The rage and fury that trailed the brutal killings of defenceless protesters on subsidy removal may be the reason why authorities in Kano hastely imposed a curfew to restrict movement inorder to onstensibily forstall further security breach and possible retaliation. Governor Kwankwaso was visibly shaken and surprised at the level of anger displayed by the protetsers that cut across party and religous lines. The protest organised by labour and civil society organisations attracted an unprecedented mammoth crowd who expressed their justified anger at President Jonathan’s ill-timed fuel subsidy removal and Kwankwaso’s arrogant support of the highly unpopular policy.
Though government was well aware of a possible fall out of its reckless display of solidarity with Federal Government’s removal of the subsidy, it however did not anticipate the fury that follows on Monday the 9th, when all strata of people trooped out to condemn Governor Kwankwaso and President Jonathan. On that fateful day, not less than 7 youths were reported to have been murdered by agents of the state. This came at the heel of January5th incident when students who converged at Silver Jubilee Square (renamed it Liberation Square) were butalised by the combined forces of Kano State Police and the government sponsored thugs known as vigilantes in a pre-dawn assault. One student lost his life even though government and the police kept denying. The peaceful protesters were said to be beaten with cudgels and gun butts by the police while a van belonging to the vigilantes and bearing Kano State registeration number rammed into the students, inflicting severe injuries on the protesters resulting into the death of one of the protesters. The government’s inhuman display of brute force infuriates the citizens.
Kano Govt House:_Police Vs Protesters
Thus the demonstrations of Monday provides amful opportunity for the citizens to castigate Kwankwaso and his wicked disregard of their welfare by openly backing the subsidy removal. The protests were peaceful from the onset as organisers made sure that participants conducts themelves in a peaceful manner. However, appearing on the scene by the much maligned vigilantes started to provoke the demonstrators who acknowledged the illegal and unlawful participation of the government thugs in law enforcement. Alot of people were questioning the rationale of engaging these thugs in maitaining security while Civil Defence Corps and state Hisbah Corps, all recognised by law were relegated to background. The vigilantes also reminds people of their despicable act when they drove through a peaceful crowd resulting into injuries and death. They were therfore an eye sore to the protesters and some started to jeer at them.
Meanwhile, the procession heads towards the Government House and a column of these government thugs can be seen forming a barricade at the front of the government house ostensibily to prevent the protesters reaching the gates. The streets leading to government house from State Road and adjoining Commissioner road were equally barricaded by these thugs. And they started using their cudgelis and machets at the protesters while police were looking on from behind. A melieu ensued and some of the protesters started retaliating by throwing stones at the vigilante thugs and the police. The police responded by firing cannisters of tear gas and firing into the air. This, instead of scaring the undaunting protesters made those at the back surge forward on hearing gun shots shouting “Ba mayi, Kwankwaso kaci amana” meaning: “We no longer support you, Kwankwaso the traitor.” The crowd kept surging forward and the police started shooting live bullets into the crowd. On seeing the bloodied body of victims been evacuated to the hospital, the crowd went wild even overpowering the police at one stage and pulling down a side of the Government House fence, and burning the Cabinet Office adjacent to the government house including several vehicles parked within the premises. Some vehicles belonging to the vigilantes were also touched and some said some of the thugs were also dealt with. The police had to call for reinforcement and military were also invited to disperse the crowd. Governor Kwankwaso had to be smuggled from behind, seeing how dangerous it could be if the furious crowd gained an entrance into the Government House.
Sen Lado's Burnt House
News of happenings especialyy of government’s bruatality spread fast and alot of people were heard expressing their anger at Governor Kwankwaso in particular for ordering the killings of defenceless protesters while exercising one of their fundamental rights. The protesters retreated to regroup and started damaging street lights and in the process set ablaze the residence of Senataor Bashir Garba Lado ( PDP Kano central) in the process. He is a major financier of the Kwankwasiyya thugs and his house is situated at Gumel Road by Durbin Katsina Road.
Vigilantes with Police
Kwankwaso and his handlers sensing that their worst political perdition looms, started to hatch a plan that could save their sinking necks. They started to find scape goats and Shekarau and CPC were their ready tools. They were reported to have started mobilising their thugs to also retaliaite by targetting some selected ANPP and CPC stalwarts, especially Shekarau and Mohammed Abacha in order to create a political colouration to the whole crises. The security came to know of the devilish plan and IG Hafiz Ringim reportedly intervened by instructing the Kano Commissioner of Police to impose the curfew in order to avert further chaos. It now remain to be seen how Kwankwaso would appear in public having inadvertently eroded any goodwill he might have by pitching his tent with the Federal Government, thus effectively sending the message that he is indeed an enemy of the Kano masses.
The Federal Government of Nigeria through the Attorney General has mandated the civil servants to return to work – or forfeit their salaries.
See press release below
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PRESS RELEASE BY THE HONOURABLE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE, MR. MOHAMMED BELLO ADOKE, SAN, CFR ON THE CURRENT INDUSTRIAL ACTION BY THE NIGERIAN LABOUR CONGRESS AND THE TRADE UNION CONGRESS
1. The attention of the Attorney General of the Federation has been drawn to reports of the unfortunate loss of lives of Nigerians in the course of the demonstrations staged yesterday in some parts of the country. Government regrets this development and commiserates with the affected families. The HAGF wishes to assure all Nigerians that in order to avoid a re-occurrence of this sad event, the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and the National Human Rights Commission will work with the Nigeria Police Force and others security agencies on the imperatives of avoiding excessive use of force and the protection of the rights of law abiding citizens.
2. It will be recalled that the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) on the 4th January 2012 issued a Joint Statement calling for a general strike of Nigerian workers with effect from Monday, 9th January 2012 in solidarity with the mass protest planned by some civil society organisations over the Federal Government policy of deregulation in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.
3. Convinced of the unlawfulness of the planned action of the NLC/TUC especially in the absence of any trade dispute with its employees, Government approached the National Industrial Court which is constitutionally vested under section 254 C (1) (c) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended with exclusive jurisdiction to consider matters relating to the propriety or otherwise of a proposed strike or industrial action.
