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Written by:
Paul thomas
Ireland



Subsidy and the Unconscionable Leader

But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. 2 Samuel 12:3-4 (KJV)

The Jonathan administration reminds one of a bunch of inexperienced, highfalutin megalomaniacs who have not the slightest idea about what governance is about and what it means to lead a nation as complex as Nigeria. The Jonathan administration parades highly theoretically educated naiveties who possess high sounding qualifications but with not the foggiest realisation of the inherent cataclysm gradually evolving underneath the crust of human endurance who are at the end of their tether. Jonathan and his team of inexperienced advisers are laying siege at the den of lions daring the lions to do their worst; unfortunately no one lingers around to tell the story.
The ill conceived, ill advised and ill informed move by Jonathan to remove subsidy from petroleum products will be the breaking point of the Nigerian populace, it probably will mark the end of all the madness and injustice that Nigerians have endured from successive governments especially since the start of the second phase of our so called demonstration of craze (democracy). It is unfathomable that a country that produces oil will have to suffer the same economic privation as countries without a single natural resource. It is criminal for any government or leader to disparage its people the way these mindless cabals have dealt with us all these years.
It staggers belief that these so called leaders that are planning to remove subsidy from vital economic products that determines the bulk of economic activities in this country will most likely never have to buy any of these products as long as they are in government and when they leave they would have stolen enough to make the cost of such items infinitesimal to them and their families. How can a government exist solely to create hardship and sufferings for the populace? What has Jonathan and his team done to cushion the crushing poverty in the land before removing subsidy from products that determine many livelihoods? What other mechanisms does he propose to tackle the devastating effect that subsidy removal will create for Nigerians?

Jonathan promises ‘to divest the proceeds of the subsidy into infrastructural developments that will cushion the effect of the removal’. This is complete balderdash; has he estimated the time it will take these infrastructures to be built and made ready in order for the masses to enjoy the proceeds from these facilities? What estimate of that diversification will go into these projects and what are the earning potentials expected? What infrastructures are they going to build that will remedy the effect of the hardship that many Nigerians will face as a result of the subsidy removal? It is ludicrous that Jonathan talks about diversification of funds into infrastructure when we are aware of the thousands of white elephant projects strewn across the nooks and crannies of Nigerian topography. There exist no new infrastructures that these insensitive megalomaniacs will embark upon, that will be different from the ones that are already sitting somewhere rotting away.

A country like Nigeria where corruption lives and thrives and where our insensate leaders are always evolving new strategy to sharpen their thieving skills in order to defraud our collective wealth; will an administration make available so much wealth for these kleptomaniacs to oversee development of new projects. It is harvest time for the Nigerian politician. Jonathan will redefine governance in the most preposterous way by the time subsidy on petroleum products is pulled. Politicians will become mega-wealthy while the masses will become extremely impoverished. With the present state of things many are emasculated and crushed by grinding poverty. Many live in despicable circumstances even with the so called subsidy in place, millions are barely getting by. Many households are living on the fringes without any succour or support from government, still government talks about taking away whatever little lifeline that might exist in the hands of the abject proletariats hangi
ng on by the skin of their teeth.

What will the removal of subsidy portend for businesses surviving solely on generators? How will the masses get by with another astronomical increase in all facet of economic and social life? Most people will have to resort to trekking long distances to their places of livelihood once subsidy is removed; because the cost of transportation will be double or triple the current amount. What will this mean for children going to school? With high cost of transportation and other items students will further face; not only high fees but also high cost of books and other paraphernalia necessary for them to function in school. Nigerians are about to witness distress in a greater dimension and our puppet government cannot be bothered.

In other sympathetic climes subsidies are removed on vital items only as a means of last resort; when government has strenuously exhausted all avenues then and only then will subsidies be taken away from a product as strategic as petrol. May I ask Mr President what other avenues he has exhausted before coming to the conclusion of strangulating the masses? Has he collected all of our stolen funds from his party men and women? Has he sold some of the expensive planes lying idle among his presidential fleet? Has he thought of cutting down on his bogus and burgeoning cabinet? Has he thought of retrenching all the rent seekers strewn across the corridors of powers with no specific portfolio other than knowing one misfit or another in government? Has he bothered to find out why the English are bent on having his town’s man, Ibori and why the Arabs first milked their own entitlement from the fraudster, by keeping him long enough? Bode George defrauded the Nigerian state, he came ou
t of jail after resting for two years into the loving embrace of a group of charlatans and sycophants. The money he stole was never recovered. Does Mr Jonathan know how many deprived Nigerians would have a complete change of story with the amount of money the PDP chieftain embezzled?

