Its Subsidy Again

I posted this topic on my facebook page and the following interesting discussions came up: 'President Goodluck Jonathan Thursday renewed the call for the removal of fuel subsidy saying this is the only way to encourage private investment into the nation’s refineries. He spoke in Abuja when he met Participants of the 2012 Senior Executive Course, 34 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPSS' • Isqil Najim what has he done to the thieves who stole the subsidy money? 15 November at 22:53 • Like • Adedamola Layade Gbam! 15 November at 22:55 • Like • Babatunde Muse January 1 2013 announcement. Coming soon! 15 November at 22:59 • Like • Jude Nnakwue If you are more concerned about those who profited illegitimately from oil subsidy then you really are not interested in Nigeria moving forward from its current situation. You really expect the FG to prosecute obasanjo and others, certainly a big joke.I support the president on this, we cant keep depending on some few to determine what we consume and when we consume,just because they have the resources. we must allow the market forces to to make those determination. 15 November at 23:01 • Like • Isqil Najim @Jude Was Obasanjo among Oil thieves? Didn't OBJ prosecuted his best friends, involved in I'd Card scam? Or Tafa Balogun, his man? Abeg stop giving the president an excuse to feed the thieves 15 November at 23:11 • Like • Adedamola Layade @Jude- as much as I will like to agree with u that economically its a gud move I disagree on the timing yet again. Av u checked the indicies to see if our economy is beta? Av u measured the impact of the SURE? The percentage performance of the 2012 budget and impact on people? Bruv if we had thos 'palliatives' they tlked about in place before the removal maybe just maybe.. And who says u can't nail d pple illegitimately profiting? OBJ aint the only one and infact he hasn't been 'directly' indicted so why can't the others face the music? Even the Farouk -Otedola case is hanging and I'm sure u saw the Oransanye and Ribadu saga..when sm1 accepted an appointment with an institution where he ws auditing..I mean what kind of crap is that? Bruv GEJ shld calm down andd think this thru..meanwhile no1 up there in abj is doing anytn about the scarcity of fuel already. 15 November at 23:12 • Like • 1 • Jude Nnakwue Isqil Najim Obj is the biggest mogul in the oil industry in this country, whether you know it or not, Otedola and the others are his surrogates (the stick he uses for stirring the pot of soup, he's too big to get directly involved). and hope you know tafa was not prosecuted cos he was the most corrupt official? he was prosecuted cos he chose the wrong fight. Leave Obj's gov't alone, it was a scam in itself 15 November at 23:18 • Like • Isqil Najim you are still making excuse.... the amunt power within Nigerian presidency is intimidating.. if GEJ couldnt use a fraction of it, then he is at fault, not OBJ. Even OBJ dared some powerful elements in his time. Nothing stop GEJ from perfoming his own constitutional duty... 15 November at 23:20 • Like • 1 • Jude Nnakwue @ Damola who is still suffering all of this things, its still the common man, who's probably not as fortunate as the both of us. B4 JEG's Govt Nigeria has been on this path.it was a gradual process, they made the refineries to work at low capacity and finally crippled it so that we wont have a choice but to depend on importation of refined crude. forget economic indices wen it comes to nigeria cos there's no correlation in the 1st place, our statistics are very questionable, we've not been able to still conduct an accurate census in this country after all these years, so lets leave statistics for now. Nigeria needs to get out of this quagmire and considering our peculiarity our oil markets needs to be polarised, we need others who can produce and sell no mata in what size they produce, once you have d technology then you should be given d licence to. Look nobody in govt (both as executive and legislature that has d moral strength to go ahead and prosecute these people) this is way more than d president, its a syndicate, an international one for that matter. you pple shuld wake up oo 15 November at 23:31 • Like • Adedamola Layade @Jude- what about making life. Better as we proceed to remove fuel subsidy? FIRS did N5trn last year wich is remarkable and NOI wnts them to do more..how much is our average budget with subsidy? Yet we r still borrowing...I may nt understand a lot of the maths that go on @ federal level bt the knowledge of public sector budget dt I av @ state level even the current administrators aren't prepared to cut down their excesses so why shld we just becos???? It doesn't make any sense..let's av d palliative now and see 1st 15 November at 23:36 • Like • Jude Nnakwue Isqil Najim why are you talking this way? Power!!! that obj cud not use to muster 3rd term, in principle its true but in practice its a big lie. Have u heard of the ''council of state''? its the highest decision making