THE IMPACT OF TIMING ON GOVERNMENT POLICIES AS IT AFFECTS THE “COMMON MAN”.
At the dawning of 2012, the Nigerian community was stunned by what I regard as a “rude new year gift”: the complete removal of government subsidy on petroleum products. The news didn’t go down well with the masses as was demonstrated through massive protests and industrial actions that was spear headed by the Nigerian Labor Congress.
Government still went ahead to hold and maintain its stand on the matter as they explained the relevance of the policy in the development of the country at large.
One week had not passed that people started feeling the bitter impact of the policy that had been forced down on them without any measures to cushion the impact. The cost of petroleum products sky rocketed to double or triple the usual cost even though we knew that what the marketers where selling then was the reserves they had, yet they still used the unfortunate window to loot out the “sweat of the common man”, cost of products in the market hiked at a geometric rate, travelling was no longer any body’s hobby even though is a basic necessity as the cost of transportation was almost unbearable. The people had just one option: use their legs or sit at home.
In the midst of all these pains, the finance Minister told us then that at the end of the year, the money generated will be channeled for repair/upgrade of our refineries amongst other programs slated out to be executed from the funds generated. But alas! When the end of that year came, what we heard on news was that “subsidy money was missing”. The convincing message about subsidy removal promised more jobs, good roads, better health facilities, revival of the rail system and so on. Since I do not have the resources to transit every corner of Nigeria, I leave the judgment of whether this mandate has been fulfilled to the discretion of the Nigerian people not ignoring what I hear daily on the news been anchored by the Transformation Agenda of Nigerian (TAN).
That episode, haven settled in the minds of the people along with the memories that accompanied it, another one then came up just recently as the decision of the federal government to place an overall ban on “Okada” nationwide.
Let me pause here to reevaluate the relevance of this article:
• Am I writing this because I am an enemy of the Nigerian progress?
• Am I the one that doesn’t want Nigeria to develop beyond the “stone age”?
NO is my candid answer. But my pain is summarized in the words that will follow below:
Government policies no matter how good they are, if not met with good timing and adequate modalities to support it will only bring more hardship to the people.
The unfortunate thing about our policy makers is that only few of them understand the problems the people at the grass roots are going through. So since most of them only move in private jets or helicopters, shock fitted SUVs, they will not realize that some roads in this country are not “motorable” therefore only these “Okadas” are able to go to such areas.
Did the initiators of this policy actually consider the constraints and challenges that will meet such a proposal? If so, what modalities are on ground to alleviate the problem it is likely going to cause the people?
How about the socio-economic impact of this policy? Some individuals doing this business are certificate holders who due to lack of jobs have no choice than to survive through such a means since regard for their conscience has not warranted them to engage in unethical activities. How about the bread winners who depend on it to keep their families going?
How about Security? “An unengaged mind is the devil’s workshop”. Isn’t that familiar to us?
The list goes on and on.
I (we) are not against government policies because in the real sense, it is supposed to be for the benefit of the general population but when these policies are just shoved down the throats of the masses to swallow then the government would invariably be belittling the relevance of the electorate who ideally are an integral part of a democratic system.
Timing is everything about been successful in a particular endeavor. The policies are good but the right modalities must be put in place to cushion the impact of what this will cause the common man.
If you (government) choose to remove subsidy on petroleum products then it became an onus upon you to make our refineries very functional (after all some non oil producing nations have refineries they use to run their businesses so we have no excuse here) but until now theory is what we are reading.
If you are taking away the motorcycles from them then replace it with something else (Imo and Edo state did that by acquiring cabs and “keke” for them), fix the bad roads, give jobs to the masses, and every other modality that will help emphasize the new policy. But if that is not done then we are only heightening the problem of the common man by rendering him hopeless and also clamoring for another unemployment statistics what will definitely be worse than the one we have now. Remember also that hope is the entire essence of life and the most dangerous set of persons are the hopeless ones.
ALL WE ADVOCATE FOR IS THAT THE GOVERNEMENT BE REASONABLE, NIGERIANS ARE PATIENT PEOPLE BUT PATIENCE ALSO HAS ITS LIMITS. GOD BLESS NIGERIA.