₦airaland Forum

[size=14pt]No going back on subsidy removal -FEC[/size]
January 4, 2012 by Lekan Adetayo, Abuja 202 Comments

The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday said it would not rescind the removal of the subsidy on petroleum products.

Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, told newsmen at the end of the emergency FEC meeting at the Council Chambers of the State House, Abuja, that government was not unmindful of the pains being experienced by Nigerians, as a result of the action.

He said the Federal Government had commenced a ‘massive mass transit scheme’ to cushion the effect of the subsidy removal on transportation. Under the scheme, thousands of mass transit vehicles are to be distributed.

He was joined by the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga; and the Minister of Transport, Idris Umar.

The emergency meeting, which was chaired by President Goodluck Jonathan, began at 12. 15p.m and around 3.30pm.
Vice-President Namadi Sambo; Labour Minister, Emeka Wogu; and the Minister of National Planning, Shamsudeen Usman, were among those in attendance.
Absent from the meeting were Finance Minister, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; and Petroleum Minister, Mrs. Dieziani Alison-Madueke.
FEC last met on December 21 and adjourned till January 11.

paragonpro:
Beaf,
You are just arguing for the sake of defending Jonathan no matter what. I am also from the niger delta but I see no difference between OBJ, Yar adua, Shagari or even the Military jauntas in between. Jonathan has not brought anything new, we have been hearing of removal of subsidy, privatization, liberalization, generation of so many MW of electricity, etc, since IBB days. So believe me subsidy removal policy is not a masterstroke as you want us to believe.

You are also deaf to the other side's reasoning, what we are saying Is;
1. Stop corruption or at least reduce corruption within the oil industry, then we can actually know what the actual subsidy is and then discuss its removal or not.

2. Have proper laws governing the petroleum industries so we can know who is responsible for what in the oil industry.

3. Put in place necessary structures like alternative transportation means, adequate power and alternative energy sources before you deregulate fully.

On the argument that people should hold their local and state government accountable, you choose to forget that we are operating a unitary system, the federal government control the police, electric power, petroleum and mineral resources, almost everything. The feds determines if and when you will enter University. In fact asking people to hold local governments is a joke, the local governments are just errant boys of the state governments, they get their funds from the state and are appointed and sacked at will by the governors.

Beaf: I cannot for the life of me understand why an educated adult would overlook his LG chairman and state governor to reach straight up to the FG for their welfare. It is a laughable situation that points to one of two conclusions; it is either the average person in the demonstrating areas has been so traumatised by a past of ugly military dictatorships that they have no clue whatsoever about the hierarchy of responsibilities in a democratic govt and where their state and LG govts fit in, or they have ugly ulterior motives for their actions. The latter is the most plausible.

4 Play:
Why are there no strike actions when elections are stolen or against corruption but instead we have a strike called in response to the removal of an economically unjustifiable policy, fuel subsidy?

I have always noticed that the most boneheaded policy decisions - the Udorji awards, nationalisation of industries, fuel subsidy - elicit the most public support. It's almost evidence of Dr Lynn's work on IQ and the Wealth of Nations which shows that nations like Nigeria with relatively low IQs stay poor.

I have been on this forum for more than 5 years and seen thieving moguls like Peter Okocha, Adenuga and Otedola, who benefit from these Govt policies, praised to high heavens for their wealth yet as soon as there is a change of policy, it becomes a massive blow against the common man. And you wonder why this country is a hellhole.

philip0906:
did beaf just say that abi na me no dey c well?

debosky:
You are a recidivist mor0n with the intelligence of a pubic louse. If your degraded cranium is unable to understand, then you will need frequent slaps on the side of the head to remind you - the protests are about the right of Nigerians to benefit from government policies. The State Governments do not have the power to remove subsidy so it is immensely silly of you to fail to comprehend this.

Even if we believe the idiotic argument you are posing, the FG still receives far more than the states and LG with fewer responsibilities.

King of phools are the refineries owned and managed by state governments or LGs? Your monstrous stupidity is unparalleled anywhere in the world.

So according to you the solution is to put more money into the pockets of the thieves and not keep the benefits you have? You are clearly more retaarded than anyone could have ever imagined.

You are the greatest and most prolific dunderhead that has ever graced the face of the earth. If Europeans and Americans still debate subsidy, you must be a simpleton to say logic debates are absurd.

The conclusion is that free speech enables even those with atrophied neurones and amoeboid reasoning capacity like you to spew nonsense. However, no quantity of utter rubbish you spew will change the fact that your comments are only worth spitting on and used for wiping the arses of diarrhoea suffering camels.

Beaf:
I will ask again why the "revolutionists" are not protesting against their governors and LG chairmen, who are directly responsible for their welfare, the development of the states and communities, provision of jobs, industrialisation and the creation of hope for the future?
I cannot for the life of me understand why an educated adult would overlook his LG chairman and state governor to reach straight up to the FG for their welfare. It is a laughable situation that points to one of two conclusions; it is either the average person in the demonstrating areas has been so traumatised by a past of ugly military dictatorships that they have no clue whatsoever about the hierarchy of responsibilities in a democratic govt and where their state and LG govts fit in, or they have ugly ulterior motives for their actions. The latter is the most plausible.

Do some people think that state govs and LG chairmen are mere decorations whose only task to ensure that beggars money gets to their domains on a monthly basis, while they themselves get a beggars subsidy in their pocket? How stup!d can things get?
There is no way that Nigeria will ever develop with such abysmal thinking and no surprise that it has failed to develop so far.

