, there are three things you can look at. There’s a price level, there’s a cost of living, and there’s inflation,” he said.
He explained that while inflation measures the speed at which prices move from one level to another, the rapid increase in prices has outpaced income growth for many Nigerians.
“Your income is not growing fast, but your cost of living has risen extremely high. So people are stuck, and poor people have no way of adjusting,” he said.
The former NAPEP coordinator argued that targeted transportation support would provide immediate relief while broader economic reforms and productivity gains take time to improve living standards.
“We can solve these problems, but we have to be able to come together quickly,” Kpakol said, stressing that government intervention should complement, rather than replace, broader efforts to create jobs, increase productivity and reduce poverty.