body in the land and most Nigerians are not aware of it. My brother there's no oil producing country in the world dat doesnt have foreign influence either from the east or west. 15 November at 23:39 • Like • Isqil Najim you are deviating.... third term is not in constitution. People rejected it. BUt you are being evasive. OBJ subdued IBB and prevented him from coming back t power despite the enormous influence the later hold in PDP. That same power is with GEJ. It is constitutional.... dont get it twisted... your math above didnt stand, pls read Adedamola Layade 's reply to you. If GEJ love the people, let him make the refinery work and discourage importation. Removing subsidy can not fix the refinery just as the people can not control the International price of oil... the cabal will still win since he will be entrusting everthing to them and they will be passing the cost down on the people... 15 November at 23:44 • Like • 1 • Isqil Najim btw, the issue here you are trying to run away from is actually not on subsidy, you are only using that as a diversionary tactic. The issue is: what has he done to the subsidy thieves and all teh reports before him/? If he cant act on them, it means he is unfit to lead.. or what else is the job of the president if he wil be bowing to all criminals in teh land and passing blame on their victims/? 15 November at 23:45 • Like • 1 • Jude Nnakwue @ Damola u just made a valid point with respect to d state govt, nobody eva ask them to give account of how they get to spend their share from d federation acct.FG does not make expenses until money has been shared on monthly basis among all 36 states. i wish u had an idea of d politicking going on 15 November at 23:46 • Like • Jude Nnakwue cont: its only true federalism thats d way out for this country 15 November at 23:47 • Like • Adedamola Layade D ordinary man doesn't give a rats ass bout the politicking.. All he cares about is affordable food, affordable and quality health care, security, education for kids..some time we need to put us in their shoes, a slight increase in prices without corresponding increase in income and without getn those services I mentioned cheap or even free then wahala will start. Let's tk healthcare and security for example, even the rich can't get quality in the country including Senate president and our 1st Lady so until he can deliver on those basics then d govt shld do what they have to do now by keeping prices low. That shldnt be so hard even with d politicking sir don't u tink? 15 November at 23:54 • Like • 2 • Jude Nnakwue @ Damola, it doesn't matter if the common man gives anything, it'll affect him anyways. Look, I think you shud cut this guy (president) some slack, Have u posed these Q's to ur state governor. Education is not on the exclusive legislative list, neither is health care and security. Every state govt in Nigeria gets monthly security votes and ecological funds as well in addition to their monthly allocation from d federation account, what have they done with it, only very few governors are making efforts, and no citizens of those states is asking Q. My brother Jona is trying and we must do more to help than blaming Abuja. Question ur state governors as well who collect their state money and local govt's as well. They shud attempt to do d little they can wit it and let's see we're that takes us too as a nation... Friday at 00:21 via mobile • Like • Jude Nnakwue @ Isqil found out more how ur gov't works, I wish u had d opportunity to be in any public sector in Nigeria then maybe we u can have an idea of how it works and how it can be done differently. All you see is not all there is, we must move a step @ a time... Friday at 00:24 via mobile • Like • Isqil Najim So the way govt work is to pass it responsibilities on to the massess and then indulge criminals simply because they dont want to offend anyone? if you read my contributions again, u will notice that you are being evasive... the simple point I am making is that constitutionally, the president is supposed to act. No matter what you think, as long as the criminals are given more businesses to do, they will always become bolder. talking of OBJ in this case is useless. We are talking of subsidy fraud and what he has done to teh reports with him. If he cant act, he is not fit to be president. It is simple. Even the sickly, terminally ill Yaradua dared OBJ and sent all his righthand men into exile. What are you trying to teach me about govt. My point is simpe..the man is constitutionally empowered to act and if he is not acting, it is only intellectually lazy ones among us that will be creating alibi for him. You have been deviating alot. I am not against subsidy removal and not against federalism. All I am saying is that when you give rogues pat in the back, they will become more daring.....this is natural. And that a leader who cant act is not fit ot led. QED Friday at 00:29 • Like • 2 • Adedamola Layade @Jude - if u knw me well, I engage and actively play my part in state and local