Why are they not protesting that these people do absolutely nothing, but collect a monthly beggars wage from Abuja (which they pocket, anyway)?
What if there was no oil, would these corrupt, lazy phucks collect sand from Abuja?
If there was no oil, would you demonstrate for ogogoro and sepe subsidies so that you can remain perpetually drunk and divorced from reality?
The entire subsidy debate is absurd, totally devoid off logic and buoyed only by base sentiment.

The fact that certain voices have bee raised concerning the subsidy, only points to ugly political undertones, spurred on by ethnic sentiments.
Without doubt, the removal of subsidies is painful, but medicine tends to be bitter.

houvest:
Where is Marvel Akpoyibo, former CP Lagos State?

muami:
I deliberately did'nt answer that question. If you know the basics about philosophy and logic, [size=21pt]check for the fallacy called 'ignoratio elenchi' (irrelevant conclusion, missing the point – an argument that may in itself be valid, but does not address the issue in question). I don't waste my time responding to arguments which come within that fallacy.[/size]
Ok. Let me make it clearer for you. The issue here is whether 'Fuel subsidy removal is a bad thing'. If you are concerned about the allowances  earned by senators, ou can start another thread or lead a protest against the senators and who knows, I may join you on that. But for now, lets keep the argument logical!

Nchara:
The real protest should come if the subsidy removal is not used for the listed purposes but used instead to subsidize corruption.
The SW and the North should give GEJ a chance to perform and succeed. They are the clog in the wheel of progress now.

Katsumoto:
Shouldn't tax be commensurate with earnings? When the average Nigerians start to earn more, then the government should reserve the right to tax them more. In the current dispensation, the people earn so less that it would be futile to ask them to pay the same price for fuel as paid in China, UK, USA, Norway, etc Besides, the whole purpose of taxation is to find a shortfall between revenues and expenditure. It is not compulsory for a government to tax its citizens. Not all taxes are payable across board in the US. There are states that have no sales tax for instance such as Pennslvania. Before the Nigerian government taxes its citizens, it must give account of the revenues it receives.

You have agreed that the average Nigerian will be affected by these subsidy removal, why then should you label the protests as sectional? Unless you can prove that it is only non-ND people that are protesting, that charge is without foundation.

Katsumoto:
A few points

1. The current government hasn't done much to reduce corruption; corruption is still rampant in Nigeria. How many looters have been imprisoned since GEJ came to power? Paying lip service to an issue is not the same as tackling the issue. When the government gets serious with corruption, it would be taken more seriously.
2. State governors and LG chairmen all belong to the same group. The power at the centre influences the selection of those individuals. Most can remember how OBJ gave the SW of Nigeria the most despicable and corrupt governors or how OBJ with his goons kidnapped the governor of Anambra.
3. I agree that Nigerians should hold their representatives more accountable and shouldn't be protesting just subsidy removal.
4. In a thread yesterday, you stated that Nigerian petrol was being smuggled to other w.african countries. But not one custom comptroller has been fired for incompetence. Shouldn't the govt be tackling the easy issues first before taking difficult decisions?

Katsumoto:
I repeat, government expenditure is based on ideology. State capitalist countries such as China and Brazil are building refineries; liberal countries such as Canada and Argentina are giving incentives for private investment. Socialist countries such as Venezuela are taking over refineries. Most refineries in middle east kingdoms are built by the countries. There is no rule on who should build a refinery. I ask again, what is the political ideology of the PDP that is influencing the shape and structure of its policies? Apart from paying the fat salaries of legislators and elected officials, what happened to the $60 billion Nigeria earned last year?

Katsumoto:
The FG is either supposed to build infrastructure or provide an enabling climate where investors can step in. In any case this decision is based on the political ideology of the ruling government. It is either capitalistic, socialist, state capitalistic, liberal, communist, or centrist. Regardless of what form of ideology is in existence, it the the function of governments to provide basic amenities. At the point, what is the political ideology of Nigeria's PDP-led government? It appears to be indeterminate.

Katsumoto:
The system of government in Nigeria is centralised and as such, Nigerians, regardless of region of origin, have a right to protest with regards to the resources that are found within the country. That can only change with Nigeria being broken into different countries or the implementation of federalism or confederationism. Looking at the price of petrol in other producing countries, one would observe that the price in Nigeria is very high.
Nigeria - 95 cents, Kuwait - 23 cents, Saudi - 16, Ecuador - 53 cents, Algeria - 32 cents, Venezuela - 2 cents, Iran - 10 cents

Katsumoto:
It is the function of governments to create enabling environments. Take a look at what the governments of the tiger economies did. Do you think Singapore, Korea, Vietnam became transformed without government intervention? So far, Nigerian governments have done nada and people have to make do with the current uninspiring environment. I myself have issues with the get rich at all cost mentality of Nigerians but that is for another debate. As far as this debate is concerned, people are demonstrating not because they are lazy but because they know the government can do better. For one, the govt can trim the useless fat it carries. Why should a senator be earning $1.2m when the president of the US earns approx $400k? The government is complicit in the smuggling of products through its incompetence and greed. The government is not doing anything to reduce the cost of government not tackle corruption but it is willing to increase the cost of living of the average Nigerian.

Nigerians don't need the government to give them handouts, they need the government to provide the necessary infrastructure to enable wealth creation. It is not a coincidence that the richest Nigerians are those who have served Nigeria in one capacity or their friends and proxies. How can people be creative when there is no light, when they have no food in the belly, when they spend a high amount of their time chasing basic necesities?

With all these debates with regards to the subsidy, I am yet to read of the economic effects of the removal. When I have some time on my hands, I will start a thread on that very subject.