4. The Court in furtherance of government’s application, granted an interim injunction restraining the NLC and the TUC from embarking or compelling other persons to embark on a strike action or general strike, mass rallies or street protest pending the determination of the Motion on Notice which will come up for hearing on Thursday 12th January 2012. For the avoidance of doubt, it is necessary to state that the basis of the injunction and the Motion on Notice is that no trade dispute has been declared in consonance with existing laws by the NLC and TUC and a clear distinction between civil protest on one hand and an industrial action or strike on the other.
5. The office of the Attorney General of the Federation is therefore dismayed that the NLC and TUC have refused to join issues with the Government in the judicial process and other peaceful initiatives. Rather than obey subsisting court orders, the NLC/TUC have embarked on an indefinite general strike and have pursuant to their threat, forcefully “ shut down” all offices, oil production centres, air and sea ports, fuel stations, markets and banks.
6. Government wishes to reiterate that the Order of the National Industrial Court (NIC) is a subsisting order and the continuing disregard of that Order is inimical to the public interest as it constitutes an open invitation to anarchy. Respect for the judiciary, particularly, the Orders and Judgments emanating from the Courts is critical to the survival and sustenance of our fledgling democracy. Government reiterates its commitment to the promotion and protection of the fundamental rights of the people, including the right to free speech, expression and peaceful assembly.
7. It is pertinent to remind all Nigerians that the enjoyment of these rights and freedoms must be consistent with the letters and spirit of the Constitution. The current strike by organised labour which has prevented the legitimate pursuit of economic activities across the country in defiance of a valid subsisting order of a superior court of record transgresses the parameters set by the Constitution and extant laws.
8. In light of the foregoing, members of the public who are under contractual obligations as employees in the public and private sectors are advised to respect the terms of their contract of service and report to their duty posts. Necessary measures have been put in place to ensure that this is done without any form of molestation or harassment by anyone or group of persons. In the event that public servants continue to disregard the terms of their employment in the absence of any trade dispute and especially in the face of blatant disregard of a subsisting Court Order, the Government will not hesitate to enforce the “no work no pay” policy.
9. Finally, Government calls on the NLC/ TUC to respect the Orders of the National Industrial Court and engage government in a constructive dialogue with a view to addressing hardships arising from the deregulation in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.
The Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC has indicated its readiness to collaborate with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in a bid to curb the proliferation of identity forgery and fight the menace of global money laundering. This position was disclosed on Tuesday, January 10th , 2012 by the Corp Marshall and Chief Executive, Mr. Osita Chidoka while on a courtesy visit to the Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr Ibrahim Lamorde. Chidoka explained to Lamorde and other top management staff of the EFCC that the old driver’s license has been compromised by fraudsters within and outside Nigeria, which necessitated the introduction of a new driver’s license based on a robust data base with unique identification systems to replace the old one. He also informed the EFCC that because the driver’s License was the most common means of identification required by financial institutions in most transactions, the new license will stop fraudsters from operating multiple bank accounts. He urged the EFCC to support the new driver’s license initiative by persuading all financial institutions to embrace it. “We believe it was possible for people to open multiple bank accounts in Nigeria using different names because they can access multiple drivers’ license. That can be stopped if we use the new driver’s license. The implication of that is that the EFCC should get the entire banks’ customers to recertify their account details, working with the existing drivers licenses used for opening bank account; this means that any bank customer that does not have the new driver’s license ought not to have an account opened beginning this year. In that way, people with multiple accounts using the old drivers license, will be forced to close them down”, he said. In response, Lamorde thanked the FRSC for re-kindling the need for collaboration between the two law enforcement agencies and commended the initiatives that have gone into the design and introduction of the new driver’s license. The Acting chairman agreed that identity forgery has been a big clog in the wheel of the operations of the EFCC and assured that the EFCC will do all it can to key into the new license regime. Lamorde bared his mind on the imperatives of good identity management system in fighting economic crimes, saying that identity clarity will greatly assist the EFCC in its task of fighting graft. He urged the FRSC to always furnish the EFCC with vehicle registration details of exotic cars of suspicious and dubious ownership. This, he said, will aid in tracking fraudulent transactions “Most of the inquiries we do with your Commission have more to do with the driver’s license, but we are also interested in the vehicle registration details because we believe that most financial criminals love to drive exotic cars. These cars will be registered. You see, an individual buying two, three cars and registering them on the same day. We would want your Commission to assist us in such cases, as such cars worth over N100 million could be proceeds of illegitimate wealth”, he said. He also thanked the FRSC for its support in the prosecution of cases the EFCC is handling through sending its officers and men to testify in court whenever the need arises. The Acting Chairman also signed his commitment to the “Decade of Action programme” being championed by the FRSC. The FRSC is the first law enforcement agency to visit the Acting Chairman since he took over the mantle of leadership of the EFCC in November last year. The delegation led by the Corp Marshall also comprised Mrs Janet Adipegba, Special Assistant to the Corp Marshal; Kingsley Agomoh, Corp Logistics, FRSC; Joseph Peter Udom, Corp Protocol Officer and Umar Benjamin, ADC to the Corp Marshal.
The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has called on President Goodluck
Jonathan to listen to the voice of the people, as expressed through
the ongoing, widely successful nationwide protests, and revert to the
old petrol price of 65 naira per litre.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the President should by
now have realized that he had been deceived, or allowed himself to be
deceived, by unscrupulous advisers into removing a non-existent
subsidy and inflicting unnecessary pain on Nigerians, hence he should
fire such advisers and retrace his steps.
It said that in spite of the underhand tactics employed by the
government to divide labour, using some renegade union leaders without
followership; and to misinform the public by wasting public funds
through radio, television and newspaper adverts, Nigerians from all
walks of life came out in large numbers to protest against the
obnoxious fuel subsidy removal.
”If the government needed a referendum on this ill-thought-out
policy, it got one in the massive protests by Nigerians against the
subsidy removal. This happened despite the massive frittering away of
scarce resources to sponsor a myriad of shady groups to force
Nigerians to swallow the bitter pill of subsidy removal.
”It it clearer than ever, now, that no good advert can sell a bad
product. The tactics being employed by the government has never worked
and will not work in this case. In fact, it has backfired!” ACN said.
The party commended the House of Representatives for showing that they
are indeed the true representatives of the people, by cutting short
their recess to take a stand on such a burning national issue as fuel
subsidy removal, among others, and asked the Senate to take a cue from
the House.