level so I'm nt a novice or just speaking out of context. The local govt have their responsibilities if u follow me on twitter (@damouche01) I spoke about this 3days ago. State govt have their responsibilities too and as far as this issue is concerned it is exclusive to Fed govt. Also the focus on social services sector I talked about is a a collected effort but only the federal govt and a few states like lagos and some oil producing states av the sort of revenue to invest heavily in education, healthcare and as u knw state security is alrwady being debated. Stop defending the president and see my point here bro. I'm not bringing him down in anyway some things just need 2 be done. We make a lot of mistake when pple are in government and that is the fact that they become larger than life and neglect how the ordinary dude will see it...wich sadly is what ur doing now bro. Bro GEJ can remove subsidy if and when its cheap or free for citizens to enjoy QUALITY social services also he needs to get to the bottom of the subsidy scam and nail some pple. When guys like u tlk this way its almost hopeless cos u wnt the masses to suffer for the sins of the rich who will also benefit more from the plan to make life beta for the poor wich might neva see the light of day. Subsidy can ands should go but not just yet. Not when we aren't anybeta dan we were couple of yrs ago. Dude u need to gt out of abuja and take a trip up north, down south and the east by road and not in that air conditioned SUV no...then u will understand that d streets is not smiling. Friday at 00:35 • Like • 1 • Jude Nnakwue @ Damola, how can u say only the FG, Lagos and oil producing state have d funds to invest In Education? The same folks investing in BH in their states y cudnt they use d same funds to invest in education. My brother Kano state is busy donating tins to Niger republic flood victims and building infrastructure 4 them when their own people don't have even clean water to drink. Don't cover up for d irresponsibilities of some state govt's, besides some oil producing states haven't even done enuf with their allocations. Natural resources is exclusively for the FG yes! Why have some states chosen to just b redundant and unproductive. Eg kogi state, sitting on other valuable mineral/natural resources in d country yet extremely poor. It was wen anambra state decided to build a refinery through d efforts of private individual and govt forcing d FG to name anambra d 10th oil producing state, kogi state began to lay claims to d oil field. This is d kind of redundancy I'm talking abt in d state govt. Nigerians should better decide embrace total removal of subsidy, embrace complete deregulation of d oil sector and allow others who can participate in d industry to come in. In whatever capacity u can produce come and produce and let those who want to import do so and sell and let mkt forces determine who Wud do better. This is simple economics that we both know, as it is whether we like it or not d product is already expensive and scarce cos d FG has decided to b thorough and mkters have decided to want to blackmail d govt via scarcity cos d system is built all around d oil industry. It was successful ind telecoms industry, do u still hear of NITEL, it's coming to PHCN and so shall it continue to spread... Friday at 01:31 via mobile • Like • Jude Nnakwue @ Isqil subsidy fraud, when did it start, was it with this administration or d one b4 this? Its been there long b4 civilian rule re-emerged, It was only brought to light in this administration. We looking for a way forward but your ideas won't give us that. The only way for this product to get cheap again in this country is wen, there are other players in the industry asides this few that are currently running things, just as it has been done in the telecoms industry. Going after who ate subsidy money in 19... Won't lead us anywhere, u might be shocked to see ur name on the list...lol. Chasing thieves Wud cost us more of the resources we say are scarce, remove provision of fuel subsidy from d budget and let's see how we perform. Friday at 01:43 via mobile • Like • Isqil Najim I can see where you are going.... let me help you. There has been armed robberies in the past, before the current govt therefore is under no obligation to act since the crime is been on before it. People are therefore expected to start paying tax to the robbers to enable them enjoy peace" That is what your logic means if you dont know. In your view, as long as the govt is not investing a dime on security and not stepping on toes, it doesnt really matter what happen to the armed robbers... I think with that logic, I have to rest my case. All those statements like social welfare, federalism, subsidy removal etc are just your attempt to distract away from the single most important question"What is stopping FG from acting on all the criminal reports before him?" That is all. Good morning. Enjoy your night... you sure cant convince me unless you answer that simple question. Friday at 