Ministers; Kerosene; And A Puny FG

By

Abdullahi Musa

kigongabas@gmail.com

Greece! The source of Western Civilization! But because nations rise and fall, today we hear of a Greece needing bailout. Even before then, it was not the biggest economy in Europe. Not only that, not many of us, I mean weak and inconsequential nations like those of Africa look up to Greece for any guidance. Greece came to my mind because the government in power there is trying to ram down austerity measures down the unwilling throats of Greeks. The ideal situation should be for the government that mismanaged the economy to fall; only then a new government with a new mandate to reinvigorate the system could hope to convince the impoverished citizens of the need for belt tightening.

One a times goes through life on automatic pilot, even though momentarily, and unconsciously. When in that gear, you sometimes come to realization that you missed out something, which required conscious effort to note. I suddenly realized that I did not know half the Ministers that made up President Jonathan’s cabinet prior the 2011 national elections. This I realized when I saw the picture of one Minister in a newspaper and I was seeing his face for the first time.

When a national daily carried a headline: Alison…etc. amongst names of Ministers submitted to Senate, I bought the paper, but I did not read the story. These are people whose existence touches my life only negatively. These were people who were given portfolios, but who according to many impoverished Nigerians ministered only to the interests of their party, family, friends, and necessary hangers-on. So today I do not know who and who made it, for I believe that they will not have any motivation to behave differently.

Now what has kerosene got to do with our title or discourse today? Well everything. The federal government of Nigeria is very powerful: highly muscular, with enormous resources at its disposal. The most lethal and the ones it relies upon for its legitimacy and survival are the armed forces and other Para-military outfits. Yet despite such size and power, it cannot, amongst other numerous failures, supply kerosene to its teeming population.

Did Nigerian women vote? What did they vote for? Did they vote so that they will be able to see the beautiful face of Diezene Alison Madueke on television and in newspapers? A Diezene who does not use kerosene to cook her family’s meals, or does not even cook at all? Was Diezene not the Minister for Ministry of  Petroleum Resources, the ministry that owns and directs the NNPC? The very same ministry that makes us laughing stock to the world, when we are shown with plastic containers waiting for unavailable kerosene, which even when found will be immediately used only to return for further humiliation?

How can we ensure that petroleum resources are available? Those who had been in the saddle said if only subsidies are withdrawn. And the Governors are chorusing the same line because they cannot find a way to foot the new wage bill. But when it was political office holders that were carting off hundreds of millions, the system could absorb it without recourse to subsidy removable.

Being a government of immense military and police might, one would have thought Nigerians would have been the most protected and secure people on earth; far from it. They had long suffered indignities from armed robbers; lives terminated by assassins; wealth lost in form of ransoms due to kidnapping; then came Boko Haram. But what is apparent is that the lethal security machine is only lethal against citizens, law-abiding citizens; but who may from time to time be pushed to the wall by inhumane neglect to want to cry out, or even to simply demonstrate. Then they will be made to understand that the federal government is powerful.

But for now, FG is puny when the issue is kerosene; same when it is proper funding of universities; a Lilliputian when the issue is providing security to citizens who internally in their hearts swear allegiance to the federal republic of Nigeria; a midget if the need is for safe and comfortable highways; a giant in coma when the issue to tackle is endemic corruption; but a USA-equivalent, capable of launching Operation Desert Storm if the task is winning election in Kaduna State at all cost.

You will not see me at Diezene’s swearing-in; if she has not already been sworn-in that is.