So What Next …….After The Mother Of All Protests?

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

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Fuel Subsidy Removal: Fraud, Deception, Corruption or Good-intentions?

I will be very frank with you; despite the raging debates over the past six months or so, I had not the slightest intention of writing on this contentious and controversial issue of fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria until the Federal Government actually did it on 1^st January 2012. One reason I did not want to is because I feel that deregulation of the petroleum sector is something that should happen, if only we have a responsible, accountable government and an efficient and less corrupt system with devoted, selfless, efficient, effective and honest government officials. But nay! Sadly we don’t have any of those.

I am of the opinion that if petrol sells for 65 Naira/litre in Port Harcourt and Bayelsa State, where our oil comes from, why should the price of the same petroleum be N65 in Maiduguri, Sokoto, Yola, Lagos, Ibadan, Jos, Minna, Abeokuta, Abuja, for instance? Aren’t there transportation and labour costs of moving any product from A to B?

Normally, and this is a BIG NORMALLY, removal of fuel subsidy and deregulation in Nigeria would have been a sound and valid economic development. But Nigeria, with our endemic official and non-official corruption, inefficiency, profligacy, mismanagement and undemocratic system, government can hardly be trusted to implement the gains of such removal and deregulation to the benefit of its 150 million people. We cannot trust the thieves in government, business and industry to transmute the gains into feeding us, providing basic infrastructure such as electricity, roads, healthcare, education, jobs, and general well-being expected of an oil-rich nation for its people. The government, at all levels, just cannot be trusted. Already since oil was discovered in huge quantities in our country, the man on the streets of Nigeria has neither seen nor benefited from this unique commonwealth. So how do we know we will, from the gains of oil subsidy removal?

And the government is not convincing either. They have not convinced us or demonstrated to us so far, how they will tackle or are tackling corruption in the oil sector and indeed in all the sectors of governance in the country. They have yet to tell us their action plans for the gains from removal of the subsidy and the palliative measures they have to ease the pains for us.

So the fraud called Petroleum/Fuel Subsidy Removal has at last been perpetrated on Nigerians?  A fraud because the Government has not been telling us the whole truth. They have not even been economical with the truth; they have told us outright lies that even a baby will not believe. Or do they themselves understand what this is all about?

For instance, we were told our refineries are not working. This is an outright lie. Our refineries are in full working order, or at the minimum, can be made to work with some repairs, sincerity  and commitment; but the insidious and invidious cabal profiting from the fuel subsidy are not making them work. And the Government knows it; they profit from it too.

So who benefits from the subsidy? Nearly everybody does except the masses of Nigeria. The cabal of the profiteers have been exposed. A combination of a few corrupt oil thieves, privileged individuals, political appointees and elected ones who as major sponsors and backers of government, are milking the economy of this country dry. For instance, they give the Government (the officials of whom are in collaboration with the cabal) false invoices, which inflate the amount of crude they actually lifted by up to 1000% or more; e.g. they lift 30,000 barrels but claim 3 million barrels. And the Government pays, knowing this to be false. The cabal shares the illegal profit with the government and NNPC officials.

Then the cabal will also claim inflated logistic costs, e.g. transportation, labour, etc, for distribution across the country. The Government knowingly and complicity pays again. That is why we have such high subsidy on fuel as claimed.

Then, what about the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, assertion that some fraudulent but highly placed Nigerians defraud the Federal Government of several millions of dollars through unauthorised midstream discharge of tanker vessels loaded with refined petroleum products under the fuel subsidy regime?

Midstream discharge, in shipping parlance, is a legitimate practice whereby smaller ships are taken to the high seas to discharge the contents of some big ships which are too large for the water channel and risk running aground. The practice has over the years been subjected to gross abuse as some Nigerian officials, with the active connivance of their foreign counterparts, take delivery from bigger vessels while still on the high seas with the necessary documentation and payments. According to NIMASA, currently the agency has arrested and detained over 20 ships for indulging in such illegal activities, adding that the agency has been under pressure from highly-placed Nigerians to release them, describing the level of economic sabotage as “staggering”.

Since their exposure, our government has not even said anything to deny or admit it, because the government cannot muster enough political and moral will to arrest and prosecute them.

From a research conducted by Strategic Union of Professionals for the Advancement of Nigeria (SUPA) 2010, it was concluded that government makes a profit of 33.50 N/Litre on PMS (Petrol) at the current price of 65 N/Litre. This translates to a very high 106% profit per litre. In addition the government benefits from royalties, taxes and fees which were not factored in this simplified analysis. When factored, the actual crude cost per barrel to government is significantly less and its profit correspondingly higher.

Therefore, posited SUPA, the claim of subsidies on petroleum products is incorrect. So that’s another Government lie.

When a government lacks sincerity, honesty of purpose and trust, then such government is gradually inviting anarchy and chaos. By selling us a dummy, (that the start date for implementation of fuel subsidy removal would not begin until 1^st April 2012, and then going back on their promise and implementing the same on 1^st January 2012), to the electorate, the Presidency has lost integrity and trust of the Nigerian people irrevocably. Government should have kept its word till April by which time better explanation would have been given before implementation takes effect. 

The Presidency and the Federal Government, only last week, stated that they are holding consultations with stakeholders, including organised labour and to get feedback from the people on the proposed fuel subsidy removal. In any democratic setting, the people should have a say in any decision that affects them on any governmental policies. This is the meaning ascribed to section 14 (2c) 1999 constitution which enjoins citizens to participate in the government of their country. Where does our sovereignty as Nigerians lie in all this? Why would any government disregard the aspirations of its people and acts in contravention of the constitution of the land? And also lie to them?

