Fuel Subsidy - It’s not about you or me, it’s about Nigeria!

By Tony O. Elumelu, MFR

In late December, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan advised on the need for the removal of PMS subsidy, and stated that the government was still in consultations with stakeholders and was looking at an unspecified date (underground networks said April 2012) for its implementation.

All of a sudden, it was decided that we were not to be given an opportunity to have a Happy New Year as the rug was swept from under our feet, suddenly and fuel prices leaped from N65 per litre to N141 per litre, in the bigger metropolis like Lagos and Abuja, and up to over N200 per litre in other areas…with no buy-in from the majority who had elected the government in place, no clear communications as to the benefits of these steps, and no clear cut path on how we were to benefit from this.

Moving on for a moment, Mr Dele Momodu, in his article as published on ThisDay, titled “Who’s Misleading President Jonathan” complains that “the problem with our leaders is an acquisitive syndrome and a demonic addiction of greed, selfishness, myopia, wickedness, arrogance, and all other adjectives we can find in the lexicon.” Agreed that this is a deplorable state of events. However, is The Ovation, a magazine whose sole aim is to glorify this greed, myopia and arrogance, not owned by Chief Dele Momodu? Was it not he who famously went to General Sani Abacha’s opulent home to do an exclusive on the family?

I respected “We Shall Start Stoning The Economists In Official Corridors.”

Mallam Muhammadu Buhari a lot, but when he lost, his motives for running for President became questionable when he refused to place the welfare of the Nigerian people whom he wished to serve above his personal ambition to be President. At a time when he could have used his influence to quell unrest, his ego took over, and hundreds of Nigerians were killed in cold blood.

The House of Representatives called an emergency meeting and arrived at a motion advising the Federal Executive to temporarily reverse fuel price to N65 in order to allow room for more deliberations amongst stakeholders. If that were the singular problem being addressed, I would have considered it a victory. The more important motion to go after the identified industry looters was shot down by the house. How do you fight corruption without fighting the root cause? Is it because, according to a statement attributed to Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi on the online platform, Elombah, “this thing is a scam…that…cannot be stopped because the entire controls have been compromised[?]”What is truly going on here?

The Lagos Chair of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Mr Sunday Oginni, recently spoke on Channels television and it made sense when he said the unions were distrustful of the government’s subsidy re-investment committee (SURE) because only 3 years ago, the same argument was made for diesel/AGO subsidy removal with no tangible progress made from the monies saved. This argument made a lot of sense until it occurred to me that the unions had not been doing their jobs properly for allowing that to continue. If you, as an individual, were promised homes and cars if you would make a sacrifice, wouldn’t you a) make sure it is a signed undertaking b) set in place recognisable milestones, and c) follow up on agreed milestones at the requisite time? The average man on the street is beginning to get the impression that Labour Unions are putting up a charade for the average man. I may be wrong, though.

I was also surprised to read that former Military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, through a statement made available by his spokesman, Kassim Afegbua, believes that the “sole purpose of government is for the good of the people and not to create hardship.” He really thinks that? Then why did he increase the fuel price so many times during his tenure? Why…. Or is he repentant?

I watched Mr Fola Adeola on Channels during demonstrations, and he views were as objective as could be in a situation like this. He said something along the lines that indeed government has the right to implement policies, but that it was also their duty to positively engage and educate its polity on the benefits of the decision or policy to be implemented. Now, didn’t he make a logical point without obviously pursuing self-aggrandisement? After all, we are running a democratic system of government, are we not?

I give credit to Channels Television, amongst others, for dispassionately and bravely covering the on-going saga while the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) continues to prove that it is a government propaganda machine. What happened to the Public Relations theory of Development Media, which we evidently need in this nation?

Lessons We Need to Learn

It is not about any of us; it is about sustained progress of our nation, Nigeria. It is not about PMS subsidy renewal, it is about ethics and good governance. It is not about our political system (socialism, communism, etc, continually fail), it is about our VALUES SYSTEM. If anyone wishes to run for public office, they need to remove personal and political sentiments and ambitions in order to objectively guide this nation. This is not a time to fight personal grievances; but a time to fight for the united good. We want the basic amenities of life, food, security, water, electricity, good schools – we do not want hand outs!

Even though Mallam Sanusi Lamido and Dr Ngozi Iweala have proffered valid arguments for subsidy removal, in a nation where the government has constantly reneged on promises, it is understandable that people are ultimately hesitant. However, I strongly believe that the renewed interest of the mass of educated and intellectual Nigerians, both at home abroad, would curtail any planned shenanigans of the complicit parties in both the public and private sectors should the government go ahead with the petroleum subsidy removal.

This subsidy-gate scandal has made it all the more apparent that the issue of corruption is not the singular forte of the government alone. It is the questionable value systems of the people of our nations, starting with the man on the street, to private businesses and government parastatals. Our values have degenerated to the point where people have adopted selective conscientiousness in order to perpetrate atrocities both big and small. By the way, did you notice that the government is not an ‘evil force’? It is made up of individuals who have families, friends, fears and desires. It is made up of you and me. And the quality of governance is made up of the choices that we make.

We should, every one of us, bear in mind that it is our collective social responsibility to attain and retains sustained economic, political and social growth. Let us responsibly Occupy Nigeria!

* Published in the CSR-in-Action Blog on 19^th January, 2012.

*** Tony O. Elumelu, MFR (Nigeria), Chairman of Heirs Holdings. He is also the Founder of The Tony Elumelu Foundation, an Africa-based, African-funded not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion and celebration of excellence in business leadership and entrepreneurship across Africa.