It also hailed organised labour, civil society organisations,
professional groups as well as ordinary Nigerians for engaging in
peaceful protests across the country, despite provocation by some
security agents in a few states where peaceful, unarmed protesters
were shot dead.
”Nigerians have shown that they can indeed make their case on
whatever issue without resorting to violence. We believe this is an
indication of our growing democratic culture and we hail the citizenry
for this. We must however warn the authorities to reciprocate this by
bringing to justice the trigger-happy cops who shot innocent Nigerians
on Monday.
”We advise organised labour and their civil society partners not to
allow themselves to be railroaded into making a compromise that will
not be in the interest of the people. Perhaps the labour unions did
not know it, but their successful management of the ongoing protests,
so far, has redeemed their image. Many had expressed doubt at their
(labour’s) ability to lead the people against the subsidy removal.
Labour has now dispelled any doubt about their resolve and they should
see this to the end,” ACN said.
The party said the way forward is for the President to jettison the
well-worn but unconvincing argument of subsidizing fuel, work with
organized labour and other stakeholders in removing the corruption and
inefficiency in the downstream petroleum sector, ensure that local
refineries work at installed capacity and build new ones, and put in
place the necessary policy to ensure a successful deregulation (not to
be confused with subsidy removal) of the sector.
”The government must also stop its fruitless propaganda on this issue
of fuel subsidy, stop deceiving Nigerians with meaningless palliatives
and begin what is sure to be a long and tortuous journey to win back
the trust and confidence of the Nigerian people,” it said.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed
National Publicity Secretary
Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)
Lagos, Jan. 10th 2012
We claim responsibility of yesterday’s killing and those hospitalized that took place at ERIE, SAKPOMBA ROAD IN BENIN CITY, EDO STATE.
We carried out this in-respect of the continued killing of southerners that leave in the north. the muslim community in the south should as a matter of urgency to leave immediately. We will continue to attack Macaiver, Hausa Quarters and Ogbudu markets in Warri, Delta State.
Those harboring them too will be killed along side with them because they are also supporting the Boko Haram to unleash our kins men in the north. Even the ones of Warri in Delta sate was carried out by us. We are proceeding to Yenagoa, Bayelsa State and Port-Harcourt in Rivers State this week.
Any plan by any state government to stop us will be dealt with because they don’t know us while we know them including their properties so they should stay clear. The boko haram activities are unacceptable because they are being backed by prominent northern leaders and therefore we will continue to kill until they stop their killing of the southern people. We warn that any southerner that harbor any muslim in his or her house or premises will be killed along.
This is no intimidation but try or test us.
We also warn the Commissioner for Information in Bayelsa State, Mr. Nathan Egba to refute his announcement on Radio Bayelsa immediately for him to see tomorrow on the boko haram in the state. If Egba fails to comply we will attack him without hesitation to monitor him at any point in Nigeria. The choice is for him because he don’t know us.
This message is signed by the Joint Revolutionary Council of EGBESU MIGHTIER FRATERNITY.
Even the most ardent critic of General Ibrahim Babangida would agree with him that President Goodluck Jonathan’s removal of the oil subsidy was “ill-timed”. General Babangida earned himself the sobriquet of “Maradona” for his tactics of `wrong-footing’ Nigerians, leading them in endless debates when he had actually made up his mind on what to do! Dr Goodluck Jonathan would appear to have bought into the `Maradona tactics’ removing as he did the subsidy on oil on New Year’s Day while debates on the issue had been expected to last until April 2012.
Just like our senior Maradona, General Ibrahim Babangida, experienced a `miskick’ in his decision to annul the presidential election of June 12 1993. President Goodluck Jonathan may `have’ equally sustained a serious political `ankle injury’ that could have untold implications for his career. Nigerians are angry, and this anger may just have begun.
The fears that ordinary Nigerians have about the removal of the oil subsidy may have been vindicated by the instant response of the market. Transport fares have sky-rocketed while prices of food items have equally gone up.
House owners will transfer real and perceived expenses to hapless tenants. In a nation where most citizens live on less than 200 naira per day, it is hard to see how the removal of the oil subsidy would be in the long term interests of the poor.
President Jonathan may have provoked an unnecessary crisis but our governors, irrespective of the political parties they belong to, cannot be exonerated from this malaise. They must not attempt to make political capital out of it because most of them supported Goodluck Jonathan’s proposal vis-à-vis the oil subsidy. They argued vociferously that the removal of the oil subsidy would help them meet financial obligations which include the payment of the minimum wage of 18,000 (eighteen thousand naira) per month. We also do not have the moral right to blame voters for the election of Goodluck Jonathan as President, not least because we were all victims of the politics of that sentiment that produced him. The state governments may very well be able to pay the minimum wage now that the subsidy on oil has been removed but the truth of the matter is that the circumstances of ordinary Nigerians have been made worse.
The real problem with our society – a problem Jonathan himself cannot deny –is that we are corrupt. The problem has not been with the availability of funds for the implementation of infrastructural agenda; monies made available for improvements in our roads and electricity, for instance, have disappeared into private bank accounts. The political termites of our economy have always ensured that such monies were eaten up. Goodluck Jonathan has not demonstrated bold leadership in the fight against corruption; his failure to declare his own assets has helped quite a lot of uncomplimentary insinuations. Rightly or wrongly, many assume Goodluck Jonathan is corrupt.Even when his removal of the oil subsidy may not be without its own advantages, the prevailing culture of corruption argues the case for public scepticism.
It might have been a sermon to the deaf but not many can fault General Muhammadu Buhari’s admonition to Goodluck Jonathan and other politicians that the curtailment of their greed is the beginning of sanity in our society. There is too much corruption in the land, and the greed of politicians and public officials is legendary. Too many people earn too much money for doing very little. The allowances politicians award themselves are unjustified, as are also the money-gulping. frivolous trips they make to overseas countries. The greed of the elite must be curtailed, not least because of its wider implications for the future of our society.
The state of insecurity we find ourselves in today can be attributed mainly to general poverty in the land. There is massive unemployment; university graduates can be found here and there hawking pure water and icecream in order to make ends meet. Those of them who cannot descend to such a low level of existence have bolstered the ranks of criminals in our society. This state of poverty also threatens the corporate existence of our nation. Our insensitive democracy has heralded an era of sectarianism comparable to and even worse than what we experienced in the pre-war years. They must be laughing and patting each other on the back, I mean those “pundits” who wish not to see an important African nation emerge and consolidate. They predict that Nigeria will disintegrate by the year 2015 and the blasting of bombs here and there has been the type of signal they were hoping for.