01:51 • Like • 1 • Seun Odeyemi Always a pleasure seeing passionate and thoughtful arguments on facebook concerning the important issues of day as they affect the Nigerian state. I must add that it is somewhat of a rarity to find a reasonable blend of passionate and thoughtful criticism. What this shows is that Nigeria still has a few who genuinely care about the direction of the country. In the main though there is just so much ideological toxicity mixed with a social-psychological default position militating against both rationality and evidence leaving one to wonder whether it is still possible to have a respectful debate? Based on what I have read of the different arguments so far, I will put a forward a question that seem to get at the root of our current crisis in Nigeria: what is the proper role of government in a postcolonial state (like Nigeria) considering the highly turbulent contemporary economic environment of late capitalism? For those like Jude Nnakwue arguing for the supremacy of the market over and above that of the sanctity of political and socio-economic justice, I think it will be helpful to remind them that capitalism (globally) is on its knees begging for survival. The promises of market-oriented reforms, whether you call it privatization or deregulation, has failed woefully in bringing about the kind of just (a crucial point) socio-economic advancement many of the proponents of this ideology had hoped for. I think it is certainly a known fact that in global terms the majority of the world's ~7 billion people are indeed poorer now than before the era of massive globalization and arguments in favor of the privatization of capital. With the complete private ownership of the means of production and exchange--having been told that this is the most efficient way of achieving wealth distribution--there is no doubt that the fallacies of both the invisible hand and the trickle-down version of efficient market redistribution has created extreme socio-economic inequalities in most societies of the world--even in the strong socio-democratic states of western Europe. (We have all seen developments in Spain, Portugal and Greece; it is rather interesting to notice that it was this same austerity measures imposed upon Nigeria in the 80's by the IMF that is generating strong reactions from the people.) Friday at 03:24 • Edited • Unlike • 3 • Seun Odeyemi I think there are two lessons to be learnt here: 1. Before we can even talk of the possibility of achieving a market-oriented efficient distribution of resources, we must first institute a structure that allows for perfect information. The only reason why there is has been such a creation of astounding wealth through the market is what the economist, Joseph Stiglitz, has called information asymmetry. Players in the market are not always privy to the same information concerning outcomes and transactions. There is never a transparent distribution of the facts when it comes to economic transactions. (Aren't we now noticing the great impact of such a system in Nigeria today giving the radical privatization policies of succeeding governments beginning from our recent democratic experiment? The glaring result of this radical economic approach has not been real economic growth and development (for instance the general development of Nigeria's workforce through investment in technical education) but rather the increasing inequalities between the haves and the have-not irrespective of educational achievement.) 2. What is clear also is that those the really existing market sovereignty populated by capitalists has proven to be just as oppressive as that of the state. Certainly, the neo-liberal policies that gained traction beginning from the Obasanjo government has made Nigeria not more prosperous, but more unequal, and much more a brutal and almost unlivable society. Friday at 03:24 • Like • 1 • Folarin Lawal Sode Isqil and Damola God bless you sirs. @jude, you have some valid points too but could you pls open your mind more and see that these guys could see the faults of obj, of the Governors but you simply refused to see that Gej has the lion share at the moment. If I follow you well, to you its better for gej, to block where criminals find money so that they wont be able to steal anymore. Now,the question is, at whose expense? The masses? What makes you think the criminals, so certain that they would never be prosecuted or jailed wont find other channels to steal from? Friday at 03:25 via mobile • Like • 1 • Jose Orsman • Friends with Adeola Layade and 109 others Very simple: We got our independence a little too early. We need the british back at the helms of affair.At least for 50 years more. Nigeria's democracy is a childs play and our politicians are not seasoned.Give me money and ill be a house of rep member come 2015 not considering my past. They have advisers that can't even think straight, Before you bring a policy table,find ways to cushion the effect. Woe to them all!!! Friday at 06:54 • Like • 1 • Bunmi