why is GEJ only talking abt removing fuel subsidy; why not also talk abt building more refineries?

the cartels are at work; hope we dont bcom like Russia; where the cartels runs even the presidency,

God help us.

Havent u guys heard abt the new car plate no. this one is to make another cartel a multi-billionaire,

D storms are gathering.I am beginning to see anoda gameplan here,why he's hellbent on its removal now:could it b that when its finally tabled at d assembly,nigerians wi b so enmassed in d battle that we won't see when d 7yr term proposal will b smuggled in,then passed?Or after d groundswell of opposition,d "I had no shoes" man will come out to withdraw d proposal,he comes across as a messiah & effortlessly gets d tenure elongation,aka,single tenure passed wt him being d 1st beneficiary?GEJ maynot b as dull as some people think.

I will continue to say it '' ALL WE NEED IS A REVOLUTION'', Its the ONLY solution for the masses.

Just pray this doesnt cause an uprising

http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1011/10-Countries-With-The-Cheapest-Gas-At-The-Pump.aspx#axzz0UW1UjHQZ

Cheapest at the Pump
It's not that way everywhere. In fact, in some countries gas is given away or downright cheap. The countries where you can find the cheapest gas at the pump, in U.S. dollars per gallon (2010):

1. Venezuela (7.6 cents)
2. Iran (37.9 cents)
3. Saudi Arabia (60.6 cents)
4. Libya (64.4 cents)
5. Qatar (71.9 cents)
6. Bahrain (79.5 cents)
7. Turkmenistan (83.3 cents)
8. Kuwait (87.1 cents)
9. Oman ($1.173)
10. Algeria ($1.211)

Nigeria is not here

Per Capita GDP at PPP. Nigeria's at PPP is $2,400

In the United States this figure was $46,860 in 2010.

1. Venezuela ($12,048)
2. Iran ($11,882)
3. Saudi Arabia ($22,606)
4. Libya ($13,845)
5. Qatar ($88,221)
6. Bahrain ($26,931)
7. Turkmenistan ($6,804)
8. Kuwait ($38,774)
9. Oman ($25,491)
10. Algeria ($6,965)

While paying $1.211 for a gallon of gas, or around $18 for a 15 gallon fill up, seems cheap, it doesn't look so cheap when

Algeria's per capita GDP at PPP is $6,965. Filling up twice a month for a year would be $435, or about 6% of per capita GDP at PPP.

Filling up a tank in the U.S. the same number of times at $3.417/gallon would cost $1230/year, o[b]r 2.6%.[/b]

Pls read:good for our consumption.by Simon kolawole on naijamix.net.wahala dey o.which way naija

I am a notorious profuel subsidy activist. Ive done this all my life. My reasons are twofold. One, as citizens of a petroleumrich country, why should Nigerians not enjoy the privilege of paying lower prices for fuel? Two, in a country where over 70 percent are classified as living below the poverty line, I believe fuel subsidy is the only social security or dole that the masses enjoy. All my arguments for fuel subsidy over the years hang on these two threads. Many readers often agreed with me, while industry experts always disagreed. Ive been involved in countless arguments over the subsidy issue. Ive even made enemies in the process.

However, my prosubsidy resolve was badly damaged in December 2009 following the confidential briefing I received from an industry player who was pushing for full deregulation of the downstream sector. In one of the most frightening briefings I have ever received on the economy, the man took me through the sordid details of how a few people milk the treasury in the name of subsidy. Whenever you hear that the government has spent N500 billion on fuel subsidy, discount it by at least 60 per cent, he said. Fuel subsidy is the biggest fraud in the history of Nigeria.

He listed three aspects of the subsidy fraud. One, he said a fuel importer could bring in 2000 metric tonnes and claim subsidy for 8,000 metric tonnes. The markup will be shared down the line, he said. Even if you are a pastor, you will fall for it. The money is just too much. Imagine the billions of naira available to be shared on a regular basis. So the regulatory system is compromised and weakened. Two, he said NNPC always imports more than it has storage facility for. So the product is stored at private tank farms. If NNPC stores 30 million litres with your farm, you dont have to account for 10 million litres. There is a process by which you can account for only 5 million litres as long as you know how to share the proceeds of the remaining 5 million litres with those who matter.

