Wada Nas
Today the world is unsafe for everybody as violence is increasing throughout the globe including our dear country. The endless Jukun/Tiv war, which has been on since the 70s, consumed 16 soldiers of peace recently when they were slaughtered, while on a peace mission, on the Benue-Taraba border. Their slaughter was callous, barbaric and primitive and must be condemned as such. These soldiers were there to ensure peace, yet those for whom they were sent to protect, were those who slaughtered them.
But the question is how possible was it for civilian to disarm 16 well-trained soldiers. Sure the civilians made this possible by the possession of superior firepower. Reports have it that sophisticated weapons, including launchers, are being used in the crisis. How did they come by these weapons? It would appear that military authorities do not take proper custody of weapons from retiring military personnel. This call for vigilance in future.
It is a pity that a small disagreement between two people could lead to massive destruction of life and property, killing human beings like rams without sympathy, using religion as a cover. This is the most painful aspect of it.
The truth about these happenings, however, is that some rogues and thieves create avenues to cause these problems in order to loot peoples property. It is important to note that looting has been the hallmark of most of these crises.
We must all rise up, work together as brothers and sisters and citizens of the same country to put an end to these senseless killings and burning of places of worship. It is a sin to set ablaze places of worship.
We are all aware of what is happening to Afghanistan and what led to it. The attack on the World Trade Centre in America is condemnable. Not only America but the entire mankind deserve condolences for what happened.
Still there is no justification for what is going on in Afghanistan particularly that no sufficient proof has been found linking that country or Bin Laden with the crime. Both Britain and America are acting on mere suspicions and this is very wrong in law. It is not enough to show the evidence to only NATO members since in truth NATO is Britain and America. It is important to note that no Afghan was found on the list of 700 names being suspected as brain behind the attack. Afghanistan is also not known as a country engaged in exporting so-called terrorism. There is, therefore, no justification to attack her in the way Britain and America are doing.
Worse, they are killing civilians and attacking civilian targets. Destroying electricity and water supply amounts to destroying and attacking civilian targets. In any case, the killing of Red Cross officials and the bombing of a village in which 2000 died have demonstrated the proof of this. It is absolutely wrong in law to punish anybody on mere suspicion and this is what is happening in that poor country now left to its fate by the United Nations.
Humanity pleads that an end is put to this bombing of innocent persons. Already they have destroyed major towns in that country and they are telling the world that they are not after civilian targets. Are residents of these towns military men?
Recently I issued a statement on the ban placed on the importation of Tokumbo cars as from next year. I want to elaborate on this release
All Nigerians have the obligation to support this administration in its drive to bring our country out of the woods. In doing so, it is our collective responsibility to draw attention to policy measures that may draw back the hand of the clock so that it would not be capitalized upon by enemies of progress who don’t want the best for the majority of our citizens.
This is why it is important to take a very critical look at the policy announcing the ban on used imported cars, otherwise known as tokumbo of over five years after manufacture as from 1st January next year. We wish to note that perhaps, acting with the best of intentions, government took this decision to protect locally assembled vehicles with a view to enhancing their productive capacity, which, if achieved could widen employment horizon within the sub-sector. We share the belief that some official measures are needed to protect domestic industry. The popular theory that flows from here is that outside competition, in this particular case, by importers of used cars, needs be curtailed to achieve these objectives.
While these points may not all together be valid, it is necessary to look at them from the perspectives of the problems of local assembly plants and the implications of the policy when it comes in to operation. While some interested parties see part of the problems confronting these plants to the issue of imported used vehicles, the truth is that it is these problems that encouraged their importation in the first place and not the other way round.
The introduction of SAP caused a serious decline in demands for the products of these plants when their prices rose beyond the financial capacity of consumers without corresponding increase in the purchasing power. SAP brought in its works the fall of the naira and this affected the plants. Consequently, these combined to cripple their capacity utilisation. This was the situation existing then before the emergence of tokumbo vehicles.
Matters were made worse by the serious declined in public transportation system. The situation was so chaotic that people had to trek long distances to get to their places of work. Scenes at bus stops, after office hours and within commercial areas, including markets, were quite pathetic.
Consequently, some concerned Nigerians, found an opening on ground and rose up to the challenge to change the situation for the better. While it may be alright to say that it was in pursuit of their self economic interest that they took advantage of the system, the truth also remains that but for their action the serious neglect of the transportation sector, air, road and rail, would have caused serious security problem for the nation arising from high cost of transportation and its negative impact on prices and society in general.
The entire situation that gave rise to the importation of used cars has not changed, and if at all, has changed for the worse. In the eighties, when SAP came into being, an average brand new car was costing about N15,000. Today, the same car is selling at about N2 million enough to buy five imported cars of the same make. The naira is now about N140 to the dollar as against N12.00 in the 80s.
What this simply means is that even if government bans all categories of used vehicles today, the production capacity of locally assembled vehicles would not improve because their prices would remain beyond the financial capacity of the people. In fact with competition no longer coming from used cars dealers, locally assembled vehicles would increase prices in the face of forced increase in demand and 90% of buyers would remain government and its agencies, but certainly not the people. The implication is that government at various levels, would be spending more, to service the interest of workers, and this would impact negatively on scarce resources available for more important development needs.
In the ultimate therefore, this policy would retard progress and this in itself would diminish employment prospects because once there is no sufficient funds to encourage activities in the economy, employment becomes a casualty. And we all know the implication of this.
Thus, far from encouraging growth in the sub-sector, the ban would cause a drawback, serious price increase and a toll on government coffers, since as the only major customer, it would be forced to spend more on the purchase of vehicle for official use.
The poor value of the Naira apart, public transportation is still poor and would get worse when the policy cause in to effect. Without the means to purchase imported vehicles, of five years old, those locally assembled, medium scale transport owners would be thrown out of business and their workers retrenched. Worse still, massive transportation problem, more than hitherto, would become more problematic with consequences on prices. Dealers of used vehicles and their numerous staff, including other supporting staff, would be thrown into the highly problematic labour market which would, in turn, give rise to armed robbery, communal and so called religious crises, most of which were being generated by unemployment.
Believe that at a time when government is complaining of the serious consequences of unemployment, at a time when it is out fighting this social ill, at a time when it has put a machinery in place on the eradication of poverty, which occurs due to unemployment, at a time when it is finding it difficult to arrest the unemployment trend; at a time when car prices are beyond the purchasing power of the people and at a time when public transportation has collapsed, now, is not the time for government to deny the average Nigerian the opportunity to own his own car, or to throw some in to the jobless market. It is for this reasons that I am calling on Mr. President and his administration to rethink this policy, not necessary from the point of view of dealers and other stakeholders and their staff but from the perspective of the interest of the average Nigerian and indeed the entire society.