The time has come for opinion leaders, politicians, traditional rulers, religious leaders and men of the media etc to congregate and plot the way forward for Nigeria. Ours is one great dream whose probable fulfilment makes enemies very uncomfortable.
When the critical masses of Nigeria say they are hurt, they will react, just like a live rabbit in its underground hole being smoked out by hunters for a kill-game will do – smoke back at the life hunters. Why not? Touching the lives of Nigerians with fuel subsidy removal will require a crucial ritual to stop the smoke by the President now.
Writer Prince Charles Dickson wrote and published in some websites, including this column a clear article on not only how to understand President Jonathan of Nigeria, but also to beg him and his cabal to do their duty to the people of Nigeria. The writer suggests that the Jonathan leadership can be occupied through Nigerianism as I must add. And the piece equally suggests that a cabal of leaders; one can describe as the Nigerian mafia and illuminantis, can hardly be handled. As such, it is because of this inability of government to manage the tough thorns and stains in its Excellency Garment that is orchestrating impediment to restructure and make transformation easy to come by.
A government no matter how it is looked at is bound to offer a duty to Nigerian people to show its need to be in place. Dickson outlined the following points of duty and I quote “provision of road, electricity, water, and health services, etc., and argued that they are not palliatives, they are the duty of government”.
It is important to say that this writer offered a brief detail of the railway mode of transportation, what problems exist, how they are handled, as well as how they are faced due to the intervention of the Nigeria’s economic mafia opportunists. What stands out from this is that a president cannot simply push a group of owners and makers of the nature of Nigerian economic and management system away – just like that. He must see their point of view and appreciate their position and impact on the economy and entrepreneurship for development. His rehearsal of this is important to have a glimpse of what sort of intrigues play out in government and to what extent regional issues and persons can tie a president down to sometimes not respond effectively and do the wishes of the people. For his perspective please read his full article captioned: ‘Nigerians Should Beg the Cabal Or ‘Occupy Jonathan’
But in the face of all the debates around the fuel subsidy removal and what benefits Nigerians will stand to gain; one needs to think also about options open to the foray. Why did the Jonathan government not follow a simple economic plan that works in situations so sensitive like the fuel consumption economy and its direct impact on Nigerians? What went wrong with a simple understanding that a piecemeal removal approach would have solved this problem?
A simple anthropology of economic planning demands that subsidy can be granted to palliate or mitigate intensity of period of hardship or share the proceeds of a boom time but it is not intended to last forever. Granting subsidy of any kind is good, the purpose of which is to soften hardship and open opportunity for investment and growth. At the same time, the same simple economic planning logic requires that planners be cautious when removing economic support services such as fuel subsidy. Nigerians will surely understand a piecemeal plan of removal as far as the burden is not too weighty to bear at a time like what is happening now. Everyone is angry, charged up, and feels cheated by the political office holders in Nigeria. Will anyone blame them and for what so to say? Have they the right to protest against what is hurting and humiliating them at the advantage of the political office money-bags?
To reduce the intensity or severity of the fuel subsidy removal in the over charged atmosphere in Nigeria the current administration headed by president Jonathan should stand up to the game and tell his cabinet officers that it is high time to reverse the gear and look for alternative options. Attempt has to be made and consequences borne in a radical goodfaith. There is no shame in trying to make things better for Nigerians. A policy that hurts is a policy that calls people out to the streets. So is the infamous fuel subsidy removal today.
This takes me to the next reasoning. If the economic planners will sit down and say okay we have over-heated the issue and we have to redraw the map of fuel subsidy removal, it will make sense and that will in itself show that the present government is listening and caring; and not imposing. Sympathy and support will be gained even though some oppositional party opportunists will cash on the development to make noise. But would that matter? Not at all in matters that affect Nigerians in their daily survival struggles.
Jonathan and his team of leaders should know and if they do not know let them be told that the fuel subsidy removal, which has turned out to be wrongly timed, is a fight they cannot win 100%. A rethink for a compromise is what is expected of them now. One should suggest that a piecemeal plan of action over the next ten years will go a long way to softening the tension in the country today. Anything short of stretching the fuel subsidy removal program over several years to come – in other words, on a prorated basis will fail.
For example, is there anything wrong for this government to go back to its drawing board and come up with a plan that prorates the percentages of fuel subsidy removal each year – a sort of amortization program or tax or impact reduction plan effect? A declaration to say we will follow a reduction plan effect that Nigerians will feel the pain so little and will be happy with is what my government will do. Again, my government will work towards ensuring that the benefits of this removed fuel subsidy over a period of ten years will weigh in on investing in infrastructure, education and other areas of prioritized immediate interest and attention.
The most unfortunate error I think this administration has opened itself up for a kill is to tamper with what holds Nigerian daily life and society together – that is, the fuel subsidy removal, which Nigerian masses consider as the only thing they benefit from oil and gas produced in Nigeria that belongs to everyone. And because the wide gap between the politicians and the masses is clear to see, no explanation will ever do the magic to believe in the politicians that the revenue to come in from the fuel subsidy removal will be used judiciously to better their lives.
The anthropology of everyday life reality of Nigerians is speaking out in the light of the fuel subsidy imbroglio or embarrassing situation to the political leaders and the Nigerian masses at the present time. The police and the military are becoming over stretched with efforts to keep peace and order from breaking down. For how long this will last, is left to everyone’s guess like mine. The phenomenon of Arab Spring – which refers to revolutions stemming from people in Arab countries against their sit-tight leaders such as Egypt, Syria, and Libya, has come home to Nigeria like a wild wind. Nigeria would have been the least to suspect or think of having so quickly its critical population mass on the streets now. But events in Nigeria seem to repeat themselves to usher in the critical population mass on the Arab Spring or Riot, Disable and Occupy Phenomenon. Can President Jonathan will this away? Will he suppress it? Will he Boko Haram it with police and tear gas bombs? Dreaming that Nigerians in their over excited and compulsive obsessive hurts will disappear will be a wrong line of hoping for the better.
