Few Sitting

Few Sitting, Plenty Standing (Suffering and Smiling): This Fuel Increase Again

Prince Charles Dickson

Jos, Plateau Nigeria

Away from all the recent drama of the feud between Obasanjo and Atiku, the raid on the Vice President’s U.S home, the allegation of corruption leveled on the President by Governor Orji Kalu, the intra-party crisis of the World’s most corrupt party with its Ali must chop Chairman and his cohorts, I am forced to go back again on the recent fuel increase by the Federal Government of Olusegun Obasanjo. This time I am looking at it from the civil society and labour perspective vis a vis the nation and her leaders.

The recent fuel hike has been condemned by everyone that has managed to remain sane in this insane nation of ours. The National Assembly has condemned it. Individuals like Senator Chukwumerije have volunteered his support for labour, Governor Akume has criticized the increase, and Governor Bola Tinubu has called it a punishment on Lagosians. Donald Duke has called it an indictment reflected on faulty planning by those in charge of petroleum pricing in the country. The Christian Association of Nigeria CAN has sought audience with the President on the matter, Arewa has described it as inhuman. Yet the people who matter have only been engaged in meetings after meetings, briefing pressmen, women and press kids, and the common man on the streets of Lagos, Kano and Enugu is dying a slow painful death for embracing Democracy.

Since this increase one thing the evil Lord of Nigeria has kept muting to himself is “sacrifice and sacrifice”. It is not the Ole man’s fault the prison experience has simply evaded him, too much enjoyment in Aso Rock; he is now toying with “the only man the cap fits agenda”. Nigerians will sacrifice him to the gods at this rate; his only saving grace now is the ever docile nature of Nigerians when they are being oppressed. We got our independence on a platter of gold, we have the false sense of belief that God is a Nigerian, even if He was I am sure He is seriously considering a change of nationality. Doing all manner of things and getting away with and from it on account of a Nigerian God would soon backfire.

Since the new price regime took effect August 26,2005 Labour has kept crying wolf, it has been the usual dance: a cacaphony of insensitivity on the part of those whose shoulders protecting the common man lies. I am yet to witness any government as shameless as this, it has continued to maintain that it cannot influence the price of the product since deregulation is the in-thing. Nigerians are dying and we are told stories on subsidies and deregulation. Labour and government are parleying, exchanging glass cups of tea and water.

When the first fuel increase was made by 0basanjo’s government, I was one of those who said that if the masses did not take their fate in their own hands the suffering then was just beginning. All labour did was issue ultimatums, strikes and stay at home orders which produced no results. Ours is a nation that does not value man-hours lost as we are capitalist by accumulation, it is the ordinary man who earns his living on a daily basis that suffers these strikes. The thieves who call themselves leaders have the black gold delivered at their doorsteps, they do not know how the populace feels about thier actions or is it inactions.

After a deadlocked meeting last week, the government team described the meeting as okay, calm, peaceful and all sorts of jargons, when the poor man goes through the devil and the deep blue sea with no ability to swim what we can expect. Everything has increased in a sky rocket launch fashion. For four hours, labour insisted that price reversal was the only option, government negotiators said no, it would be economically suicidal.

Leave all the economic and budgetary jargons which the poor man is ignorant of, It is not too foolish if a financially daft Nigeria ask “we budgeted $30 per barrel and at several long intervals the commodity has sold for $68, what has happened or will happen to the profit? Answer: The money will disappear. Die hard Obj fantastic have aired loud all that the messiah has achieved, yet in six year, he has supervised a monumental fraud in the petroleum sector.

When the old man was on his campaign trail, he talked like a man on a high dose of Ogogogoro (locally brewed gin), that all the universities, teaching hospitals, refineries etc he left in 1976 was dilapidated and how he was going to turn things around, with a privatized or is it deregulated oil sector, five increases on the trot, no refinery has been built or rehabilated. Rather the President has created a mafian group of oil czars who are doing brisk business reaping Nigeria and Nigerians apart through something God has blessed the nation with. We are to concerned about selling crude oil, and then buy it back as refined oil at twice the price it was sold. We madly forget that crude oil is useless without refining. Right from the days of IBB to Abdulsalami now Obasanjo we have been told the same story about subsidy. Obasanjo, it is who ironically was responsible for the first fuel increase.

Nigeria poor masses trek, not to loose weight, but for lack of transport. We have gloried in the fact that our petroleum sector is run by experts. Experts my foot! As it approaches one month since the increase, the NLC is limping a phased protest rally across the country.To them i say goodluck.

Human living conditions in the nation is just unbearable and simply living dead, everyone is complaining from pastors to teacher and nurses to ulamas yet government in speaking English. Some few years ago i always do not forget, the price of bread was increased in Algeria and Algerians went on rampage in Algiers, hours later the nation’s President announced a drop in the price of the commodity. Nigerians are dropping dead, the crooks we call politicians are struggling for 2007. In the light of this hardship the nation’s oil policy people are more concerned about oil well sales, I pray the forthcoming revolution of the people would make sure they cannot do anything with the well.

I was the other day in an argument with one of the oil expert, Mr. Olamore, the chairman of the marketers operations committee, he said that they were not charity groups and could hardly do anything. This to me, is only the Nigerian factor, however he revealed that even if refineries were to produce a maximum of 19 millions litres of PMS per day, it wont bring down price, but will only shield us from the vagaries of international market forces. He tried unconvincingly to explain the concept of seasonal demand of the products, traders’ behavior, bridging of products, which is moving products from areas of surplus to areas of scarcity. However I told him in English, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and other dialects that Nigeria, at this pace would grind to halt when the revolutionist wake up, as all these hardship was becoming unbearable, with them (Mar keters) living the good life, building houses inside the water and riding their own cars on the moon.

The ruling class need to be taught a bitter lesson, they need to be made to bleed, Nigeria’s are living at a penny par day, why the wealth is flaunted by oil moguls who donate the millions to the President’s Presidential library. Our leaders’ unfortunately recall events in a slow motion, they learn in slow motion, they forget very fast. Nigeria is making almost 100 million USD a day from crude oil, yet the common man cannot put up a one naira smile a day. With the coins no longer in circulation and the five naira note going extinct, we are poise to welcome the N1000 note and the President is dreaming (yes dreaming) a third term. So that he can spend the over $10 billion that has accrued into the illegal excess crude account.

I do not always criticize the President for nothing, but one just cannot rationalize how they arrive at their decisions. If NEPA or PHCN call it anything, is working, and NITEL functional, water board supplying water not brown coffee, good road network with solid transport system and the government does not lie, they can gradually increase fuel prices till it hits 200 naira, no one would complain maybe. Not in a lifetime, as it stands it is a painful reality that 8 and half of 10 Nigerians were living under the poverty line and of that figure only 3 were engaged in salary employment yet our government is increasing fuel by American standards and making money from the same oil. It has become a case of the more oil you produce the less you have of the same product. This is call boju boju (masquerading).

If the government does not know that petrol in a macro-product that affects a whole lot of other products, that we are paying the highest for what we produce among OPEC, that a man on a 10, 000 Naira salary can no longer pay utilities, school fees, transport etc. Let the people take their fate like it is said not only in their hands but also their legs. Let’s chase these crazy puppets out of the yard (Nigeria). Our earnest hope may just rest on the fact that maybe Almighty would help us avoid the impending doom.