I jumped up, transfixed, mouth agape, arms akimbo. Relax, Simon, relax, he said, sarcastically. I enjoy reading your column, but your problem is that you write too much about ideals. Nigeria is not an ideal country. There are many things that are unheard of all over the world that you will find in Nigeria. What works perfectly in Saudi Arabia and Norway will not work here. Ask yourself: how come our refineries have not been working for ages? Name another country that has four refineries that hardly work. Do you know how many emergency billionaires we have produced through turnaround maintenance contracts in the last 20 years?

He finally listed the third aspect of the fraud. Listen to him: When they tell you the landing cost of petrol is N100 and the pump price is N65, it means the importer will get subsidy payment of a little over N35 per litre. Now, that is another fraud. There are different grades of PMS (petrol). They do not go for the same price. In the UK, for instance, the price of leaded petrol is different from that of unleaded. In Nigeria, we dont distinguish between grades. We pay the same price. So the landing cost of the lowest grade may be N75, but the importer still gets a subsidy payment of about N35 instead of N10 per litre. Do the math. Multiply that by millions of litres everyday and you will understand the fraud. Remember too that the importers get paid for demurrage even if they dont incur it. I can go on and on.

To cap it all, he said: Simon, I can tell you authoritatively that our daily PMS consumption is not as high as officially quoted. It is the biggest fraud ever. We keep calculating subsidy on the assumption that we consume 40 million litres a day. Remember to always discount the official figures. It is good for your health.

I had never been that sober in my life. The fear of God gripped me. But I gradually summoned courage and asked: But cant government do something about these fraudsters? Cant they be thrown into jail? Why should Nigerians be punished with higher fuel prices because a few people are abusing the subsidy regime?

He sighed. What government? In a country where you can actually swear to an affidavit that you are President Barack Obama and, with a N200 bribe, the document will be stamped in court? You think these people are stealing this subsidy money without the involvement of government officials? And you think one government official will turn down N50 million just to sign a document that says youve brought in 10,000 metric tonnes of PMS? Are you kidding me, Simon? Are you saying you dont know that fuel subsidy is the easiest way for government to fund patronage and reward its friends and loyalists?

Sensing that he had subdued me, he declared: The way forward is total deregulation. Free the market. Let anybody who wants to bring in fuel bring it in at his own cost and charge the market price. The money government is spending on fake subsidy should go somewhere else that will help develop the country. That is what you should be fighting for. Unfortunately, those of you who keep fighting for the retention of fuel subsidy dont know that you are playing into the hands of the cabal that milks the treasury of billions and billions of naira every year.

After the encounter, I began to meditate on the way around this scandal. I came up with a twopart series entitled: Time to Rethink Fuel Subsidy published in February 2010, when President Umaru Musa YarAdua was away in Saudi Arabia receiving medical attention. I reshaped my longheld position on fuel subsidy and argued that it should be paid directly into the salary package of workers. I said there should be an item called fuel subsidy on the pay slip. This is like a direct transfer to the citizens. That way, the money would reach the people while fuel pricing would be left to the market. But my amended position was weak on many counts: what of Nigerians who dont have jobs? How would they benefit? What of the private sector? Wont ghost workers begin to surface to claim fuel subsidy? The major problem with my proposal is that we dont have a national ID system where every citizen will have a social security number. So any attempt to transfer money directly to Nigerians will be massively abused.

Obviously, wethe diehard fuel subsidy activistsare losing the argument. But does that mean the government is winning the argument? The answer is no. To start with, I find it very bemusing the way government is handling the issue. We just woke up one day to learn that the government had written to the National Assembly saying fuel subsidy would be removed from January. The lawmakerswho are very important in the whole gameheard of it, just like any other Nigerian, when the letter was read on the floor of the National Assembly. That is terrible. I am also not aware that the labour unions were consulted in the first place, even if they would oppose it.