What can he then seriously do now? It is simple. Apologize to Nigerians and regret strongly the fuel subsidy removal to have come at a wrong time. Let him at the same time offer Nigerians a plan “B” that is economized on prorated basis of action reduction program spread over ten years or more. By that, I mean a simple anthropological focused economic plan that will not hurt like the automatic total removal of the fuel subsidy is doing to Nigerians now. A plan that suggests, for example, from 2012 – 2014, fuel subsidy will be reduced by 25% to 30%, and NOT the outrageous 100% which has astronomically increased fuel pump price per litre from #65 to over #140 in Nigerian naira currency. Also that the proceeds will be turned to infrastructural development, education, job creation and other areas in real terms and outcomes.
Like Dickson rightly pointed out, when an economic system is managed by your all-knowing army of advisers, to listen and know what to choose and discard can be problematic. By it, we can only but ask Nigerians to help themselves, lift a finger, beg the cabal or occupy Jonathan peacefully for a deserved critical change. I cannot end this article without commending the President and his Economic Management Team to have touched on the basic salaries of political office holders in Nigeria with a 25% cut and encouraging lower number of overseas travels and reduced expenses and medical attention being sought in foreign countries. The president should have also shown some cuts on the huge amount budgeted for his feeding and that of his deputy. Cost of running the government is a concern for Nigerian economy and there is a need to continue to restructure, prioritize, discard and limit excesses.
Millions of Nigerians cannot afford three meals on the table. Many feed from hawkers and roadside fast-food corners along the streets each day on anything they can pay for as a matter of necessity to put something into their tummy. The pleasure of sitting down around a table over a good meal and drink is not accessible to many. Surviving on an equivalent of less than $2 (two dollars) per day is unacceptable. Health problems are on its own as everyone is responsible for what happens to him or her with regard to health risks and public insecurity in the country. I think the political office holders should offer more sacrifices to make Nigeria a better place for all than eating alone and hording the wealth of the nation to themselves and their close cohorts.
With the active social media spying and telling stories as I have in several instances stated in my writings, time to do crude and sacred cow politicking may be over. Everyone is involved and everyone wants to be engaged in the transformational agenda of Nigeria.
Fuel subsidy removal for this administration needs a crucial ritual of rehabilitation in a simple anthropological healing process. It is up to you Mr. President and the planners of Nigeria to rethink and act wiser in transforming the people and economy of Nigeria. To transform is not to humiliate, kill or impose social, economic and political hurts on the more vulnerable Nigerians.
In line with a couple of press releases and communiqués flying around, I consider it important to draw from the one offered by the Akwa Ibom State Leaders in the USA for saying that:
1. While we are able to understand the necessity for removing the fuel subsidy as ways to foreclose excessive corruption in the oil sector and help stabilize the Nigerian economy, we believe that the sudden implementation of the policy was unnecessary, ill-advised and could have been done differently for the sake of ameliorating dire economic hardship now being forced upon Nigerians. Therefore, the Federal Government should take immediate steps to put in place, a mechanism to alleviate the deleterious effects on the masses occasioned by the removal of the fuel subsidy.
2. We believe in the constitutional right of citizens to peacefully protest against government policies they consider repressive, insensitive or unacceptable. In this case relating to the removal of fuel subsidy, we believe that while the Federal Government is not entirely insensitive to sufferings by Nigerians, opposing parties should exhaust all opportunities for negotiation in order to bring about mutually acceptable solutions. Therefore, we appeal to the Federal Government to re-strategize ways of implementing the fuel subsidy removal policy and undertake consultations with all the stakeholders with a view to ameliorating sufferings and hardships on Nigerians.
I conclude therefore and say that a simple piecemeal process of percentage reduction of the fuel subsidy will lighten the burden of impact of the fuel subsidy removal. It will surely answer to the precarious conditions in the country today than anything else of an approach. Nigerians deserve to have something better than the total one time removal.
(MoneyWatch) President Obama and Pentagon leaders late last week unveiled a new defense strategy for a smaller, more flexible military force, which the president says will prepare the nation for the threats of the future while restoring balance between the defense budget and domestic spending.
The plan would cut defense spending by 10 percent over the next decade, and there are worries that this could harm our ability to recover from the recession and potentially lower long-run economic growth.
How valid are these concerns? Beginning with the worry about the effect of the cuts on the recovery from the recession, anything that reduces spending on domestic goods and services will slow the economy and hurt our ability to recover. Thus, if cuts to defense spending cause the demand for goods and services to fall substantially, there would be a corresponding decline in gross domestic product (GDP), and a slower recovery.
Will the cuts cause significant declines in spending on domestic goods and services? To answer this, there are several things to consider: the timing of the cuts, the degree to which the cuts come from domestic rather than foreign spending, the size of the cuts, and their composition.
The first thing to note, in a point made by Ezra Klein, is that although the growth of defense spending will be reduced, that growth will still be positive. Thus, relative to the old, higher spending trajectory for defense spending, this is certainly a reduction — but there will still be growth over time. Therefore, while it’s likely that economic growth will be lower than otherwise as a result of the cuts, the net impact of defense spending will still be positive.
The other factors are more difficult to evaluate. As noted in The Washington Post, “The strategy review will not spell out potential $480 billion to $1 trillion in spending cuts that the Pentagon is facing over the next decade. Details of those reductions will begin to trickle out next month.” So we don’t know the composition of the cuts, their timing, whether they will come from spending in the U.S. or spending in foreign countries, and so on.
But we do know the size of the cuts — an average of to $48 billion to $100 billion per year — and that is enough to matter, especially to a recovering economy. And although the exact cuts are unknown, it’s probably a safe bet that several weapons system will be cut. (For example, there is already talk that Boeing (BA) is canceling plans for a new factory). Again, those types of cuts would matter.
However, I expect many of the cuts will be delayed. That’s good news for the recovery, but it also means the cuts will need to be even larger in the latter years of the 10-year window for spending reductions. But even if the cuts are larger than average in the later years, so long as the economy is relatively healthy when the cuts are made, they shouldn’t have large negative effects. However, if the recovery is very slow — if there are still many years to go, as many analysts expect — then the chances that these cuts will hit too soon increases quite a bit.