Amosu I have enjoyed every reaction stemming from Damolas post and feel very happy on one hand that all submissions av been robust, on the other hand, i disagree with those in support of the oil subsidy removal. Last time i checked, minimum wage is yet to go up to N50,000 in a country where social infrastructures and palliatives are almost non existent. Oil subsidy removal will only make sense when people begin to earn decent wages, our production/manufacturing capacity is enhanced and our over-dependence on imported goods is reduced. I still cannot understand why we cannot build new refineries if we cant seem to get the old ones running again. How come the most minute thing becomes the most challenging over here? Oil refining has been made simpler with the advent of new technologies, why wont we invest in our people and these technologies? Simply put, our leaders lack vision and are undaring, the reason we are still where we are today, over 50 years after independence. We discovered oil long before the UAE but rather than use the wealth for the commonwealth of all, a few people here prefer to indulge in building thousands of homes, buying hundreds of cars, flying in jets and frolicking with young women. Friday at 09:19 • Like • 1 • Tola Taiwo @Isqil Najim : Thank u for ur contribution to dis debate. @ Jude: I’m perplexed and astonished @ some of ur arguments. U compared Obj’s third term to fuel subsidy scam. With due respect my brother, dat is very silly to say d least. Obj’s third term agenda was a constitutional issue, and any president would ve been roundly defeated on dat. On d other hand, fuel subsidy scam is a criminal issue, which d president must and should fight with vigour. From ur logic here u trying to blame everyone but extricate GEJ. The fact still remains dat he’s d president and he should go after these rogues, instead of pushing it on d masses. U saying dat d market should be deregulated, so as to promote competition and by extension, it will deal with these criminals. That’s a FALACY bruv! I’m very sure u r aware of d Euro zone crisis. D reality is dat, deregulation brought about d recession in these countries. As greedy capitalist took advantage and made money off d pple. Giving loans and credit cards at a premium ppl couldn’t pay. Look at Germany today, despite being crushed by d allied forces during WWII, their economy today is d only one standing firm. Y? Cos of their inexorable stand on regulation. Just to digress a bit. I’m sure u supported Obama during d US elections. On what bases did u support him? Cos he’s African-American? Cos, I’m very sure dat most of d issues Obama stood for, such as bailing out of d auto industry, and making sure its regulated,contradicts ur logic. If truly u supported Obama’s economic policies of regulating d market, n u r against such being implemented in 9ja, then u talking from both sides of ur mouth bro. A capitalist plan, is to first make profit, secondly to reduce cost, even if it means shipping d jobs to China and make pple redundant. Mitt Romney comes to mind! In d UK, there is something called the NHS, which was introduced in d 50’s . It is basically free health service to UK residents, which is very regulated by d govt. Housing is also regulated in d UK, dats y u don’t c slums in d UK like we c in US. The govt regulates all these key areas in order to care for d weak in d society. Back to 9ja.. GEJ, can spend so much on himself and his cohorts. Ve u checked how much he budgeted for d office of d president in 2013? GEJ should grow some BALLS and go after these rogues dats y he’s d President and C in C. Instead of making d poor masses suffer for his inept to deal with these criminals! Friday at 10:30 • Edited • Like • 1 • Adedamola Layade @Isqil , Bunmi, Seun and Tola thank you for your contributions. Jude is taking the same position Abati/Okupe/Reno/Labran will take in this matter which is what eva oga says or do is right just becos if I don't things go hard gan and d money no go flow that's if they don't loose their jobs. Bt the truth of the matter is even within GEJ's cabinet some guys are not 'yes' men...the facts has been laid on the floor I just hp gEJ thinks It true cos men are nt smiling @ all Friday at 10:25 via mobile • Like • 1 • Jude Nnakwue @ Folarin Lawal Sode you seem to get my point better, this position we are in currently as a nation started well before this new democratic dispensation. Looking to thrash Nigeria's age long problem some of which just came to light will be like chasing shadows. 