And, up till now, I am not aware of an articulated government presentation to Nigerians on the issue. What is the problem? What is the solution? What is the message for Nigerians? How are Nigerians going to be sure that the benefits would reach them at all after decades of failed promises? The impression Im getting is that we are only discussing the removal of subsidy so that the governors would be able to pay the new minimum wage. If that is the case, government has already missed the road. Already, there is a wide communication gap between the government and the people on this fuel subsidy issue, which we all know is highly inflammable (no pun intended).

As for me, the only condition that can make the removal of subsidy attractive is for us to be cocksure of how we would enjoy the benefits. When Gen. Sani Abacha increased fuel prices in 1994, he set up the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund (PTF), under the leadership of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, to spend the savings on infrastructural development. We all saw what PTF did. It remains the best public works programme the country has embarked upon in ages. Anything short of this landmark will be a massive failure.

[color=#990000][font=Lucida Sans Unicode]I think our government should grow balls and start taking drastic measures to develop these country and stop whining about subsidy removal. If they are not brave enough to tackle cabals in the oil sector, then they should go ahead and ban importation of fuel out rightly, it would hurt us all for sometime but that would force or encourage all this importers to start building there own refineries. I know ObJ did something similar with food beverages, livestock and second hand automobile industries some years back we all cried foul but see where we are today with the likes of Chi group, Dangote, bigger poultry farms etc. We even have larger number of brand new cars on our road now unlike years back. Stop importation, build refineries then we see where we go from there. [/font][/color]

yd849ja:


I think our government should grow balls and start taking drastic measures to develop these country and stop whining about subsidy removal. If they are not brave enough to tackle cabals in the oil sector, then they should go ahead and ban importation of fuel out rightly, it would hurt us all for sometime but that would force or encourage all this importers to start building there own refineries. I know ObJ did something similar with food beverages, livestock and second hand automobile industries some years back we all cried foul but see where we are today with the likes of Chi group, Dangote, bigger poultry farms etc. We even have larger number of brand new cars on our road now unlike years back. Stop importation, build refineries then we see where we go from there.

This was what Ezekwesili was indirectly telling them when she implored them to sort out "supply" before they attempt this move. Ezekwesili is showing  that  removal of subsidy will only be feasible when conducive conditions are in place.

Imagine the dream scenario where we have enough optimally functioning refineries to enable us produce enough refined oil, and its useful derivatives, for local consumption and export. Yet, rather than expedite efforts to bring forward this laudable target , that will surely turn the fortune of the Nation around, the GEJ Government assigns the worthless NNPC with the all-important task of ensuring our refineries work optimally within 2 years!!!! Sheer madness !!! The ' Cart before the Horse' approach of this government is the greatest proof of its intrinsic insincerity and indifference to the problems of ordinary Nigerians.

Everyone is clamouring for the retention of fuel subsidy but can anyone actually tell us what the price of fuel is today without subsidy? How much is the govt contributing as subsidy? What is the actual cost of landing petrol per litre in Nigeria?
I have seen that a lot of people are still complaining about high cost of government and alluding it to the number of PAs to the ministers and so on and I ask myself, were this people not aware that GEJ has given a strong warning and his ministers have complied that all ministers should have only 2 assistants on the FG payroll unlike what it was before, are we not aware that Yaradua had already slashed the allowances of his staff and himself of which GEJ is still using and the NASS are the ones that are yet to do same and there is independence in the 3 different arms of government.
I personally don’t believe that ordinary Nigerians are benefitting from this subsidy, I am aware that as at 2005 the cost of landing fuel in Nigeria was N20 per litre and a recent report in 2009 showed that the price of delivering fuel to the fuel stations in Nigeria is about N54 and some kobos.
A lot of us suspect this govt and don’t believe in their ability to judiciously utilize the savings from the subsidy removal, to me that is a gamble we have to take, Nigeria is for all of us and if Nigeria fails under Jonathans watch it is a disaster he would have to bear all his life and we are not considering that his name is worth more than the billions he stands to make.
For those asking those of us who voted GEJ to suck it up here is my own personal message to you, I have no regrets in voting GEJ and I believe he is on course, thanks for the advise but we await 2015 for proper assessment of how he fared but I have no regrets for voting and campaigning for him.