Turning next to the concerns about long-run growth reported by Binyamin Appelbaum of The New York Times, the worry is that cutting military spending on research and development (which represents 12 percent of total military spending) will reduce technological spillovers to the private sector and harm long-run economic growth.
There is less than full agreement among economists about the degree to which these types of spillovers are important to economic growth. However, even if there are important spillovers, as Ezra Klein notes, there are more effective ways to produce the type of R&D that enhances future growth than relying upon spillovers from military technology. Thus, to the extent this is a problem, the answer is to redirect the spending to non-military research efforts.
There are concerns about the economic impact of the cuts to defense spending in both the short-run and long-run. However, those concerns are likely overblown. In short short-run, so long as the cuts to overall government spending are delayed until the economy is on better footing — as they are likely to be — they should not have a large impact on the economy. And in the longer run, there should not be any substantial harm to economic growth so long as research outside of the military receives adequate support.
The removal of subsidy from petrol is inevitable. Was there really a subsidy? I do not know. Was it being paid? Yes. Should it be stopped? Yes. When? Now! Knowing the firestorm it would and has unleashed across the land, the decision to end it is an act of courage born out of what I believe are personal attributes and an urgent need to change the way things are done. I believe this courage under fire displayed by President Jonathan is partly due to the fact that he is not interested in a second term, because no politician interested in one would put his neck on the political chopping block as he has done. It is an act of courage to remove the subsidy and correct a standing malfeasance through which our nation has been bled white by very few people. Such malfeasance called subsidy that President Jonathan inherited cannot be irrevocable however painful the temporary pains of its revocation will be.
Let us look at the current evidence of our own collective experience. Is there anyone who still remember when we bought mobile phone SIM cards for close to N50, 000 each and made calls for which we were charged N50 per minute, and even if network failure terminated the call after only one second, we still paid the N50? And before then shelled out N100, 000 for NITEL and N170, 000 for Multilinks lines?
Today, SIM cards are sold for N200 and for as little as N2, 500, anyone can get a SIM card and handset and make calls for N10 a minute. Some ten, eleven years ago, no one thought this was possible.
Like mobile phone call rates fell from N50 to N10 per minute and Blackberry subscription came down from a princely monthly subscription of N10, 000 to N1, 500 presently, so the price of fuel will fall. How? In an economy like ours, price is the best competitive tool for products that have no significant observable or experiential differences like telephone calls and petrol. Petroleum marketing companies will be forced by the new competitive reality to begin to sell at lower prices very soon. The only way to do that is to eliminate inefficiencies embedded in the cost of business. These will include the unconscionable tendency to leave fuel laden ships on the high seas where mindless demurrage accumulates because the subsidy regime will pay for it. It includes the bloated overhead costs across board, massive corruption at every level including the government officials who approve subsidy payments for different companies, round tripping in which the same cargo of petrol is presented more than once for subsidy payment. Competitive impulses will force these companies to eliminate these embedded inefficiencies and corruption and compete. Yes, prices will not go down to N65 per litre but they will go down eventually to below N100 in the short run, forced down by what will become cutthroat competition where like mobile phone companies, petroleum marketing companies will begin to offer all kinds of promotion, ‘buy five litres for the price of four’. ‘Win N1m for every 25 litres you buy for 20 customers every month!’
At the subsidy era price regime, it was not profitable for businesses to set up refineries in Nigeria. Think about it, this is Africa’s biggest market. If it was remotely profitable, we would have had private refineries before now. Removal of subsidy is a game changer. To enhance or even create their own competitive advantages, some of these petroleum marketing companies will start building refineries here for local and export markets and develop related core competences. The telecoms companies are going into alliances sharing masts to reduce cost. I envisage a time when two or more, less financially muscular petroleum marketing companies will band together to build refineries and massive tank farms to share costs. And just like the mobile telephone companies are moving on beyond basic phone calls and SMS to the provision of internet services and other sophisticated telecoms services and products, these refineries will move beyond petrol to petrol chemicals production in a natural, sensible way.
The building blocks for industrialisation are flat sheets and petrol chemicals. Everything around you, in your home and office, including the clothes you are wearing as you read this piece has petrol chemical content. Yet we import all of them for all the industries in Nigeria. What this means is that the market for petrochemicals as industrial raw materials in Nigeria is very huge and on its own, without adding the huge export potential is enough incentive for the builders of refineries to expand into it. Ultimately, this too, like the local production of fuel will create jobs and save massive amounts of foreign exchange and significantly boost the value of the Naira. It will directly lead to the continuous expansion of our industrial base, whose increasing demand for locally produced petrol chemical raw materials will lead to across the board economies of scale, bringing costs and prices further down.
Local production of petrol chemical raw materials will eliminate the long time it takes the imported ones to arrive, shaving off shipping, marine insurance and other related costs. Eventually, this will translate to lower product prices, ending of dumping of many products because locally produced equivalents can compete in terms of price. The multiplier effect is massive as lower prices will boost demand and increased demand will boost production and increased production will lead to increased employment. Additionally, tax and VAT revenues will increase as success feeds on success.
Competitive pressures amongst the petroleum marketing companies will be all encompassing. I will explain. Right now a lot of people are stuck with their mobile phone networks in spite of lousy services only because all their friends and customers already know those numbers. The same will not apply to buying fuel. If news spreads that a particular petrol marketer is fraudulently adjusting their pumps or that they are importing substandard fuel that is damaging engines, customers will not need a consumer protection agency meeting before voting with their wallets! Competition will ensure quality products, fair pricing, accurate pumps and other value adding products and services. I expect there will be mergers and acquisitions and the entrance of major new players, foreign and domestic seeking a foothold in Africa’s biggest market. It is possible that with fierce competition, falling cost of doing business in Nigeria, market enhanced positive foreign exchange rate for the Naira, that petrol will eventually sell below N65 per litre.
Competition is beautiful. The price of internet modems are steadily falling and one of the competitors has introduced data rollover, something new that prior to this time was not allowed by others. The argument for government to build more refineries is like saying government should build more NITELs, more NEPA, etc, rather than open up every sector to competition. The truth is governments all over the world are notoriously inefficient running itself, talk less of running business outfits. The Soviet Union collapsed under the impossible weight of trying to produce everything which they subsidised to create the false impression of a people’s paradise. Margaret Thatcher knew better and privatised many government owned businesses in the United Kingdom and withdrew state subsidy from others when she was the Prime Minister.
