I am almost afraid and weary to write this article. This is
probably because of my penchant to dwell very long on issues that are very
close to my heart, but don’t want to bore the reader with a long treatise.
Unfortunately, however, the problem of Nigeria is my problem, your
problem, and you know what, the world’s problem.
In
sitting down to write this article, I have had to rely very heavily on comments
made by my friends and other people in the newspapers, internet media, the
social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, etc., not because I
cannot come up with my own, but because they are very interesting, inspiring,
sagacious and like our elders will always say in, two heads are better than
one.
Nobody
has a monopoly of knowledge or opinions. We all have to learn from each other,
and believe me; I have learnt a lot from my countrymen and women in the past two
weeks of the oil subsidy removal imbroglio.
Let
me state that I am in full support of removal of oil subsidy and deregulation
of our nation’s oil industry as long as it is driven by very sound economic planning and decision and, very importantly, as long as it
is handled with a sincere, transparent,
efficient, effective and well-meaning government that is not as corrupt.
That
is, a government that has a genuine interest and welfare of its people at heart
and such that is not bogged down by pettiness, political game-play and lack of
direction… but rather guided by sincerity of purpose and handled by competent hands in all positions of decision
making.
Alas,
we are yet to witness a government with such demonstration of will power and
purpose. In fact our country has not been lucky enough to witness many changes.
For
long, what we have seen is mediocrity, with purposeless, clueless, corrupt and selfish leaders (I prefer to call
them “rulers”) handling the affairs of our dear nation, at all levels of governance;
governments that have taken the generality of our people for granted especially
in the past three or four decades.
Hence
the justification for the current permeating anger and protest as demonstrated
by the people.
I
hold the same position with the people as a passionate Nigerian and that is the
reason for my opposition to the recent deregulation imbroglio.
Many
Nigerians currently in opposition to this decision I know are thinking along my
line.
However,
the reason for the recent protest, (which I believe have shaken this
government, especially the greedy, political ‘thieving class) has gone beyond
the popular Oil Subsidy removal.
We
must let our people know, even after the end of the strike that there are many
challenges facing our dear nation that are far beyond removal of oil subsidy.
We
are currently faced with bad governance, corruption, insensitivity to the
people’s plight, lack of vision and purpose, mismanagement of our natural
resources and many more maladministration drives; looting of our common wealth,
cheating, fraud, deception and deceit, mostly by people in government and their
backers outside the government.
So,
the protest goes beyond the subsidy removal. It is about sounding aloud to
those usurpers of people’s rights that enough is enough. There is a general
drive about taking our country back
from those usurpers of power and unlicensed authority, who had condemned us to
poverty, hopelessness and idleness.
There
are new dreams about setting a new groundwork and framework for a New Order; a
new power arrangement, a new system of government, such that will be answerable
to the people always.
I
have always opined in this forum that our true problems are not tribe or
religion. It is about corruption in positions of authority, bad leadership, bad
governance, lack of foresight and all these go beyond ethnic or religious
composition.
I
saw NIGERIANS of all professions, ethnic and religious affiliations taking part
in the protest everywhere in the country and I loved my people and I was very
proud them that at last, they are taking the initiatives. They want their
country back from the usurpers. I saw a renewed hope that may turn things
around for our deprived nation.
The
expression of our disenchantment through this protests must be sustained until
we achieve a positive result getting rid of corruption and bad leadership in
our political system.
This
recent action may be our only resort, our only and the only path to true
freedom, snatching back our pride and our rights.
Even
our respected Finance Minister, a staunch proponent of the fuel subsidy
removal, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala appeared to mirror my concerns: ”The issues on ground go beyond fuel
subsidy. We need to manage our resources so as to avoid the situation in
Greece”, she said
She
continued: “The cost of refining fuel is the problem (from N250 billion to N1.3
trillion). A responsible government should find a way of costing waste in the
system. The fuel subsidy gains will be directed towards the following under
mentioned projects”
- To create jobs
from the fallout of Subsidy removal
- To improve our
health care System especially for those in the rural areas
- To improve the
rail system so as to reduce the menace of accidents on our roads
- To embark on
roads rehabilitation
- To cuts inefficiency,
leakages in government which have been in existence from time immemorial.
- Provisions of
Youth Employment and Access to Credits to Youth to enable them to be Self
Employed.
And our Governor of the Central Bank, Lamido Sanusi, another
strong supporter of subsidy removal, contended that: “We are an oil producing
country; our refineries should be in place, the solution is not to undertake a
short term approach but a short term pain for a long term gains or benefits”.
“Let us
look at the costs (250 billion in 2011 to 1.3 trillion in 2012), some people are milking the country and a
system should be put in place to block all financial leakages. Our borders
should be closely monitored to reduce the incidence of border fraud of oil
products. It is in the economic interest of the country to remove it”,
he added.
“Our constitution is partly to blame for the cost of running the
government e.g. 776 local governments, 36 state governors, 26
ministers, special advisers at both state and federal levels, bicameral
legislature”. He strongly believes that the type of political
structure we operate now is too costly and we need amendments to the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”, the Central Bank Governor
opined.