I ll take that with a pinch of salt.

WE have a lost president! Father Lord Please Intervane!

Common 18,000 naira minimum wage, they cannot pay. GEJ, by the time Landlords increased their 50,000 naira houses to 120,000 naira, 120,000 naira to 250,000 naira, 200,000 naira to 450,000 naira, what do you want us to do? By the time a tomatoes cup of 30 naira becomes 80 naira, what do you want us to do?
Why is it difficult for our lootocratic President and Governors fails to have human sympathy? By the way, who are the few that are today benefiting from the subsidy that Jonathan cannot name?
I weep for my Country Nigeria!

This subsidy saga is intriguing as it is annoying.  It goes without saying that extracting "goo" and refining it isn't rocket science.  What is baffling is the extra mile we as a nation can't go to get this into finished products that are in high demand globally.  As if it wasn't insulting enough that we can't refine to meet our needs, talk more of exporting, it was reported that our very same government was planning to invest NIGERIAN money in refineries abroad.     

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/10/nigeria-to-invest-n428-8bn-2-68bn-in-3-refineries-in-indonesia

One begins to wonder if the "ring-fenced" Sovereign Wealth Fund will be protected from such waste.  We do not need to set up committees to discuss the effect of the subsidy removal on the disposable income of the average Joe on the street - he simply wouldn't have one.  Oops, that's been done already!  And would the members of this "management committee" be paid? Where from? 

As some posters have clearly stated, until our refineries are working / more are built, and those benefitting from the importation of petroleum products cut off, government should not tinker with the subsidy removal.

Did anyone read X-Factorial post.

If the subsidy is working well and been used to serve the purpose of patronage why then does Jonathan want it off?

If jonathan can skim of N5 perlitre on the subsidy why would he want to do away with wath allows him to pocket N200m daily as his cut in fuel subsidy. This is scam that can not and will not be traced to him.

Nigerians we need to open our eyes wide before calling for a revolution and collapse of this democracy, ask yourselves what happened to Buhari in 1985, he worked hard to rescue the nation and took drastic actions which included jailing politicians but when he was removed and Nigerians celebrated the arrival of IBB who released all political prisoners and politicians we saw where he landed us.

We must be careful of our planned revolution cos many more are eyening that N5 perlitre per day subsidy allowance.

^^^

I did my brother. Indeed, if we don't remove the susbsidy, in the next 10 years, we will come back to this point - still asking for refineries to be built before subsidy is removed.

To cap it all, he said: Simon, I can tell you authoritatively that our daily PMS consumption is not as high as officially quoted. It is the biggest fraud ever. We keep calculating subsidy on the assumption that we consume 40 million litres a day. Remember to always discount the official figures. It is good for your health.

I had never been that sober in my life. The fear of God gripped me. But I gradually summoned courage and asked: But cant government do something about these fraudsters? Cant they be thrown into jail? Why should Nigerians be punished with higher fuel prices because a few people are abusing the subsidy regime?

He sighed. What government? In a country where you can actually swear to an affidavit that you are President Barack Obama and, with a N200 bribe, the document will be stamped in court? You think these people are stealing this subsidy money without the involvement of government officials? And you think one government official will turn down N50 million just to sign a document that says youve brought in 10,000 metric tonnes of PMS? Are you kidding me, Simon? Are you saying you dont know that fuel subsidy is the easiest way for government to fund patronage and reward its friends and loyalists?

Very insightful.

The PDP Plunder continues!!!

