Another blast, another SCREAM.
Another blast, another SCREAM.
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Is this reality or just a dream?
We only asked which way to go
But HE said ‘kill them before they grow’
2011 was indeed a terrible year – bomb blasts in Maiduguri, bomb Blast in Yobe, bomb blast in Abuja, bomb blast at the Police Headquarters, Military Barracks, INEC office and even in Churches. Some would say Church ke? Well I guess that is the cost of salvation, after all if Jesus could be crucified the BOMBIFICATION of his followers should not be strange. As the rap artistes would say, 2011 was indeed “Tha BOMB”.
I am deeply pained that people can no longer take refuge in a church because of the fear of being bombed. As a matter of fact It is common knowledge that most churches are now investing in bomb detecting machines. As the spate of bombing continues, I pity the very rich amongst us who have already invested so much in bullet proof cars and costumes as their investments have become obsolete and are incapable of protecting them in the light of recent happenings. Guys, we have to re-strategize – it’s time to separate the men from the boys with bomb proof cars and costumes.
Which way Nigeria i ponder? Don’t even bother to ask the little voice in my head tells me because as they say curiosity kills the cat especially when it comes to matters that concern Nigeria. If you doubt me then what do u make of the fact that my people’s curiosity led them to enquire from our “leaders” how they plan to bring the perpetrators of these evil acts to book and improve the security situation in the country and what happened? Boom!!! Another bomb blast – “fuel subsidy” removed. The mother of all bombs!!!
With this latest BOMBING our Government has once again proved that it has no human face and holds its citizens in contempt. When Late Gen. Sani Abacha hurriedly authorized the execution of Ken Saro Wiwa (while the Pope and other world leaders were pleading and dialoguing with the Nigerian Government not to carry out the execution), we all termed him a sadist and called him all sorts of unprintable names. I am really wondering what the difference between Abacha’s actions then and the present action of our Government is because I honestly can’t see any.
Our “leader” just spat on the faces of the poor, hungry harmless masses of this country at a time we are still nursing the injuries of a Christmas eve bomb blast. This is a typical example of a man’s inhumanity to his follow men. The subsidy removal was so ill timed and I pity my people who traveled to their different villages for the usual end of year family reunion. Most will never be able to make it back to their stations (urban areas) owing to the exorbitant transport fares caused by the removal of the “subsidy”. This government has no human face. Haba! the suffering continues.
In their desperation to shy away from the real issues that are causing the problems in our Nation they have unimaginatively resorted to telling us the usual folktales that we have been told for decades some of which are as follows:
1) Things will get better in the long run and they keep citing the GSM saga as an example. Yes, we agree that with deregulation, comes competition which in a model situation where the proper indices exist will eventually bring down prices. However let us not lose track of the fact that the proper indices that will enable this happen do not exist in Nigeria presently and even the well celebrated GSM case they always cite is not a reassuring example since we (Nigerians) still pay probably the highest call tariffs worldwide.
2) With deregulation, investors will be moved to build functional refineries. On this we have the case study of diesel which has been deregulated for about 13 years and has enjoyed no subsidy whatsoever since then. We are yet to see any refinery for diesel that has been built by investors neither have we seen any substantial investment in respect of diesel by investors as they all resort to the easier model of importing the product. My question therefore is, why didn’t the government lead the way by building new refineries (or better still getting the ones we have working) before removing the subsidy though I believe that if our existing refineries were working at maximum capacity, we will not be talking of subsidy since we would be able to meet our local demand and have no need to import.
3) The mother of all the folktales which is that the funds saved by the removal of subsidy will be channeled towards development of infrastructure to be honest sounds dodgy to me. Are we saying that the reason we do not have good roads, quality education, security, power, employment, etc is because we have been subsidizing petrol? If Nigeria needs more money in her coffers for development, I believe that the Government knows where to get these funds from. They could get an astronomical amount from simply curbing the excesses in Government. Imagine where the Presidency alone boasts of over 100 Senior Special Assistants (SSA’s), Special Assistants (SA’s) and Personal Assistants (PA’s) to these SSA’s and SA’s. We have Ministers and Ministers of State in the same Ministries while Parastatals and Agencies are springing up every day. Our Legislators entitlements are something else and if these wastages are cut, believe me we may be able to get the same N1.3T or more. I think the major thing to tackle here is corruption and not subsidy.
4) There is a very powerful cartel of fuel importers who have been wacking this subsidy money and it is not getting to the common man. Brethren, why can’t we prosecute those people (because they are the root cause of our subsidy wahala) rather than suffer the common man who is the victim. There is even a school of thought that is saying that there has never been any subsidy. Prof. Tam David West is challenging anyone who feels otherwise to a debate. Some of us are also asking a very pertinent question which is that since no funds where allocated to fuel subsidy, where will the money to be re invested come from?
