EFFECT OF FUEL SUBSIDY REMOVAL ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT DEVELOPMENT: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF VANDAIKYA AND TARKA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS OF BENUE STATE, NIGERIAN

The study assess the effect of fuel subsidy removal on local development with focus on Vandeikya and Tarka local government area of Benue State selected Local Government Areas.The objective of the are to examine how fuel subsidy removal has affected per capita income of people in the Vandeiky and Tarka Local Government Areas of Benue State, to determine the extent to which fuel subsidy removal has affected food availability and nutrition among people in Vandeikay and Tarka Local government of Benue State, and to determine the extent to which fuel subsidy removal has affected survival of small-scale businesses in Vandeikay and Tarka Local government of Benue State. Neocolonial theory of development is adopted for the study. Survey design was adopted to a study sample size of 364 using the Hensen-Hurwitz Estimator which was designed for calculating sample size of a finite population. Data were collected using both quantitative and qualitative methods Findings from the study revealed that fuel subsidy removal has significant negative effect on per capita income of people, food availability, cost of and survival of small-scale businesses in Vandeiky and Tarkar Local Government Areas of Benue State. The implication is that fuel subsidy removal has significant negative effect on socio-economic development of Benue State. The study recommended that there is urgent need for government to provide adequate social safety nets such as grants to households in order to cushion the effects fuel subsidy removal has on income and livelihood of people in Benue State, there is need for government to invest in agricultural development in order to boost food production thereby enhance food security in the state