1st lesson to note in a multi ethnic and social environment as our is that you must take into consideration the individual aspirations of every ethnic group in the society. Politics is not about being wrong or right, it's about interest. That said, @ Tola Taiwo you can't compare obj's term as president to JEG so far using all tenets of democracy, I can fault obj in a lot of things he did as president either that impacted positively or negatively to the Nigerian state. Obj in so many instances ignored the process of d constitution to get his agenda passed, that is illegal in a democracy irrespective of the outcome, and I can't give him a thumbs up for that. Governing is a process, a bureaucratic one for that matter, no one has the right to ignore d process just to achieve his means irrespective of what d outcome is. Is president has done quite much so far in laying down the basic foundation for a true democratic state, he is a listener even when there are dissenting opinions to his. Democracy is about debates and dialogue and no one has absolute power and rights. Coming to the issue of the economic crisis in the western world, it's simply a function of speculation, caused by the wealthy infact wall street, all becos the govt of the day in the US was not truely sincere to the people and not becos of the practice of capitalism(@ Seun Odeyemi). The advantages of capitalism over other economic doctrines are numerous. The entire world basically lives on the innovations of the west, innovations inspired by capitalism. You don't need education to be innovative, you only need to think and be creative and have access to the basic resources of living. The west (capitalist nations) have successfully set the pace for the world. I believe everyone interested in this conversation are interested in seeing our nation move from its current position to a better place. Then gov't shud allow others who have d resources to go into economic production of this resources to do so this is all the President advocates for. Our economy is hinged around d oil industry, it's been so for years but we can sustain our economy that way for the next century, can we look beyond our immediate challenges as a nation, even if it means making sacrifices as Nigerians denying ourselves of some comfort just to secure a better Nigeria for our kids (@ Isquil). Whether we like it or not this things must be done and someone has to pay for it, if we don't then our kid's will and I think this generation can do better than that. Even @ subsidy from abacha to end of obasanjo's 2nd term 'the percentage of fuel increase was over 500% and someone sincerely believes it would go down someday considering we continue in this path? We have done it in the telecoms industry, we can do it in the power sector and oil & gas sector as well. All we should be demanding from our govt should b d basic amenities of life (affordable health care, education and infrastructure). Allow companies foreign or domestic who can provide the services come into the market and let Nigerians make the choice on which to consume, as it is we don't have a choice. I wouldn't mind paying a little extra right now if I know it'll be stable in another 3-5yrs. We must learn the act of sacrifice as a people as well if we intend to go somewhere as a nation. I would say again to anyone who cares to listen, engage your state govt and let them be accountable to the people, they benefit directly from the national purse and so should be able to take up some some responsibilities beyond just paying salaries of state civil servants and LG servants. The Nigerian constitution allows Governors to woo in investors to their states how many of them have taken advantage if this opportunity so that their people can be empowered even if it's a fraction. Everyone is looking to Abuja for solace, no FG can gainfully employ all it's citizen eligible to work cos govt is not in the biz of creating jobs, only creating enabling environments for private sector to operate. Security is equally the responsibility of the SG, not Exclusively the FG, that is why I will continue to support state police despite its perceived odds. We must be ready to face our challenges head on a people and government success depends largely on the cooperation it gets from its people, by citizens actively participating, asking the right questions,demanding answers. If Akwa Ibom, Edo, Lagos, Rivers, Ekiti, states etc can make progress in the last 4-8yrs (no matter how little) and if every state would contribute it own little quota, i think we'd b somewhere much better in another 8yrs from now. Friday at 13:00 via mobile • Like • 1 • Adedamola Layade @Jude - 1st of all ur boss has made some undemocratic and unconsititutional decisions. The removal of subsidy did not pass thru the national assembly, his approval of N5k note did not and I can highlight some more. His argument ws a clause that allows the president exercise som executive fiat so u cnt blame obj 4doing same if gej did it aswell. Isreal is always @ war and ofcos u knw what is happeneing currently..pple still go to Jerusalem for pilgrimage and investors still go into Isreal the same way the oyinbo oil companies av refused to ship out despite d rate of kidnapping in the niger-delta. My point is this, no matter how enabling you make ur economy seem if investors are willing to come in the will.why can't he compel his sponsors to invest In refineries? Shebi some of them got phcn distribution centres or you think we don't knw how bpe ran the