Return Abacha loot - PDP cronies share it.
debt forgiveness - PDP cronies share
Sell government companies - PDP cronies sell to themselves & share the money
sell government Houses. - PDP cronies sell to themselves & share the money
Budget $16BN for Power rehabilitation - PDP cronies share the money
Budget billions for roads rehab - PDP cronies share the money

remove oil subsidy - PDP cronies will surely share the money
They will think of many more ways , taxing us to the bones , toll gates on bad roads, new expensive car number plates,etc
We will of course continue to vote PDP - for THE FRESH AIR

Simply put, the "subsidy" has to go and the money "saved" put to some specific good to society. While this may be a grand idea, it can't happen just yet!

For starters, we must refine our own crude within the country.  That way, we won't depend on imports, and the cartel will be cut off. When this is achieved, whatever it costs to extract and refine the crude, plus a mark-up (for profitability) can be transferred to the masses.  Apart from the jobs this would create and improvement in knowledge transfer, just think about the enormous amount of road building asphalt / other by-products we can get!

It is counter-intuitive to think that demanding for refineries to be built / repaired will not help in stemming this costly practice of importing what we can make in-country. The big question is: can the government get rid of these thieving saboteurs?

Note that even the Labour unions are not against fuel subsidy removal. what they demand is not even palliatives. But that government must ensure the existing four refinaries are producing at full capacity and the building of four new additional refinaries. this is not rocket science. this is very achievable and will greatly reduce unemployment. But the government is really not worried about Nigerian economy collapse. rather they are worried about their ever increasing insatiable appetite for xtra cash to steal and share.

nagoma:

The PDP Plunder continues!!!

Return Abacha loot - PDP cronies share it.
debt forgiveness - PDP cronies share
Sell government companies - PDP cronies sell to themselves & share the money
sell government Houses. - PDP cronies sell to themselves & share the money
Budget $16BN for Power rehabilitation - PDP cronies share the money
Budget billions for roads rehab - PDP cronies share the money

remove oil subsidy - PDP cronies will surely share the money
They will think of many more ways , taxing us to the bones , toll gates on bad roads, new expensive car number plates,etc
We will of course continue to vote PDP - for THE FRESH AIR

Don't mind them.
Show me on road that was built with the Abacha loot?
show me where all the money voted for the repairs of Benin/Ore road went to?
Each time they roll out the same tired old stories and tell us it will be different this time.
to hell with palliative measures!!
imagine over 300 delegates to the CHOGM meeting in Perth??
Yet even the host govt has less representatives. Prime Minister Gillard arrives perth on the 26th to receive her visitors yet GEJ and his band of clowns arrived days before the host arrived town.
What are those 300 people doing in Perth?
Until this govt addresses the wantom waste it is indulging in, i do not expect any sane person to listen to any subsidy removal.
If it is the subsidy that will collapse this collapsing economy, let it be.
This govt has no moral right to preach subsidy removal,until it earns that right,the subsidy should remain.

mbulela:

Don't mind them.
Show me on road that was built with the Abacha loot?
show me where all the money voted for the repairs of Benin/Ore road went to?
Each time they roll out the same tired old stories and tell us it will be different this time.
to hell with palliative measures!!
imagine over 300 delegates to the CHOGM meeting in Perth??
Yet even the host govt has less representatives. Prime Minister Gillard arrives perth on the 26th to receive her visitors yet GEJ and his band of clowns arrived days before the host arrived town.
What are those 300 people doing in Perth?
[b]Until this govt addresses the wantom waste it is indulging in, i do not expect any sane person to listen to any subsidy removal.[/b]
If it is the subsidy that will collapse this collapsing economy, let it be.
This govt has no moral right to preach subsidy removal,until it earns that right,the subsidy should remain.

Very well said my brother. Only the most blindly loyal servants of GEJ will feign ignorance of his insensitive refusal to cut the cost of Governance as the entire world is vociferously demanding of Nigeria. If the UK and other wealthy nations can make wide-ranging cuts to save their country, what is the excuse of the nation that enjoys the infamy of having the most hideously expensive democracy in the entire world? What sense does it make, even to the most rabid fan of GEJ, that Mr. President and his AGIPs fail to make any sacrifice when , factually, Nigeria is a testimony to gross waste, wanton corruption and a highly profligate system within which every senator earns around 6 times the $400, 000.00 salary of Obama.

