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Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial - Politics - Nairaland

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Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by iwaeda: 9:21am On Oct 31
The choice is yours: buy petrol at an exorbitant price or go for cheap compressed natural gas. That is the upshot of what President Bola Tinubu told Nigerians on October 22.

“Nigeria’s motorists can buy petrol at N1000 per litre or equivalent gas per standard cubic meter at N200,” he said at a meeting with a delegation of Nigerian Independent Petroleum Company members in Abuja.

It was the most insensitive and apathetic thing a leader would say to his people in the throes of agony. Tinubu has made some forgettable statements since taking office last year. His ‘Let the poor breathe’ was hollow and unconvincing and was consequently turned into a sad joke by the Senate leadership. Also, ‘Nigerians deserve better’ was at odds with the people’s suffering from the president’s harsh policies. The “struggles many of you face” in the first line of his October 1 speech gave the president away as aloof and far removed from the plight of the people he leads. But telling Nigerians to choose between buying petrol at N1000 or CNG at N200 is probably the most egregious thing he has said.

The choice Tinubu offers is what British novelist Frederick Forsyth would describe as the devil’s alternative. One option is as tragic as the other. It is misleading to say, as the president did, that petrol is sold at N1000 a litre. Some still buy the product at over N1500 per litre even after the Dangote refinery came on stream. But even at N1000, petrol is still too expensive for motorists and other users. Many private car owners have resorted to leaving their vehicles at home. Commercial transporters transfer the high cost of fuel to their passengers. And so do virtually every other service provider, from foodstuff sellers at the markets to the neighbourhood hairstylists and millers. Life has become too tough for everyone in the last 16 months of the Tinubu administration. When he took office, a litre of petrol sold for less than N200. Under his watch as president and minister of petroleum, the product has sold for as much as N2000 in a country grappling with nasty inflation and low purchasing power of the naira.


Telling Nigerians to choose between expensive petrol and N200 gas exposes the president’s indifference to the suffering of his people. He doesn’t feel what they feel. There’s an empathy deficit. Tinubu conveniently glosses over the fact that Nigerians are not to blame for the country’s high energy cost. Things went south the moment he declared fuel subsidy gone at his inauguration on May 29, 2023. Soon, he tossed the naira into a volatile sea, to sink or swim. And the currency has been sinking since.

The Tinubu government is driving a compressed natural gas policy as a cleaner and affordable energy solution. It’s a good idea. For the moment, however, CNG is as problematic as petrol. The first challenge is converting vehicles already running on petrol or diesel. The second is the cost of the conversion which is put at over N1million. How many commercial motorists can afford this amount? A conversion explosion in Edo State sent safety fears across the country but it was put down to the use of substandard materials by unqualified hands. It will help if the government will get, say, the banks, to defray conversion costs. Tinubu’s claim that the government has provided free conversion for commercial motorists is not verified. The third problem is scarcity. There is said to be about 50 conversion centres in the country, most of which are in the state capitals. What is the fate of vehicle owners in towns and smaller communities? A fourth issue is the age of vehicles on the roads. Experts say CNG is not suitable for vehicles older than 10 years. This is a red flag. Fitting CNG into the old and rickety vehicles on the roads, especially commercial buses, is potentially dangerous.

The biggest problem with the Tinubu CNG push is the ghost of not leading by example. Government officials do not care about CNG. Their fleet of vehicles still runs on petrol that the common people cannot afford. This translates into one lifestyle for people in power, and another for those they lead. That is why belt-tightening is meant for the common folks, not for those who lead them. This ghost trails the administration at every turn.

https://punchng.com/tinubus-petrol-cng-comment-insensitive/

15 Likes 2 Shares

Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by Bobloco: 9:32am On Oct 31
angry

1 Like

Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by helinues: 9:38am On Oct 31
It be like punch want to receive heavy punch from FG with all this senseless article

You people shouldn't make wailing a generational thing in Nigeria

30 Likes 4 Shares

Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by Xxxxtentacion2: 9:48am On Oct 31
helinues:
It be like punch want to receive heavy punch from FG with all this senseless article

You people shouldn't make wailing a generational thing in Nigeria
where do you stay heinous?
I have a package for you

59 Likes 4 Shares

Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by Xxxxtentacion2: 9:49am On Oct 31
Using CNG in hot weather.
Explosion 💥 go choke.

29 Likes 4 Shares

Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by Fahvvy: 9:51am On Oct 31
Tinubu and sensitivity to Nigerian cries are like water and oil, they can't mix! undecided...

If you don't know this till now, you're most likely living under a rock undecided...