5) Fuel is cheap in Nigeria when compared to other countries (particularly the Western World). We forget that the governments in those countries do not only deal with petroleum issues but issues in its totality as it affects the citizens. America for example cares for the welfare and safety of her citizens and that is why they crush any perceived attempt of terror so that there will never be a repeat of 911 while what we hear in Nigeria is that the perpetrators will be brought to book. This phrase has started to sound like a broken record to us. Yet you want to sell your fuel for the same price with America if not more. Permit me to ask,’ what is the government doing for us’? We provide our own power (with our generators), we provide our own water (bore holes), we provide our own security (Alsatians and in some cases juju) , yet the only thing we claim to be enjoying from them (government) - subsidy, they now take away. I am beginning to believe that there is no difference between our colonial masters and our government of today. They claim that Britain, Ghana, and other countries have deregulated the down stream oil sector, but they forget about the other amenities enjoyed by the citizens of these countries – healthcare, quality education, good roads, power, food and even salaries paid to unemployed citizens in some cases. Let us not be deceived, we are not moving forward rather we are in a reverse mode. They also claim that we sell the cheapest fuel but that is false when compared to some other OPEC nations like Venezuela, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Libya, Oman with an average cost of fuel per litre at N28.86. Let us also blindly believe that ours is the cheapest fuel across the globe, do we also look at the minimum wages in those countries. I make bold to say that ours is the least at N18,000 a figure that more than half the states have been unable to pay. The major problem is that the people at the helm of affairs in this nation are so insincere. Like Bob Marley stated ‘you can fool some people sometimes, but you can’t fool all the people all the time’. We say No to the deceit, we say No to this act of wickedness.
6) The subsidy money ends up in the hands of a cartel. How are we sure that this same money being saved now will not end up in the pocket of a different cartel? Remember Abacha’s recovered looted funds – where is it? Remember Alamiesigha’s recovered funds – where is it? What happened to the excess crude savings? In fact just very recently, the then Minister of Finance pronounced that the states were allocated funds in excess of their needs and because of that, proposed that the Nation adopted a Savings scheme – Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF). Can we not cut these allocations and rebuild our nation? Hey! Somebody say - evil men!
7) According to our Minister of Information, Labaran Maku – ‘’If deregulation is not good, why is Ghana doing it, why is Niger doing it, why is Chad doing it”. In as much as I may not be able to confirm the authenticity of this information but I sure know that those countries should not be our mentors as a country, no way. Is this where Nigeria has degenerated to? Anyway I do not blame the Minister. Was he not the same one that told us that we should all be grateful to President Jonathan for bringing Facebook to Nigeria? Jonathan, thank you o! Ose!!!
8) In the case of our Labour Minister, Barrister Emeka Wogu – “ the government will provide things to cushion the effect like the provision of subsidized transportation”. Eh! From one subsidy to another. So what are we saving? Somebody said that Nigeria plans to save N1.3T from the removal of the subsidy and we are already chopping the money by providing N950b of it for security.
We were told that consultations on the removal of the subsidy will continue until April when it may be removed only for us to wake up on the New Year with our eyes still swollen from the weeping and wailing for our brothers and sisters killed by the bomb blast of 25/12/2011 and alas, Boom!!! Another bomb blast! Why does our Government always lie to us? – if there is a riot and the police kills 20 people, they will say it’s just 3, if the President is in a coma, they will tell us that he has gone on Hajj and that everything is okay. Very soon you will hear that this subsidy removal was not done by the government but by …………… How many more will have to suffer, how many more will have to die.
Now committees are being set up, made up of former rouges to speak with the unions and also work on the reinvestment of this subsidy funds. In typical Naija style another office has been opened for these guys because:
a) Cars must be bought for the committee members
b) They will be provided accommodation
c) Logistics will be taken care of
d) Sitting allowances will be provided for
e) They will all be entitled to Personal Assistants and other aides
f) They will have to travel to countries to learn how to reinvest excess funds from the subsidy removal with the attendant estacode that they will be paid for the travels
g) Lectures and seminars will be delivered by experts at a cost, etc
Have we thought of the impact on the common man, the abject poverty? People are going to suffer the more. These I believe are the thoughts of a stranger in Nigeria because the Naija I know, ah! Man must survive o! – The politicians and public office holders may have to remove the subsidy in their looting. This means they will have to loot more to be able to compensate for their personal loss of revenue via the purchase of fuel at N141, fraudsters in the banks and on the streets may have to sharpen their skills, robbers (armed, pen) may have to dust up their tools. Do not be alarmed if you see a lot of uniformed men on the streets for stop and check. They too must wack now. People may be required to settle some bills (hospital bills, school fees, etc) with kegs of fuel. Honestly I am going insane just thinking about it, can someone help me?
Nigeria! A stitch in time they say saves nine. Let us concentrate on pressing issues and also build a foundation on which all these our text book policies can work. Let us engage our energy on flushing out Boko Haram, Let us device a means of killing corruption, Let our leaders use their might in arresting and bringing to book looters of the nations funds (former and present) instead of punishing the poor, innocent and harmful masses, Let us work on improving our power wahala, Let us create employment, Let us join hands and make Nigeria great.
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