NewsRescue
Two chronic and pathognomonic problems of Nigeria have been incompetence/cluelessness and corruption.
A government that deliberated, analysed and decided it was OK to institute a new policy to reduce the price of fuel to N85.60 last December but suddenly, barely five months later and after very few actually benefitted from that Abuja and Lagos limited reduction, made a 360 degree policy change and hiked the price of same commodity up by 50%, is either incompetent/clueless or corrupt/a scammer.
The Presidency has admitted as we had stated, that the hike in fuel, note: not a subsidy removal as that was removed since December, was in order to entice investment in private refineries and to enable the purchase of PMS with black market forex money. Like Nigerians are ready to suffer and die that glutinous cabal refineries may live.
The lower hiked limit, at N135 proved that the decision by the oil ministry was not a devaluation but a fixed price hike setting regulation. This fact is supported by Osinbajo’s admission that the price was artificially hiked to entice private cabal refinery development…at the peril of the dying masses! And while Ministers and the Presidency junket as Sahara branded it, around the world to places where they have paid ambassadors able to represent them, at a millions of naira burden to the dying poor of Nigeria, desperate for real change.
The inconsistency, lack of direction and promotion of private cabal over the nation’s masses by this government calls for drastic action to restore public confidence.
Both Ministers of petroleum must be resigned as many have earlier advanced, and the Central Bank Governor must also follow suit. This is the only condition, in addition to the devaluation of the Naira to meet with the black market supported fuel import price so as to prevent corruption by a price duplicity; for Nigerians to agree to be put under further hardship to buy fuel at N145 where little to no reprieve has yet been given. A fine author called it “all sticks and no carrots.
The Minister of Petroleum for State, Ibe Kachikwu admitted in March that he was creating an artificial scarcity of PMS by saving locally refined product “for the rainy day.” Such a Minister with his alter ambitions does not have the credibility to lead the nation’s primary industry. The Petroleum Minister must also resign for supervising directionless policies and imposing hardship on the people.
Reducing the price of PMS to N85.60 which by their new position, was then untenable and unsustainable was either a political machination or an act of Okrika fraud to entice the people to think the government was caring and then create an artificial scarcity to utilise to impose new hiked rates on the hapless masses and in favor of banks, the new official black market forex traders and the cabal.
CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele must also resign for not considering the masses and making enough forex (just $3 billion/year) available to import the needed fuel over the past months. The same governor promised cabal like Dangote unfettered access to CBN dollars for his $14 billion private refinery. This at the expense of the masses.
Dangote is renowned for usurping Nigeria’s wealth via similar government undue advantages including in cash, import duty waivers and the gifting of public infrastructures and land. The same Dangote turned around and showed his “appreciation” by selling his cement at triple the global average price while his company celebrated quarterly massive profits for shareholders. Such an insensitive oligopolist should not be further assisted by the government who ought to rather probe his company and alleged bribes and inducements it has given politicians over the years for favors including private jets said to have been given to Obasanjo.
To prevent fraud and the use of a hiked PMS price for bank round-tripping of dollars as well as the sale of CBN’s 50% of the commodity imported at N197 fuel by cabal at the new rate, thereby ripping off the masses, the official CBN Naira-dollar rate must be devalued and deregulated as we have insisted to meet with the black market rate and stick to it. So much corruption and illegal enrichment has transpired for the time the FGN has maintained Venezuelan dual rates.
We urge the Buhari administration to get its act right and think of Economic of the poor, not capital market economics, and put advantages for the suffering masses over the cabal and politicians.
Dr. Peregrino Brimah; @ EveryNigerian