|
We
Don’t Need Any Strikes By Abba
Abubakar One
problem that plagues us as a people is our inability to differentiate
realities and falsehood especially when dished out by those we have
resolved to give respect. Perhaps our culture as black people, all
blacks, needs some overhaul. There has to be some reservation as to whom
to accord respect to and when to deny that and tell it to his face to go
to hell. We
are all witnesses to the moves made by President Obasanjo from the
beginning of his rule in 1999 to get the prices of all sources of energy
in this country to that level which cannot be reached by the average
Nigerian. I mean that Nigerian who although 'employed', lives from his
hand to mouth. These set of people do not constitute the majority. Those
in higher numbers do not even have jobs to do. Not only that it is hard
to fathom how they survive. Do they even have hands and mouth? God knows
best. When
this administration stared it’s first term, its first thank you to
those Nigerians that voted them and supporters like me was an upward
review of the pump price of petroleum products. I understood and
accepted it. This for the only reason that it was the sole importer of
the products. That did not bother me. What
bothered me most was something I knew very well. And this is the fact
that the product will not be there to buy or will not be sold at a price
we are willing to pay. It did not matter I told myself how many times
the prices went up (the
force of gravity is nil in our country). Two things matter here as far
as majority of Nigerians are concerned. One, that you must see the
product to buy and two, the price has to be one which most people are
willing to part with their money to get. You do not have to go to
the school of economics to know this. As for me since the government is
shying away from these to fundamental issues the industry and of course
the nation will continue to rock like a bucket in the middle of the
ocean. Let
me explain in detail what I mean here. Let
me also state here and for information that Iran, population 68million,
as at 2001 produces 196 million liters per day of white products (petroleum
products), They consume and export. How serious people can be. Nigeria
at the same time produces only about 39 million liters (255, 000
barrels, CIA world Factbook). But do not forget that Iran has 29
refineries! With a population of 100 million we have refused to be able
to manage four refineries. Herein lies our cyclical problem of price
reviews and what have you. Something I have not been able to understand
is the fact that my father has a bakery and we have to buy bread any
time we need it in the morning as it is sold to his customers in Cotonou.
This is unbelievable. It is a very wicked lied. Up
till this point I do not see a problem with how petroleum products are
priced and sold to us. We caused it and let it to happen this way and
continue fooling ourselves waiting for Adams to do the fighting for us.
This is a lie that we tell ourselves. How lazy we are. The only fault of
Mr. President is that he was so lazy, as we all are, not to know
how to make this precious source of energy available. The NLC, Adams
Ohiomole and the Nigerian people are to blame for all this. The NLC has
to be blamed for the simple fact that it allowed itself to be used to
pull thin wool over the faces of Nigerians by posing as their savior.
This is another wicked lie. It does not in sincerity protect the
interest of the Nigerian worker let alone the generality of Nigerians.
The Nigerian people share in the blame because they refused to see the
consequences of the President’s action and refused to come out and say
no Sir you are wrong here please change your methods. If
Mr. President is really interested in serving then he must know that it
is up to him to know how to first make those four refineries work and
build many more in our dear country. He must know that for Nigeria and
Nigerians to have a steady flow of petroleum products he must produce
enough to export to Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Benin Republic and perhaps
Ghana. This is the benefit they will derive for sharing borders with
Nigeria for no fault of theirs. This is the price we have to pay for a
secure and steady petroleum products supply. If
Mr. President cannot do this then be ready to tighten your belt till it
gets to your vertebra column. More so for the fact that the
Nigerian businessman being what he is will make sure that you never see
that product at the price you are willing to buy but at that which he
knows you must buy. Never mind when you hear them talk of the shooting
up of the price of crude. It is a big lie. For
me, since 1999 when the price was jerked from N19 to N22 I decided
not to complain about the price. For as long as the value of the Naira
continues to go down and these two stated forces remain at play
Nigerians will never understand why the prices have to go up. It even
baffles me that one should want the prices to come down. Why? Go to
the market closest to you and ask the retailer what he would do if by
the time he comes to his shop the next morning he meets a memo from his
state governor fixing the prices of items in his shop, which he bought
from Lagos, Onitsha or Kano. I bet you the ready answer would be I would
not sell. Maybe after some thought (knowing government might) he would
retract that and say I will sell but I will make sure the shop closes
after this stock. If this is the case what is the fault of the so-called
major marketers. None at all. It is their money and their product and
only they could price it so as to be able be in business. Their only
fault stems from the fact that when they receive a sixty-day credit
facility for products they purchase from the government they do not pay
back on time. If anyone is not doing his job the blame should be
squarely on him or her. Until then and until we are all ready to think
up a genuine change to make things work well, we will continue to face
serious problems. Therefore we do not need any strikes. If at all any
strike will or should hold then let it not be for the downward review of
petroleum products prices but that the government must as a matter
of urgency repair all the four refineries and build many new ones. Yes
many enough to be able to export. A. Abba |