Notwithstanding
the national outcry, President Goodluck Jonathan is still insisting
that fuel subsidy must go essentially because Nigeria cannot continue to
borrow to fund its economy. His continuous stance is in defiance to the
popular feelings of most Nigerians as declared last week by European
Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. David MacRae who said subsidy removal “is not
a popular issue according to the survey we have seen.” To him, the
reactions of the general public, which is negative, is in part due to
lack of trust. “They are not sure if anything better can come out of it.
I think it relates to the issue of governance.” He has said it all.
In
MacRae’s view, “after many years of mistrust, when a new administration
comes with such an idea like this, there has to be a clarification.
People need to know better what amount of budget will be needed. I have
heard public officers say unless the government removed the oil subsidy,
Nigeria could become as broke as Greece.” But he believes Nigerians
have to be informed of the facts of the matter. “In a general context,
subsidy on petroleum is not a thing that countries generally want to do.
If you want to help poor people, you have to look at the social sectors
– water, health, education and access to jobs.” What most countries do
for their citizens is to provide basic services like electricity, water,
health, education and mass employment which unfortunately are what are
lacking in Nigeria of today.
MacRae
urged the Federal Government to engage in wider consultations and
enlightenment of the public on fuel subsidy removal for proper
understanding. In deed, President Jonathan has in the last few days been
discussing with several groups and select organisations, except that he
has been coming out of such meetings conveying a fixed mind. True
consultation ought to be geared towards better illumination and fresh
ideas such that even a stony heart would absorb measures of flesh.
At
Aso Villa’s Christmas carol service last week, the president made what
could arguably be termed his best presentation. He laboured to explain
that his idea of subsidy removal is not to inflict pains on Nigerians.
He admitted that “even now that we have oil, we are borrowing and we are
not expanding the economy,” and expressed the fear that in the next in
35 to 40 years, if there is no discovery of more oil reserves, the fate
of the nation’s children and grandchildren will be hanging. He asked
rhetorically: “Do we begin to plan a country where our children and
grandchildren will become slaves? Flashing back to the ‘Andrew’ of
Buhari/Idiagbon era, he recalled that even now, Nigerians are checking
out of the country. “There was a time we were talking about check out,
but now that slogan has died down.”
He
also concurred that the time has come that the government must look for
ways to expand the economy and explore other means of earning money. He
responded to himself with a seemingly sound solution: “We must go back
to farming; and not just subsistent farming that we know, but really
taking farming as a business. We must create wealth through farming; we
must industrialise; we must begin to produce things in this country.”
Honestly,
no patriotic citizen would contend with Mr. President’s analysis. I was
even more touched with his assertion that he knows the pains Nigerians
are passing through. “Yes, I am here in the State House and being fed by
government, but that does not keep me so far from the people. There is
no day that I don’t interact with Nigerians both low and high and I
appreciate the pains of the people.” But then, this is also where the
dilemma comes in.
The
people who voted Dr. Jonathan into office as president might not be as
intelligent and knowledgeable as he is; yet, wisdom demands that the
voice and wish of the people must be supreme – no matter how stupid it
may seem. He might have shared the people’s trepidation, but the crux of
the subsidy removal debacle is the people’s lack of confidence is his
walking his talk. Many are yet to see hope of a better tomorrow in his
way of governance and implementation of his campaign manifesto thus far.
No
one can dispute his acceptance that the nation is facing challenges and
need to take certain decisions to reposition our economy so that things
will ease out. However, pleading that “people must be courageous to take
the rightful decisions” if they do not want to die in pains, yet
staying stubborn at doing the dictates of world monetary institutions
would surely not be to the nation’s ultimate advantage.
While
it is true that we do not have to always agree on every issue, the
beauty of democracy over dictatorship comes in when the wish of the
people are allowed to prevail. In the same vain, while the president
might not want Nigeria to continue going the unprofitable usual way, the
people must see the genuineness of the wish in action. A true talk
would only become meaningful when it has practical impact on the people.
Nigerians
are asking today: Why must any sincere government insist on importation
of fuel while not concerned with the fixing of the under-utilised
refineries – or taking visible steps in constructing new ones? What is
happening to daily degenerating power supply beyond the arbitrary
increase they see in monthly bills? Why is an agreed pittance minimum
wage becoming a burden on the government? What is the condition of the
federal roads across the country with the annual huge budgettary
allocations? What are the huge debts being claimed to be owed used for
with the virtual collapse of the nation’s social infrastructures? Why is
malaria still allowed to be a killer disease when the few rich prefer
overseas treatment to basic ailments? Why is the government acting
unbothered about the future of our children heading in disarray? Are
these and other basic challenges not what the people should see the
president tackling ahead of any so-called subsidy removal that they
might end up not seeing the result other than inflated cost of living?
Nigerians
could see insincerity of purpose as government’s inability to
successfully manage the refineries. Rather than dealing with corruption
and make the refineries work, and even build more, it is the masses that
are to now being asked to suffer “temporary pains” before private
refineries will become operational. Neighbouring Ghana, Niger and Benin
republic have just discovered oil but already have functional
refineries. People remains at loss as to what makes it difficult for
our own government to refine enough fuel locally.
As if
to depress the people more, the Jonathan government has again voted the
highest expenditure in the just submitted 2012 budget for security as
if the country is at war. For people to take the president serious,
why should the biggest allocation not tailored towards development? Why
not devote more of the available resources to areas that will stimulate
the economy? The huge budget on security could as well be used to reduce
poverty and the swarming unemployment that constitute actual
insecurity.
Because
successive administrations cowardly succumbed to official corruption
and graft, the Jonathan government cannot afford to enforce a policy of
sacrifice at the expense of the life of the people who are hardly
convinced that trillions of naira are truly going on subsidy. Not many
are persuaded that whatever is made from subsidy removal will be
properly channelled to the promised infrastructural development.
Nigeria
Labour Congress through its Vice President Issa Aremu got it right by
insisting that the president should not succumb to the dictate of the
World Bank and IMF, but rather redirect his energy towards fulfilling
his campaign promises as the planned removal will become an abuse of his
mandate. He is being counselled to follow his transformation agenda by
first putting a stop to oil theft, and the rehabilitate and construct
new refineries, as well as ensure acceleration of the passage of the
Petroleum Industry Bill before the National Assembly.
The
poor and the downtrodden Nigerians should not be made to pay for failure
or incompetence of the political class. The government should check the
way contracts are concocted and awarded. Let there be an end to
inflated and economically unviable contracts. The system must be seen to
be working well before more hardship is inflicted on the people. It is
true that nothing good comes easy; but when well-served people are due
to pay sacrifice, they will surely be pleased about it.
Nigerian
masses are very resilient, but they should not be pushed to the wall.
They have made enough sacrifices that are being pocketed by the
privileged few. The problem to be resolved is that of insincere and
self-centred leadership. Let them first remove their own subsidy before
removing the one on enjoyed by the poor. Let top government
functionaries cut down on their lavish expenditures and entitlements to
build infrastructures for the masses.
Let
government fully confront corruption instead of tasking the already
over-burdened citizens. Otherwise, the return on removal of the subsidy
would again end up in the few over-loaded private pockets.
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