This wickedness Jonathan has now wilfully embraced will destroy Nigeria. What he promised before the elections is now relegated to be replaced by controversial and callous policies he never mentioned to the populace while seeking votes and 'endorsements'. It is an issue like this callous and wicked pretense of subsidy removal , highly punitive of a long suffering people, that will make even the most liberal Nigerians wish that Boko haram focus on wiping out deserving evil and greedy villains instead of innocent Nigerians who are themselves victims.

by beef: What I suggest the palliatives be, are free primary education with World standard schools or subsidised health care. Such things would be valued a lot and would directly benefit the common man.

If we go for free eductation then we can get XO computers or the new $36.00 Indian tablet for every student. I'd really love to see that.

Now i completely believe that you are either living in planet mars or u the most delusional being on earth or better still, you have lost all things that makes us human!

not only new $36 Indian tablet for every student, you should also add iphone4s into the package!

Mark this comment - your GEJ is heading for a terrible crash! and it will affect the entire Niger Deltans! Let him continue with the removal of the non-existent fuel subsidy trash!

GEJ should concentrate on how to build effective and efficient refinery in order to refine our crude and stop in importation of petroleum products for local consumption.If this could be done,subsidy will die naturally even the prices of petroleum products will reduce drastically.

greateros:

Now i completely believe that you are either living in planet mars or u the most delusional being on earth or better still, you have lost all things that makes us human!

not only new $36 Indian tablet for every student, you should also add iphone4s into the package!

Mark this comment - your GEJ is heading for a terrible crash! and it will affect the entire Niger Deltans! Let him continue with the removal of the non-existent fuel subsidy trash!

i actually felt dizzy after reading that post.

marvix:

Did anyone read X-Factorial post.

If the subsidy is working well and been used to serve the purpose of patronage why then does Jonathan want it off?

If jonathan can skim of N5 perlitre on the subsidy why would he want to do away with wath allows him to pocket N200m daily as his cut in fuel subsidy. This is scam that can not and will not be traced to him.

Nigerians we need to open our eyes wide before calling for a revolution and collapse of this democracy, ask yourselves what happened to Buhari in 1985, he worked hard to rescue the nation and took drastic actions which included jailing politicians but when he was removed and Nigerians celebrated the arrival of IBB who released all political prisoners and politicians we saw where he landed us.

We must be careful of our planned revolution cos many more are eyening that N5 perlitre per day subsidy allowance.

Very apt argument. However, many Nigerians prefer emotional arguments to the cold logic that will drive the nation forward. Many enemies of the country also push emotional arguments because it suits their corrupt pockets.

Beaf:

Very apt argument. However, many Nigerians prefer emotional arguments to the cold logic that will drive the nation forward. Many enemies of the country also push emotional arguments because it suits their corrupt pockets.

Reading between your lines, you silently admit that GEJ pockets N200m daily. As you are a GEJ disciple, I'm glad that the truth is coming out in trickles cos if this had come out in a thread with a different topic, you would have strongly opposed this. There is surely more that meets the eye going on in Aso Rock.

Nigeria is definitely ripe for revolution.

renewnaija:

Reading between your lines, you silently admit that GEJ pockets N200m daily. As you are a GEJ disciple, I'm glad that the truth is coming out in trickles cos if this had come out in a thread with a different topic, you would have strongly opposed this. There is surely more that meets the eye going on in Aso Rock.

Nigeria is definitely ripe for revolution.

Keep "reading between the lines," in my books it is called telling lies.

^^^

GEJ will not admit to his fuel subsidy cut so I dont expect his disciple to either.

renewnaija:

^^^

GEJ will not admit to his fuel subsidy cut so I dont expect his disciple to either.

You losers are a desperate lot, GEJ is benefiting from the subsidy, yet he wants it kicked out?! Lol!
Thats chicken brained, sir.
Abeg go and start your revolution jare, Nigerians are waiting to be amazed at the display of fountains of foolishness.

You sound like a fuel marketer panicking that they are about to be kicked in the teeth for the benefit of the man in the street.