SAN Femi Falana, a human rights activist and senior advocate for Nigeria, has argued that the wealthy in Nigeria profit from subsidies by giving oil blocks to people who don’t need to make large investments, which makes them instantly wealthy.
He attacked the system, pointing out extra benefits that the wealthy were entitled to, such duty-free shopping and tax breaks. He voiced worries that national sovereignty would be compromised if the wealthy were permitted to manufacture without government supervision.
The Legal Eagle highlighted how the economy must be controlled to avoid a small number of people owning all the riches.
He said in an interview with Channels TV, ”Subsidies are introduced every day and in every country in the world including leading capitalist society, goods are subsidized. I’m saying that the rich are subsidized in Nigeria.
You take the oil resources from the Niger Delta and you give Oil blocks to some individuals. People who didn’t invest a dime and they became instant billionaires by simply hawking the license given to them.
So this system subsidized the rich, they are given tax holidays, they are given duty waivers. And you are saying whatever they are producing, the government should have no say. No, that will be subversive of our sovereignty.
Because the economy shall be managed and operated in such a manner that the wealth of the country is not concentrated in the hands of a few or a group.’