show? Dude its pains me that u constantly keep making excuses and u keep referring us to the state gov when this issue is the sole responsibility of the federal govt. Mineral resources in this country is run by the federal govt. Yes I will ensure my gov is doing more bt that doesn't me Ill turn a blind eye to the looming failure of the federal govt. Like I told u FIRS did ova N5trn last year and our national budget is jst about that. This is neglecting other revenues that is not routed thru FIRS...pls bro do the maths. Tell ur boss to cut down his excesses and provide the palliatives and social services this new budget year then we can consider subsidy removal. Friday at 13:14 via mobile • Like • Dayo Adedotun Supporting the removal the subsidy is nothing short of being wicked minded. We have a set of politicians who do not believe in giving anything to the people. They have shown in all dimensions that they do not intend to serve but enrich themselves. I will be one of those to support any form of taxation or levies on the people if we had a performing government. But in this case, we are saddled with a political class that is bereft of any morals or principles and you want to give them more money to lavish on themselves and their harem? That is nothing but wicked and straight out evil. Friday at 15:05 • Like • Jude Nnakwue @ Damola some decisions of the President like renaming UNILAG to MAULAG? It's within the purview of the executive arm of gov't via the federal ministry of Education, all gov't agencies are backed by an act which makes them legal in the land. He had the right to call MAULAG whatever he wanted. Currency restructuring is the exclusive responsibility of the CBN, we both know that. So it's left to the CBN to determine the monetary policy of the country. There's nothing unconstitutional about that. If you are truely expecting this govt to prosecute subsidy thieves you must be joking, then they must be prepared to equally indict the those who gave them license in the 1st place, so we might be looking back to possibly abacha's administration and obasanjo's as well, are u kidding me, u sincerely think that our govt would want to do that considering the heads that would roll from all states of the federation. Damola u obviously don't know wat goes on the corridors of power, it cannot be done anywhere in the world not even the US. Except in Abuja, Lagos, PH, and some other major cities in Nigeria, people are already paying N147/liter for fuel, so tell me who is suffering? certainly the tax payers. You think continuing on this path of subsidizing fuel would take us to the promised land, that's another big fallacy. We must make the oil industry open to all who are willing and able to participate, this move would force price down on the long run as a result of competition. FG is telling they don't want to subsidize fuel again, let anyone who is willing to import go ahead and do so and come sell to Nigerians, those who can setup refineries and produce here as well shud do the same, let's see who survives the market. Imagine Total filling station along Lekki-Ajah road insisting that for them to sell N2000 fuel you must buy engine oil from them, wat nonsense is that, would they try it in a free market situation. This is the kind of things I desire to see come to an end. Removal of fuel subsidy followed by complete deregulation of the oil industry is the solution. Friday at 17:05 via mobile • Like • Adedamola Layade I think its safe to conclude based on Jude's defense that GEJ is perfect, without blemish and is 'the messiah'...he is on the right path and wiser than solomon so his decisions shld not be put of for debate or questioning. Smh Friday at 17:13 • Like • Dayo Adedotun Jude, you are being unrealistic if you think the present government is taking you or the entire country anywhere near the “promised land”. This is a government that has been taken over by a gang of thieves and you want to provide them with more money? What has this government done for the people since they got into office? I mean, if we are seeing reasonable changes for the better in the lives of the people, I’m sure the resistance to removal of subsidy will not be this strong. Friday at 17:15 • Like • Jude Nnakwue My people! o my people! no govt can take any1 to the promised land, no govt can conclude its agenda even in 8 years. Democracy is not a perfect form of governance but in my opinion it's the best we can get here on earth considering our differences. @ Damola no need getting personal on this issue, i dont work for the President, i work for my country, im not a politician but im a citizen. Well, if every govt since this new democratic journey can contribute a little quota in terms of providing the dividends of democracy to the people, we may have gone beyond discussing such issues as this to something else, but unfortunately we have not consolidated on the basic Foundations of a democratic state, we cant hope to see the desired change in such a short while. The ballots are beginning