What we should concern ourselves with now is how to hold government accountable for the use of the savings from subsidy removal. Every government before this one lied and deceived us and we have come to expect there will always be a huge difference between the promises of government and what citizens get. Based on this, we must hold this government accountable on how and what the savings will be used for. Government has to tell us in clear terms what they plan to use the savings for and get feedback from us on what counts for us citizens and adjust accordingly. The confidence building measures must start now. Here are a few pointers.
The educational sector is almost dead, killed by evil negligence, a pointer to what kind of future to expect if we do nothing to correct the decay. I would like the government to tell us what portion of the savings will go into education and set up an education committee (not an unwieldy one) with Archbishop Anthony Okogie and fearless, fair minded people like him on it to use the fund to rebuild educational infrastructure, design and carry out teachers retraining, and fashion out a 21st century syllabus, drawing from Archbishop Okogie’s rich hands on experience in turning around the returned Catholic schools in the Lagos Archdiocese. A man like him will insist only on the right things being done.
Albert Winsemius, a Dutch, was a co-designer of the policies that created the economic miracle in Singapore in one generation. We have our own Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala doing the same for us. Committees similar to the one on education should be set up to superintend projects in critical sectors of the economy under her watch. These committees will ensure that policies are followed through with the money made available and agreed upon global standards adhered to and carried out to the letter. These committees will not be made up of recycled politicians or civil servants who have completely lost the confidence of the people. They have to be men and women of clean character, such as Professor Wole Soyinka, Olisa Agbakoba, Femi Falana, Colonel Abubakar Umar, Atedo Peterside and so on. Make the people feel joint ownership of the projects. If it is a road project, the people want to know who got the contract, how much it is worth, timeline for completion, thickness of the road, etc. Do not be surprised if citizens show up with rulers to measure and verify thickness is as published. Then give weekly updates on progress, for instance on how many kilometres was tarred that week, the scope of work for the coming week, etc. If the construction companies are falling behind, we want to know why immediately, not after one year of project abandonment. And if it is because of lack of funds, we will know the government broke the moral tripartite agreement between them, the people and the construction companies and hold them responsible. Then all Nigerians will hit the streets to demonstrate against them for reneging on a road contract wherever it is located. If you refuse to take part in the demonstration because the road in question is in a part of the country different from yours, when the contract in your own part is similarly affected, no one will demonstrate with you!
The lack of trust of the people for government is so thick you could cut it with a knife. The promise to provide 1,600 buses is seen as a knee jerk response typical of government. It is citizen cynicism on full display. Nobody believes those buses will be bought and if bought that the prices will not be outrageously padded. President Jonathan announced not long ago that government procurements will hence forth be directly from manufacturers. This, he said is to stop sharp practices, have concrete maintenance contracts and so on. Everybody remembers that Siemens of Germany was both the manufacturer and contractor and Halliburton of United States was a direct contractor who still padded contracts to accommodate massive bribes given to named high Nigerian government officials. Nigerians are all watching and the only thing government can do now is to enhance confidence building measures by publishing all contract sums, the names of contractors, scope of work, duration and invite citizens to check and compare them with the value of similar projects elsewhere. Citizens are sick and tired of learning after contracts have been executed that the money spent could have funded two or three similar projects elsewhere or that the technology dumped on us is ancient and not state of the art. Ajaokuta Steel Mill is a permanent testament on this.
In 2010, it was said by political contestants that the nation would be made ungovernable if zoning is jettisoned but I do not believe those who made those statements then are the ones behind the current violence rocking the nation. I believe that there are elements who have decided to borrow those comments and fulfil them as a prophecy foretold. These forces have their plans worked out to engulf the whole nation with violence. How long will it take before their primary and most visible targets, Igbos and Christians resist retaliation in Igboland and the Niger Delta? If the retaliation begins, the vast majority of uninvolved Northern Muslims will see the retaliatory attacks in the South as a direct attack on fellow Muslims and react with a general attack on all Southerners and Christians with Jihadists from all corners of the world crossing the porous borders to join. Every attack will lead to more retaliatory attacks and escalation across the nation. What will follow will be the fulfilment of the so called ‘order’ of Boko Haram for Southerners and Christians to leave the North and for Northerners and Muslims to leave the South. Then what? Disintegration? Nigeria is not the former Czechoslovakia that split into two neat nations without firing a catapult. How many pieces will Nigeria break into? Some will say Oduduwa Republic that will include Kwara state, Biafra comprising the South East states, Niger Delta Republic made up of all the states of the Niger Delta. With the current realities, it is obvious Benue, Plateau, Kogi and Taraba states, being predominantly Christians will not want to be part of the predominantly Muslim North. Will they form a new nation? Or become separate nations? Will this stop the crisis in Plateau Republic? And what makes us think the core North made up of the Hausas, Fulanis, Gwaris, Kanuris and many other tribes will be a haven of peace as Arewa Republic? ? If Akwa Ibom and Cross River states decide to become Cross River Republic, they have Cameroon on their border with an eye on the crude oil in their territory. Perhaps, apart from Biafra and Oduduwa Republics that will be reasonably homogenous, the other surrounding republics will be so fractious their instability will cross borders. The refugee crisis that will arise is better imagined than experienced.
The truth is we are better off as one nation in a proper federation where nationalities can grow at their own pace, a fact that will spur healthy competition as was so evident during the first republic. What should we do to give ourselves the gift of a nation designed to be the best that it can be? First the call for President Jonathan to resign is unjustifiable because if he does resign because some elements want to fulfil political statements made during elections, then a dangerous precedent would have been set and the Niger Delta will again go up in flames worst than the last one with no end in sight.
There is no doubt that there are many who want President Jonathan to leave and it is simply because they view him as the most dangerous politician in the land. What precisely makes Jonathan dangerous to these men? He is not looking for a second term and consequently is not afraid to step on toes to irrevocably dismantle all the structures erected to continually bleed this nation. He proved it when through his direct intervention fuel started selling across the nation at N65 when he became Acting President. What did he do that previous leaders could not have done? He has shocked them again by removing subsidy that is killing us. The question on the lips of those fanning the Jonathan must go crusade is, ‘where, what, which of their entrenched interests will he hit next?’ They are scared that in his four year tenure President Jonathan would completely dismantle their negative interests that have spread nothing but misery to all Nigerians. President Jonathan is not the kind of leader we want to be chased out of office. It is a classic doctrine of warfare, military, political, economic or social not to let your ‘enemy’ settle down enough to take the initiative. This is achieved by hitting the enemy consistently from unexpected directions such that he can only react to the attacks. Jonathan’s government is under attack from every corner from within and without, to make it impossible for him to settle down and effect positive permanent change. Because of these multiple crisis, people say he is slow to respond and is indecisive.