27 Likes 3 Shares

Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by Ennyjude(f): 10:01am On Oct 31
Oga you don't report some articles
Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by AFONJAmiracle: 10:01am On Oct 31
The man na daft clueless cocain sniffer na

What do you expect from the lord and savior of helinues and ko

12 Likes 1 Share

Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by Klington: 10:01am On Oct 31
tongue

"In the end,we will not remember the words of our enemies,but the silence of our friends".

The punch has been firing from all cylinders about the obvious ineptitudeness and the gross failures and incompetence of ebola and his clueless team.

32 Likes 2 Shares

Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by Meti99(m): 10:02am On Oct 31
CNG that the price is rising steadily already ..
Tinubu should just let us know now how many years his CNG subsidy will last now o .
Not that 5years time now we will be hearing FG wants to remove SUBSIDY

9 Likes

Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by saintbillion(m): 10:02am On Oct 31
Ndi igbo kwenu

2 Shares

Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by AFONJAmiracle: 10:02am On Oct 31
helinues:
It be like punch want to receive heavy punch from FG with all this senseless article

You people shouldn't make wailing a generational thing in Nigeria

See am

How long will you lick the @nus of bola God 😂😂😂😂

14 Likes 1 Share

Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by helinues: 10:02am On Oct 31
AFONJAmiracle:
The man na daft clueless cocain sniffer na

What do you expect from the lord and savior of helinues and ko

Don't let me report this moniker

Stop trolling me senselessly

25 Likes 1 Share

Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by AFONJAmiracle: 10:03am On Oct 31
helinues:


Don't let me report this moniker

Stop trolling me senselessly

Why did you fail a simple maths test given to you in the other thread?

13 Likes 1 Share

Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by tommykiwi(m): 10:04am On Oct 31
Wrong statement from the presido!
Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by latonione: 10:04am On Oct 31
The government provide alternative which we always ask for but Punch says statements supporting that is insensitive but will rather give unprofessional advice on govt policy.
Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by EpicDude123: 10:04am On Oct 31
grin
Xxxxtentacion2:
where do you stay heinous?
I have a package for you
Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by Chidera57: 10:05am On Oct 31
Tinibu is efulufu..
See as Google hardly correct his name when typing..
But b4 when u type B, Buhari name with pop up cry

5 Likes

Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by Fatbam005: 10:05am On Oct 31
Person way no Sabi wetin him dey talk

3 Likes

Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by Macphenson: 10:05am On Oct 31
k
Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by LimAnc(m): 10:05am On Oct 31
Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by kenn4rill(m): 10:06am On Oct 31
Why can't they set the same price for the cooking gas since the love is that much? I never imagined that a government would come that would be worse than Buhari.

6 Likes 1 Share

Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by Whois(m): 10:06am On Oct 31
helinues:
It be like punch want to receive heavy punch from FG with all this senseless article

You people shouldn't make wailing a generational thing in Nigeria

I knew u'll be here. Like Tpain u have zero empathy.

6 Likes 1 Share

Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by zombieHUNTER: 10:08am On Oct 31
undecided

Tpain is a cancer to this country

5 Likes 1 Share

Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by Verifier(m): 10:08am On Oct 31
h
Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by Fr33born(m): 10:10am On Oct 31
I see
Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by Brushstrokes20: 10:15am On Oct 31
Spot on piece.👌👌👍👍💯
The doomed dingBAT is all shades of EVIL! 😈😈😈💯💯💯💯

1 Like

Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by olisaEze(m): 10:16am On Oct 31
China with its population of almost 2 billion took only a decade (the same amount of time this foolish party has held a foolish nation captive with poverty) to move from third world to a fully developed economy. 'Onye gba oso ikpu nne’ya!' Enjoy ur "most experienced" as he treats u like ure less than pond scum at ur own expense! undecided

5 Likes

Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by Mindlog: 10:17am On Oct 31
Meti99:
CNG that the price is rising steadily already ..
Tinubu should just let us know now how many years his CNG subsidy will last now o .
Not that 5years time now we will be hearing FG wants to remove SUBSIDY

Once majority of motorists get lured into converting to CNG, they will tell Nigerians they are removing "subsidy" from CNG to justify the anticipated skyrocketing of cost.

7 Likes

Re: Tinubu’s Petrol, CNG Comment Insensitive - Punch Editorial by almarthins(m): 10:19am On Oct 31
helinues:
It be like punch want to receive heavy punch from FG with all this senseless article

You people shouldn't make wailing a generational thing in Nigeria

grin
You re doing just that right now.

2 Likes

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