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Will Hope Survive?

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The Nigerian Government pulled the plug off the Fuel subsidy debate on the 1st day of January 2012.The Government reasoned that it made no sense to try convincing the people since Government held monopoly of wisdom and knowledge. Irked by the galloping erosion of rights by a Government swimming in her own illusion, Nigerians took to the streets. The verdict was out early this week: Pump price is now officially N97.00, an increase of N32.00 when compared to the former N65.00.The matter is now rested, never to come up again…You wish!

From the Media chat that took place in December, brows had furrowed. The media chat was supposed to provide a platform for interaction between the President and the people. Except one Tunde whose call merely came up on the screen but was not heard, no one was able to reach the President. Things may not be what they ought to be in this country but there are call-in programmes which take place successfully that it is so hard to think the failure of the programme to take the public‘s calls ‘just happened.’ The President eventually wrapped up the show by informing the country that the Government did not intend to inflict unnecessary pain. How assuring that was when people who had travelled for the holidays barely managed to return to their destinations.

When light stopped to seep through the hinges of the locked door, Nigerian’s decided to hit the streets in protest. Sensing this, The Attorney General (Is the Public or the Government his client?)obtained an exparte Injunction to restrain the protest. Since the law was made for man and not man for the law, the streets were occupied in spite of the court order.In a second bid to muzzle the people, threats and  warnings were issued out to all Government workers to either resume work or lose their places. There is a cruel Kamantan expression for it ‘mun bu in lila diyel. (I will beat you and stop you from crying.)

Don’t cringe. All of these have been taken care of otherwise you would not be reading this piece if you are in one of those States where 24-hour curfew was imposed or if you had to choose between buying ingredients or buying this newspaper since the banks were closed. But look the price we had to pay: Several persons were killed and injured.

Revenue was lost. Homes were hungry. An already bad Security situation went to the brink.

The all time joker card was flagged: We either remove subsidy or you, your children and children’s children live in perpetual penury. At the thought of hunger, many turned their backs:  I’d rather pay N141 per litre than lose my N5.00 garri.Another chunk tore away when the debate was sectionalized : We the elders in the Niger Delta say yes to the removal of fuel subsidy since you had said no to resource control. That is understandable, afterall when the chips are down; every one goes to his tent. Yet National issues cannot be wished away by sentiments. They remain until they are addressed.

Although oil was discovered in Nigeria almost forty years ago, we are yet to determine how to use the proceeds in such manner as to make it beneficial to all. The Abacha administration came up with the Petroleum Trust Fund manned by former President Buhari; it was criticized for being a parallel government and questioned for its allocation of 20% of its resources to the military. Emphasis has since shifted from the agency in a country where government believes in new projects rather than continuity.

Truth, like pregnancy does not hide itself. So it maneuvered its way from the streets and seminar halls right into the House of Representatives with Customs disclosing that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation does not have documents to back up fuel importation since the Ministry of Finance accentuated the illegality by arm twisting customs to overlook the essential documents. It was further reported that most fuel importation did not follow due process as most importation of fuel had no documentation. This was in spite of the bold faced assertion by the minister for Petroleum that Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation no longer imports fuel.


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