to speak in Nigeria, that's one thing that has eluded us as a nation for a while, we need to consolidate on things like that for a start. Our so-called representatives in the governance process(The NASS) have done more representing themselves, they seem to have more allegiance to their god fathers other than those who the represent. The changes we seek actually begins from our individual constituencies in choosing who represents you @ d centre. I kept mentioning the state governors,most of u are ignorant of the unconstitutional group called "the governors forum", who are very influential in determining wat policies to be embraced by the FG. They also hand pick their reps and senators at the centre. They kicked against resource control, practice of true federalism, state policing and the rest cos they wanna kip hiding under d umbrella of FG for things they ought to do and neglect. I praise this govt for being a listening govt and it's efforts towards electoral reforms. Sure we can do more than this but in all sincereity it's one step at a time, we as a people must equally invest trust and patience in anticipation that our voices and collective aspirations are being taken into consideration. I run an NGO that seeks to create more awareness on the responsibilities of citizens in governance, you can check my page for Tommorrow In Focus Initiative (TIFI). I'm for a better Nigeria and nothing less... Nothing personal Friday at 19:29 via mobile • Like • Adedamola Layade @Jude- nothing personal @ all sir, thanks for sharing your thoughts Friday at 19:35 via mobile • Like • Bunmi Amosu @Jude, there must be something you see in the FG led by GEJ that we all don't see. If FG wants to remove oil subsidy, then GEJ should have the balls to bring to book all the past leaders and people who have ran this country aground. There are no sacred cows in the US and UK, the Patreus case is a recent example of how misbehaviours are not tolerated in serious nations. GEJ will be a failure like OBJ if he cannot summon the courage to prosecute the few who are benefiting from the inadequacies of the system. Or what mark would he be leaving behind if he doesnt? You need to go to places like Orile, Ajegunle, Olodi Apapa and other places in the East, West, South and North to see first-hand the sufferings of Nigerians. We shouldn't use VI, Ikoyi, Maitama, Asokoro and few other posh places as yardsticks of our development, 95 percent of this country called Nigeria wallows in pain and abject poverty. Your NGO should have shown you this if you have transversed the the whole country. No truen change can come when millions are hungry, hopeless and helpless. The current crop of leaders we have are all clueless, if you have interacted with a few of them, then you will understand. This is 2012 and no one is asking why pupils and students in primary and secondary schools in a state like Lagos still go to school bare footed. I find it most appalling when i see the posh cars that drive around town, bought from proceeds of corruption owing to governments complicity. What did UAE do right that we cannot seem to understand and implement back home? This government is confused and far from the people. Till this minute, no one knows what GEJ's plans are and what they mean for the future. I am not surprised by his performance anyway because he never dreamt of occupying the position of leadership like every leader we have had and so, failure looms large again, unfortunately. Take health, education, security, can you confidently explain the plans of this government? Ordinary Nigerians cannot, even the ministers in charge of these ministries cannot convince Nigerians because they know not what to do. Saturday at 13:47 • Like • Christino Xsi Penthome I don't support the removal of fuel subsidy because the government is yet to clarify if there was any subsidy in the first place. After several reports and no individuals charged to court yet, refineries still in their poor conditions... and all I hear is sacrifices, sacrifices. Has deregulation brought the cost of diesel down? He can't be talking about deregulation when we import PMS from private marketers, fix the refineries, let's know how much a litre of PMS costs, then enforce total removal of fuel subsidy. Finally, bring the corrupt oil thieves to book. Yesterday at 12:20 • Like • Christino Xsi Penthome Damola, please copy these comments to your public blog, it's an interesting archive. Having read all the comments now, I agree with everyone include Jude. Jude is a realist, the rest of us are optimists. Whilst Obama is fighting with the Lawmakers to cushion the effect of the so-called fiscal cliff, bailing out the auto and banking industries in the past, our own beloved GEJ has cannot bail any industry out, let alone pull another Chavez. They keep encouraging us to sell everything we ever owned to their families in the name of privatization and now the latest money spinner, deregulation - refineries. SSMB (seriously shaking my brain) Yesterday at 12:49 • Like