Jonathan

Jonathan's Contaminated Fresh Air

Sani Aliyu

A scenario of a poor boy that barely made it to school bare footed in a period where fuel was sold at less than 15kobo per litter, his parent could not afford slippers even at this period of economic harmony yet due to the enabling environment created by then government gave him the opportunity to go to school, this was his popular slogan during his campaign, reassuring the populace of his understanding of their dare needs, as he situate his position to strengthen them since he is coming from the same humbled background. Pushing forward a well carved out words “A breath of Fresh Air” whether he is oblivion to the true meaning this words, this I wonder. Come to think about it, if this fuel product was hike during his growing years with all its ripple effect on all other essentials, one would but wonder if at all his parent could have ever afford to send him to school. An apparent messiah that turns out bizarre.

Nigeria has truly done well for giving him good life after all, as well as Nigerians, especially the dawn trodden, whose crime today is voting him in as President at the instance of knowing too well that he lacks the needed required experience to voyage Nigeria to the next level at this critical period of our nationhood. But the electorate embraced him because of his very ordinary background believing that he will truly give them new lease of life through his promised “Fresh Breath of Air” little did they know that it is a highly carbonated Air that would ultimately choke them to early death.

A popular saying in part of Nigeria, that “the Friday that will be good is precursor on Wednesday” in my previous article prior to his campaign, at the back page of Daily Summit, captioned “Ijaw or South-South Agenda” I did justice to his person, so, for me, am not surprise because I have long known that Nigerians would be taken in for a ride as nothing good would come out of a vision less leader. Talking about vision, please refer to of blessed memory late General Murtala Ramat Mohammed, our visionary leader whose six month leadership gives us the freshness of Abuja and indeed many good things in Nigeria, and so it doesn’t take ages to establish a pathway.

The emptiness in today’s leadership calls for urgent national rendezvous as the integrity of our nationhood is in peril, Nigeria a peace loving nation, a nation that has always manage its challenges, never in our corporate existence and history suffer such blow of continued insecurity and confusion allayed with unabated hardship and economic telling without visible solution but illusive permutations aimed at impoverishing the masses and safeguarding the well heeled who have contributed immensely in cash for the electoral spending that evidently ushered him in.

Sacrifice in the course of strife by no small measure calm nerves, especially when indicators signals light at the end of the tunnel, and so, the removal of the so called oil subsidy wouldn’t have been a problem if a tangible program is attached to it, for instance, in truth, Nigeria has no business importing finish petroleum products, and so if the administration frown to the subsidy as a result of importation and say, hey Nigerians, we cannot afford importing what we export at the expense of tax payers money and so, sacrifice must be made for a period of stated time, oil subsidy shall be remove and the accruals shall be use to build a number of Refineries, because much as we refine locally there will be no need for any subsidy, then Nigerians would acknowledge true nationalist in power, and for sure all will concur.

But the lack of define purpose evolve the hopelessness which spurred out these unprecedented protest because the government has no plans, especially coming from the background of two similar experiences, the first, which is the most vilified and infamous Abacha’s administration, with its modest pump price increase, done in a most civilized manner with PPRA coming on air to broadcast what necessitated the increase and how the government attached its program of infrastructural overhaul showcased by the honest two naira PTF spending and achievement and that of Obasanjo’s forty three naira increment tantamount to colossal waste that Nigerians are bitter about because of the unaccountability which gave birth to open round tripping going on today in the up and dawn stream of the oil sector garnished with other varied sharp practices amidst vague administrative transparency heralded the current impasse.

Nigerians are living witness to the squandering of the foreign reserve by Jonathan’s led administration, the records are there, from Baba Iyabo’s regime who proudly safe some part of crude oil excess account to the tune of about 48billion dollars and how Yar’adua’s prudent spending managed the account less 5billion dollars in three years, on the demise of late President Yar’adua and the assumption of office of President Jonathan, in just one year that is the last lap of Yar’aduas administration all the balance monies where gone down the drain though I stand to be corrected. And so how can Nigerians trust this same man with his abracadabra? And if the government is not prudent with its spending should Nigerians bear the brunt? What money spinning investment has the government in mind to invest the subsidy accruals? And For how long can we stay in hunger and deprivation?