According to him, the cost of running the government is too high
and this is where the problem lies.
In
the words of Olutoyin Eweje, a Constitutional Lawyer based in the UK: “The government should tackle corruption in
the system, operate a welfare system of government, address the gaps between
the rich and the poor and then remove fuel subsidy.”
She
went further: “If the Federal Government
is really sincere in fighting corruption within the Oil and Gas sector they
should institute an independent and unbiased regime to investigate the going-on
within the petroleum industry so as to bring all the perpetrators to book”.
(Easier said than done, in our country, but it could be done with the right
people in authority, if we put our mind and backs to it)
“But the probes as presently
being done will not see the light of the day. A case in point was the panel on
the Power sector (The Hon Elumelu & Co) which was never concluded and all
the culprits are back to their respective offices…”The FG should stop making
mockery of the system and need to show commitment in their handling of matters
of utmost importance to the generality of Nigerians. Until the perpetrators of
all these corrupt practices are made to face the music, the people would never
believe the ability of the Government to fight corruption. Corruption is a
malaise and must be nip in the bud”, Eweje
concluded
So
what is next on the agenda?
I
believe Nigeria will not (or maybe I should say – should not) be the same after
this protest, which has opened more Nigerian eyes to the reality and
frustration of our existence.
Many
more Nigerians, including our rural dwellers and market-women, whom our rulers
(I won’t call them “leaders” anymore) have generally regarded as illiterate and
not knowledgeable and usually disregarded and deprived, are now aware of the
poverty and hopelessness which their rulers and their corrupting backers and
cohorts have been subjecting them to for many decades, stealing their common
wealth and literarily causing them death and other untold inhumane torture and
degradations.
In
a highly corrupt country such as ours with abundant natural resources, there is
one solution to our profligate and corrupt culture. We need to go back to the
Parliamentary system of government where cost of governance and corruption in
all facets of our national life will be drastically reduced by checks and
balances from a vibrant opposition with its own shadow cabinets and less
political hangers-on, thus making politics less attractive to the present crop
of political misfits, opportunists and charlatans.
Nigeria,
with endemic corruption, is not a good ground for the current Presidential
system of government. Let’s give it an objective thought!
This
democracy is built on a very shaky foundation. Perhaps it is time to get an
interim national government (ING) of civil society leaders for 18 months,
convene a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) to determine our Union, work out
and establish a new Constitution, and then organize fresh elections and thereby
build a new democracy on a solid rock foundation.
I
know the above suggestions are fraught with dangers and uncertainties, nor are
they infallible, and are not a definite panacea to our problems. But, we could
at least consider some, if not all of them.
There
are other suggestions such as a 100% commitment and utmost sincerity in
tackling corruption, ensuring total transparency, total accountability, and
attaching 100% importance to managing and cutting waste in government. A 75%
reduction in the salaries of government official and political office holders
will go a long way in accomplishing the last.
Government
must be made unattractive to thieves, hangers-on, charlatans and the mediocre.
It is only then that we will be able to identify patriotic intellectuals and
technocrats who really want to serve and are not going into government just to
make money. We have too many thieves and clueless people in government right
now.
We
need people in government who are relentless promoters and practitioners for
greater transparency and who are against corruption and who will strongly
support the need for greater social accountability, responsibility and civil
society engagement.
There
are too many conflicts of interests and private and selfish agendas. It seems
like it is only in our country that conflict of interest is not an issue.
The
current Petroleum minister and her husband are key players in the industry she
is meant to supervise. Many former ministers and top government officials own
oil companies; and an incredible number of retired military officers and
politicians. When they are not stealing the money, they are getting N1billion
feeding allowances.
In
conclusion, apart from those mentioned above, why are our four refineries not
working and why is the government not taking steps to fix them and build more
Nigeria
produces 2.5 million barrels of oil per day and our domestic consumption is
only between 300 and 400,000 barrels per day, what is happening to the huge
excess?
What
steps, if any, is the government taking to tackle the oil marketing cabals who
have been defrauding the country for several decades? Is there any connection
between the cabal and the refineries’ inability to work?
A
final word on the military occupation of Lagos.
And
finally, regarding the sending of armed soldiers to occupy the City of Lagos;
when a democratically elected government tries this kind of intimidating
technique on its citizens, it does not portray Good Governance.
Good
Governance demands that governments (and leaders) are more accountable to their
citizens, and more importantly, that citizens have a VOICE in how the state is
run.
What
the Federal Government has done has a strong undertone of totalitarianism –
which alienates citizens, reduces trusts, and engenders social unrest as we
have seen in the Arab spring. It also firmly portrays the government as a weak
and cowardly institution afraid of its own people. The government was obviously
ill-advised to take this step – military on the streets – to intimidate
law-abiding citizens carrying out protests, voicing their displeasure at
unpopular policies, and demanding for a concerted fight against
corruption.
Please
give it a thought.
The
Truth must be told always