Bill Clinton, one of the greatest Presidents of the United States had a horrible first year but he is not judged today by that. Harry Truman as Vice President succeeded President Franklin Roosevelt upon his death. Prior to this succession, Truman was rarely consulted by the president. He was not told the United States was building atomic bombs. He was invisible, regarded as dour, colourless and expected to muddle through and conclude the remaining years of FD Roosevelt’s presidency. Truman proved everyone wrong. He concluded FDR’s presidency and won the following presidential election on his own steam. Even though he left office with a low approval rating, dispassionate analysis of his presidency showed remarkable achievements which included the much talked about Marshall Plan that rebuilt war ravaged Western Europe, supported the creation of the United Nations, took incalculable political risk by ending racial discrimination in the United States Armed Forces, championed the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation that stood toe to toe against the Soviet Union, authorised the Berlin Airlift to defeat Soviet blockade of the city, prosecuted the Korean War without which there will be no South Korea today. Let us give our president a break and commit him to prayer and I believe like Clinton and Truman, his achievements will be celebrated. A less courageous leader would surrender to these negative interests, muddle through and hand over in 2015 with all the problems grown worse.
Secondly, I would want General Muhammadu Buhari to lead other leaders of the North across political lines to douse the tension up there and to let them know that remaining a part of Nigeria will serve all of us better. General Buhari is one man whose stature has not diminished anywhere in Nigeria as fearless and incorruptible. And his remarks after the Supreme Court’s verdict on the presidential election resonated with many especially his charge to reduce tension in the land and calmly without emotion redesign Nigeria. If he agrees to help Nigeria in her hour of need, he will end up as one of the true fathers of modern Nigeria, an appellation sycophants have bestowed on other less deserving men. In this task he will need to work with General Ibrahim Babangida, Abubakar Atiku and the so many other northerners who still believe Nigeria is worth saving. It will be a shame if the United States National Intelligence Estimate that Nigeria will break up around 2015 becomes a prophecy fulfilled because we failed to take action to halt what is a steady trot to the brink.
Credible leaders across the North and the South should begin to sensitise their people on the ultimate game plan of anarchists in our midst and urge them not to retaliate even under extreme provocation and to remind one and all that saving Nigeria is a collective project that requires our committed involvement.
I am a Christian and will remain one. I started reading the Koran in December 2011, currently on page 370. It has exposed to me the lie that the anarchists in our midst represent Islam. They cannot by any stretch of the imagination be killing senselessly for the Allah the Koran described as the Eternally Merciful, the Especially Merciful, the Continually Merciful. By these words, I understand Allah is not a God of partial or occasional mercifulness but of permanent mercifulness. These killers by their actions have denied the Allah they claim to be killing for. I intend to finish it, and then read the Hadith – The Garden of the Righteous and Fiqh-us Sunna because I want to better understand what governs the lives of half of our population. Before I opened the Koran, I did not know the prophets of the Bible and Jesus were mentioned not in passing but in copious veneration and that Christians are called people of the Scripture or people of the Book. Through other studies I discovered that the word fatwa means religious judgements, rulings or opinions that are made in millions of places all over the world everyday concerning everyday issues. I found out too through a dear Muslim friend who also suggested the title of the Hadith to read, that jihad does not necessarily mean holy war against someone or people but also means a personal war directed at oneself to overcome personal habits. I recommend this jihad to the anarchists in our midst to wage personal jihad against their hatred for Southerners and Christians. Our common enemies are not each other but poverty, disease and hunger.
We have spent years looking for and emphasising our differences and magnifying them. Each time I go to the online news portals, I practically dodge bullets and bombs people haul at each other across religious and ethnic lines. That is what happens when tempers reach breaking point as occasionally happens to all of us. When we succeed in seeing how all that unite us are greater than what divides us, it will become easier to sit down and redesign Nigeria without negative emotions.
Information available to 247ureports.com indicate that the troubles surrounding the sudden hike in the price of petroleum products by the President of the federal republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebelemi Jonathan may be far from taking its last turn. This is as credible information received from persons within the chambers of the upper legislation arm of government indicates that the Senate will “throw the gavel hard” at the presidency today at their scheduled session.
According to the source who spoke to our correspondent in confidence, the Senate is bound to make its position on the oil subsidy removal known to the public following its seating today. The source went to disclose that the Senate will reflect the mood of the country. Also, the source noted that the Senate is aware of the tensed atmosphere in the country – and would act to not heat up the polity further – but “the Senate will not allow the President to get away with illegality”.
The source fell short to state whether the Senate would consider a vote of no confidence should the President ignore to act on their recommendation to reverse or suspend the price hike of petrol. The source added that the Senate will send a clear message to the President and the Nation that “wanton illegality cannot be allowed” in today’s Nigeria.
One of the Senators representing one of the senatorial districts in Kogi State told 247ureports.com that the President’s action are condenmable and impeachable. He expressed disappointment in the manner President Jonathan threw caution to the wind to inflict unwaranted hardship on the common people on the street who had overwhelmingly voted for him. “The President should solve boko haram first before taking actions that will heat up the nation”, stated the Senator.
The President’s men who are in-the-know of the impending embarrassing – are said to have intensified their lobbying of the influential senators. The aim of the lobbying as gathered is to have the senators tamper downon the rhetoric against the President – in the manner it was done during the house of representative session on Sunday that was broadcast ‘live’ to the entire nation. Our sources indicate that the President’s men have had difficulties reaching out to the respective senators – in part because a good number of the Senators find it uneasy alligning with the President’s dwindling political popularity.
The Senators as gathered are aware of the motion reached by the lower legislative chamber and are also aware of the mass appeal of the said motion. The senators are said to was to top the motion with a threat -should the President chooses to ignore the Senate’s recommendation.