In other countries where subsidies of this nature are taken away there are other welfare packages in place in order to help ease whatever hardship the initial removal will cause for the masses. The finance minister lived, schooled and worked in the United States can she without prevarication say that subsidies of vital elements are suddenly removed without an existing alternative to cushion the effect of such removal. The idea of just ploughing the proceeds into some imaginary and amorphous infrastructural development program is to say the least ridiculous. This whole thing is a big subterfuge. Nigeria is perhaps the only country in the world where such nonsensical conjectures would be suggested without having an uprising. The removal of oil subsidy will no doubt further plunge the suffering masses of this country into the abyss of unimaginable squalor. The already battered economy will now take another round of battering simply because we have no strategic capacity or leadership to steer us out of the murky waters of economic despondency.

May I ask Jonathan what being a citizen of Nigeria confers on the millions of hopeless and despondent Nigerians scattered all over the world. Some Nigerians are rotting away in prisons and other despicable places across the world while Jonathan and his advisory team live in extreme opulence. Many Nigerians have suffered untold hardship in the hands of Libyan opposition forces; some have paid the ultimate price simply because they are Nigerians. Why must the masses be the ones to always bear the brunt of our political bandits and religious hoodlums? When will this nation provide some sort of succour for the people? Constantly we are admonished to be patient from one government to another the story remains the same. Poverty, wretchedness, deprivation, hunger, nakedness, homelessness, unemployment, insecurity, intolerance, treachery, disparage, corruption, fear, reproach, assault, breakdown of values and morals, cultism, prostitution, kidnapping, armed robbery, pen robbery, failed judicial system, compromised judges and clueless leadership.
The existing economic crunch has increased nefarious activities in all the states of the nation; one can only imagine what Nigeria would be like once the subsidy is pulled. Bombings have become our pastime. The youths have found veritable platform to unleash their anger on a deaf and dumb government. The borders are so porous all sorts of human elements find their way into the country to wreak havoc on harmless Nigerians, simply because those charged with the responsibility of manning the borders look the other way once they have been incentivised. The level of decadence in the country is appalling; from the politicians to their lackeys there is a reverberation of the same show of madness. Some university youths recently posted a gory and demented piece on the internet for the whole world to consume; where our supposed leaders of tomorrow displayed their utter imbecility and bestiality when five vacuous boys fiendishly had carnal knowledge of a young lady. And to add salt to injury the police force has not been able to fish out the perpetrators of this turpitude. The arrogance of past and present leaders is gradually trickling down to inchoate generation. The country is gradually becoming a lawless state; where impunity and anarchy thrives. The masses are groaning under excruciating pain and yet our government wants to further inflict more pains on our already battered body.

Shoring up the value of the Naira, through capacity utilisation, extirpation of profligacy, complete annihilation of corruption and the establishment of viable and functional contractual and property laws will attract investments and drive economic stimulation. These activities will boost the value of the naira and thereby make subsidy on petroleum products unnecessary. Most importantly the country must reduce her dependency on importation; the bulk of the country’s earning rather than remain in the country to boost and grow our industries are used to keep other economies alive. No economy ever grows by feeding on imported goods. Infant industries are dead on delivery because imported goods stifle local capacity and further dampen local economy. The more we import the more the value of our currency depreciates and become worthless especially when there is no commensurate export. Government must ensure that these parameters are in place before attempting subsidy removal otherwise millions of Nigerians will become economic and social pariahs; a condition which will further deepen the animosity between the haves and have-not.

This time provides auspicious moment and creates a veritable platform for the President to create a persona of someone with real understanding of the realities confronting Nigerians and give no room to political jobbers and bootlickers that have come to see the presidency as a means of unbridled rapacity of our collective wealth. It is high time for Mr President to quit all these political theatrics and show real leadership by taking this ship safely to shore. We the people await your verdict, sire.

Shalom

Paul Thomas.


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