Cameroon's agony of Nigerian fuel subsidy cuts.

Understandably, Nigerians are grumbling about their president's removal of fuel subsidies. President Bola Tinubu conceded in a speech on Democracy Day on Monday that: “I admit that the decision will impose extra burden on the masses of our people. I feel your pain.”

But the solace, he added, is that “the government I lead will repay you through massive investment in transportation infrastructure, education, regular power supply, healthcare and other public utilities that will improve the quality of life.”

For Cameroonians who are feeling the devastating impact of his decision, there is no solace but agony from the fuel subsidies. Thirty percent of fuel used in Cameroon, according to a report by the National Institute of Statistics, published last year, is "smuggled from Nigeria".

With the removal of the subsidies, which have tripled the pomp price in Nigeria, it has become less profitable to sell the product in Cameroon where there was a hike in prices this year following President Paul Biya's partial removal of fuel subsidies.

Cameroonian smugglers who made a precarious living on Nigerian fuel by selling it on roadsides, now find it hard to compete with the SONARA brand sold in filling stations. Many had even closed down as they could not stand the competition with smuggled Nigerian fuel.

Given the fire accident which reduced SONARA's production, its production hardly met local demands. That short fall bolstered the smuggling adventure.

Although some fuel is imported, there have been sporadic shortage of fuel in the country, but the impact often cushioned with the Nigerian smuggled fuel. There are several Divisions of the country without a single filling station, including Ndian, which produces some of the country's crude oil.

The Voice of America, VOA, in a report last week, pointed out that "traders in towns and villages on Cameroon's border with Nigeria say business has suffered since the new Nigerian leader, Bola Tinubu, announced the end of fuel subsidies on May 29. Thousands of Cameroonians and Nigerians trade cattle, cotton, foods and other products across their countries' 2,000 kilometer-long border".

VOA quotes one of the local dealers in Buea saying: "Business is quite slow and difficult...at first, I could sell up to 2,000 litres a day, but as of now, I hardly sell up to 200 liters a day due to the rise in the price of petrol from Cross River State, Nigeria".

Despite the high cost in Nigeria, smugglers continue to bring in the "liquid gold" in limited quantity but at cutthroat prices. In the absence of the local brands in many parts of the country, motorists have no choice than patronise it.

The American news organ also noted that "civilians in Cameroon's border towns and villages say the fuel situation has also caused a 15 percent increase in prices of basic commodities and motor spare parts imported from Nigeria".

They pass on the hiked price to travellers and traders who have had to increase the price of their commodities, making the cost of living a real agony for the population in penury. The Cameroon government’s response has been to increase local production.

When the South West Forum on Peace and Development held in Buea last month, the Director of Cabinet at the Prime Minister's Office, Confiance Ebune, who represented the Prime Minister, said the Head of State, Paul Biya, had instructed the acceleration of the procedure to commence the rehabilitation process of SONARA.

Even if the refinery is repaired and it picks up full production, the price of petrol will surely not drop. Instead, it will rise since the International Monetary Fund, IMF, and the World Bank, are still pressing the throttle for a full removal of fuel subsidies in Cameroon.

Last February, President Biya decreed a "partial" removal, which raised fuel prices by 50 percent but did not affect that of cooking gas. There is a likelihood that by next year, the subsidy will be completely removed as being demanded by the Britton Woods institutions.

The piercing pains Nigerians are feeling, following President Tinubu's removal of subsidies, has the succour of an eventual provision of quality social amenities and infrastructure.

For Cameroonians, they ought to shallow their pain killers quietly while demanding that the regime in Yaounde should as well ameliorate their standard of living with quality health care, water, electricity and roads to justify the removal of subsidies.