PREFERENCE FORCOMPENSATIONAL PALLIATIVES FOR THE REMOVED FUEL SUBSIDY IN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY OF KOGI STATE

Abstract

This study investigated the preference for compensational palliatives for the removed fuel subsidy in Nigeria using Kogi State as a case study. The objectives of the study include determination of the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents, examination of preference for compensational palliatives between genders and among the populace, determination of the preferred channels of palliative distribution, and test of hypotheses at 5% levels of significance at the appropriate degrees of freedom. The study used a multi-stage random sampling technique for selection of the 600 (out of which 560 was valid) respondents for eliciting primary data from the three local government councils with the aid of a structured questionnaire. The analytical techniques employed to analyze the data include percentile analysis, charts, and chi-square statistics. The findings of the study include the following: that majority of the respondents are adults and literate, have an average household size of seven, and belong to cooperatives; there were differences between and among the palliative preferences; most both men and women preferred food stuff subsidy first among the alternative compensational subsidies, which pointed to the situation of food security in the country following the fuel subsidy removal; and that there are differences between and among the channels of distributing the palliatives. It was therefore recommended that the views of both males and females should be sought in adopting alternative palliatives to replace the removed fuel subsidy, government at all levels should not impose any alternative palliatives on the citizens without seeking their opinions, governments should find out from the people the preferred channels for distributing palliatives, and alternative subsidies should be given a legal framework as social welfare packages for the citizens