well said and written

tundewoods:

Let me first start by wishing you all a happy new year, despite all the circumstances that may be forcing the Nigerian citizenry to think otherwise.

With all due respect the year 2012 has started on a very turbo charged note, using the word high note will not do justice to this piece that is why I have used the term turbo charged considering the January 1, 2012 shocker our Commander in Chief, G.Ebele Jonathan gave to the Nigerian Nation.

Ok, so we Nigerians refused to eventually read the handwriting on the wall as per the implementation of the total removal of fuel subsidy and we received the surprise of our lives. How could we even have refused to sense this considering the fact that the recent concluded town hall meeting organized to debate the dreaded fuel subsidy removal by the Govt Pro agitators and the Labour & Masses, Subsidy retainership party ended on a rather “No winner, No Loser” Note. If the news reports that trailed after the town hall meeting was anything to go by,most press reports gave an April 1st 2012 kick off date for the implementation of the fuel subsidy removal era. To be honest I was suspect of this date considering the fact that it also doubles as the global date for April fools day. No doubt we may have fallen for the April 2012 decoy set up by Govt.

All said and done, Nigerians have gotten the big slam with the rather deceptive sudden kick off of the fuel subsidy removal but the fact remains that we the Anti fuel subsidy removal agitators have a very solid argument based on the fact that implementation of total removal of fuel subsidy in an economy like Nigeria’s is very disastrous considering the fact we have little or no social security provisions in place for the masses. Also considering the fact that the circumstances surrounding the decision by government to remove the subsidy is rather one sided than balanced. Reasons given for removal bordered around the premise that the savings accrued from the subsidy will be now be reinvested to capital projects bla bla bla. It is funny how the government wants the citizenry to make such huge sacrifices yet the executive and legislative are not willing to cut on their spending. I don’t need to go into details on the ridiculous spending of government but may I remind you that only the salaries of our lawmakers alone accounts for a chump of our recurrent expenditure budget.

Now let us get to the main course of my article. No doubt the word SUBSIDY may have grown to be the most frequently used word in the Nigerian political & economic landscape ever since the news hint of fuel subsidy removal filtered into the Nigerian atmosphere shortly after the re-election of President Jonathan.
I would like to shed more light on the word subsidy based on dictionary definitions.

According to thefreedictionary.com :
[1] Subsidy is defined as monetary assistance granted by a government to a person or group in support of an enterprise regarded as being in the public interest.
[2] Subsidy is a financial grant made originally for special purposes by Parliament to the Crown.
[3] A Subsidy is any monetary contribution, grant, or aid.

If you take a close look at all these three definitions you will notice that they are all applicable to the Nigerian fuel subsidy scenario in the sense that Government claims to be supporting & contributing to the money paid for a liter of fuel which in its own words translates into billions of Naira yearly until recently that our gracious economic cabinet revealed that subsidy spending have hit the trillion Naira mark which in my own little understanding of economics portrays the red light.

Now some may find my article caption of “A Subsidized President” hilarious or offensive but let’s get the facts straight. You and I know that our dear president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is also a product of this gracious word “Subsidy” fueled by Luck. GEJ as he is popularly referred to ascended the throne of power not once but twice because his bosses were one way or the other struck by hard luck. Any presently I guess I don’t need to play the history teacher to remind you of how the once unknown former lecturer from the University of Port Harcourt was handed the mantle of authority in Bayelsa state when his then immediate boss, Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was enmeshed in the corruption scandal that eventually got him impeached and booted out of government house of Yenegoa.

Eventually,destiny repeated itself with the rather painful passage of former Nigerian president Umar Musa Yaradua, but this was not after a bitter scandalous power vacuum that was attributed to former first lady Turai Yaradua & former attorney general of the federation, Chief Michael Aondoakaa. So many pressure groups sprung up such as Enough is Enough & the Save Nigeria Group all in a bid to checkmate the reckless abuse of authority that eventually paved way for the emergence of Acting President Jonathan which ultimately transformed him to president after the demise of President Umar Yaradua on May 5th 2010.

The events that lead to Goodluck Jonathan’s emergence as the flag bearer of the PDP in the presidential elections could only be attributed to the hardluck of his immediate boss as well as the compassion that he enjoyed from millions of Nigerians considering the fact that it was practically the first time a Minority ethnic region of the Niger Delta would be given a shot at the helms of Affairs at Aso rock. No doubt the president enjoyed plenty of goodwill from all every single angle ; Nigerians in Diaspora ,Nigerians in Nigeria, Nollywood community, Associations of Witches, Youths in Nigeria, Pressure groups to mention a few.

When a president enjoys all the support of all the major groups & considering the fact he is an incumbent, please tell me how he won’t enjoy the subsidy of government funds to fund his way into power.[size=16pt] I dare to say that the amount of money spent on the presidential election campaign of the duo of Jonathan & Sambo when audited and evaluated will in no doubt run into billions, when I say billions I don’t mean Naira. -___-[/size]

Now the ironic fact that a subsidized president that claimed to “have no shoes as a child” made it to become the number one citizen of the Federal republic of Nigeria despite the general outcry against implementation of total subsidy removal goes ahead to ignore his benefactors who elected him into power and suddenly pulls the plugs on the subsidy on the first day of 2012, leaving Nigerians to face the brunt of the pain & anguish that the multiplier effect will have on the economy. I don’t care what the sermon that Madam Ngozi Okonji Iweala or Sanuni Lamido Sanusi preaches about the eventual benefits of the subsidy the fact remains that these so called agents of IMF and the world bank are living a largely subsidized life style at the expense of the Nigerian tax payers, therefore they will never know that the everyday challenges that the common man faces on the streets.

Comrade Isa Aremu of the NLC asked Sanusi lamido Sanusi a very thought provoking question during the televised town hall meeting to address fuel subsidy removal last month. “When last did the Central Bank Governor, Sanusi personally buy fuel into his car with his own money” This question brings to the fore the frank reality that all these government officials (including our executive & legislative ) live a “larger that life” subsidized lifestyle at the expense of the Nigerian tax payers.

My parting words is simply for the Nigerian Executive & Legislative to cut the waste on government spending, half their salaries if that be the case. Why should a single individual in the person of a Senator or House of representative receive bogus constituency allowances that runs into several millions of Naira yearly without being asked questions as to the budgetary allocation. What is good for the goose is certainly also good for the gander. Nigerians may have made the sacrifice in the removal of subsidy now its time for the removal of political subsidy of the executive and legislative arm of government.
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The amount of money spent rigging the 2011 elections needs to be recrouped for 2015. People voted on Mass for Buhari hence the wahala PDP had rigging. 2015 They know they need even more in their banks to have any chance. Simple as that. They are broke