But let’s look at it this way. We know who benefits from the subsidy the Government (and it’s not only Jonathan’s government) pays. Our governments, past and present have been telling us for decades that we the masses benefit from the subsidy; now we know we don’t.  So if the subsidy is removed, that should mean the cabal who had been benefitting from the subsidy for decades, will no longer be able to profit and rip Nigeria off, isn’t it? That means the corrupt government officials who collaborate with the oil subsidy cabal to cheat Nigeria will no longer be able to anymore, isn’t it? That should be the ideal and logical conclusion.

According to an article, “The Truth about Oil Subsidy” by Mrs Ganiyat Gani-Fawehnimi (wife of late Chief Gani Fawehinmi), “the truth is that there was never an oil subsidy; there has never been an oil subsidy and today there is no oil subsidy in the pricing of petrol per liter in Nigeria. The causes of our present oil chaos are not the issue of oil subsidy but:

• High level of corruption in all strata of governance in all parts of Nigeria.
• Massive and unchecked stealing by our leaders, their cohorts and cronies in public and private sectors of the Nigerian economy over the decades.
• Open and deceptive mismanagement of our resources including public funds.
• Mindless and mind-boggling lavish projects specifically designed as conduit pipes to siphon the people’s common wealth into private pockets at the expense of the needs and cares of the suffering Nigerian masses.
• Unceasing and measured astronomical devaluation of the Nigerian currency, a result of gross mis-governance of the country in all facets of human activities”.

The Nigerian people have been ambushed by a government they expressively gave a popular mandate to represent them in April 2011. It is not only a betrayal by the Government against its people, but also unconstitutional  because the Presidency  proceeded to implement the removal of the oil subsidy without resort to the National Assembly who have neither given it any legislative support nor was it stated in the 2012 national budget.

Allow me to quote former Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida “The sole purpose of any government is for the good of the people and not to create hardship for its people. The National Assembly should have been made to be part of the decision-making process since the 2012 budget is yet to be discussed and passed by the Legislature. Every government should ordinarily take the interest of the people at heart so that the reason for its existence would be justified”. 

So what do we do under the circumstance? There are now riots and protests all over the country as of the 3^rd of January 2012, but are these enough? Or, more importantly, will these sporadic and largely uncoordinated and ill-organised civil protests force the government of Goodluck Jonathan to rescind its decision?

Hear Rufus K Oteniya of Transparency For Nigeria “If this is only about removing subsidy, it’s not worth it and count me out. If Jonathan reverses the price, it'll not stop looting and corruption; insecurity and over bloated cost of running government. Nigerians must use this opportunity to uproot and crash this faulty democracy and install a system that will cause us to determine the genuine path the nation must tread through Sovereign National Conference (SNC). Jonathan is obviously a confused man who is also looking for a way out of Aso Rock. He knows that we all know that he does not know anything about governing. Nigerians must take this chance! Push for a complete overhaul of the system; push for an Interim government to call for a SNC (Sovereign National Conference). This is the revolution I will support!!!”

And Wale Adedayo “Protesting just about fuel price hike will NEVER solve our problems. We have a set of people who should NEVER have been in office in the first place. Join the strike. Join the protest. But the clarion call should be the removal of a system and a set off rogues who have been keeping us under perpetual slavery since Nigeria's independence in 1960. They MUST go!!!”

I like this concluding part in an article “Nothing Like Oil Subsidy” written by Dr. Izielen Agbon, from Dallas, Texas “The government should explain at what price the swapped crude oil was sold and where the money accruing from these sales have been kept. We have done this simple economic analysis of the Nigerian petroleum products market to show that there is no petrol subsidy what so ever. In the end, this debate on petrol subsidy and the attempt of the government to transfer wealth from the Nigerian masses to a petrol cabal will be decided in the streets. Nigerian workers, farmers, students, market women, youths, unemployed, NGO and civil society as a whole should prepare for a long harmattan season of protracted struggle. They should not just embark on 3 days strike/protests after which the government reduces the hiked petroleum prices by a few Naira. They must embark upon in a sustainable struggle that will lead to fundamental changes. Let us remove our entire political subsidy from the government and end this petroleum products subsidy debate once and for all. It is time to bring the Arab Spring south.”

In conclusion, there are questions to be asked (with reference to my friend and brother, CV Akuta):

• The removal of “Oil Subsidy” is actually a way of punishing Nigerians for the failure of an inept government to effectively fight corruption, not only in the oil industry, but in the country as a whole.
• What guarantees do this government have that the savings to be realized from the oil subsidy removal will be used prudently and for the benefit of all Nigerians and not just a few corrupt and greedy individuals?
• Government has again proven not to be trusted with President Jonathan announcing to the world that subsidy will be not be removed until 1^st April 2012, and only after consultation with organised labour and the people of Nigeria, only for him to remove it on 1^st  January 2012.
• What happened to the Petroleum Trust Fund after ex-President Obasanjo took over?
• What will happen to the Christopher Kolade Committee after his tenure?
• Why set up Belgore Committee to dialogue with organised labour when the subsidy had already been removed?
• How will the President cushion the effects of the hardships which will be caused by the removal of the oil subsidy?
• What will happen to the poor and unemployed Nigerians with this onslaught by an insensitive government?

Nigerians should resist the oil subsidy removal, till this policy is reversed.

God Bless Nigeria.