₦airaland Forum

And yet we have someone above their station as president. Not a single picture of commissioning anything for the last 18 months. It so true about " by their works you shall know them". All we hear are promises.

Anytime I hear that I have no shoes mantra. I wonder is the guy so stupid that he could not think to make rubber slippers from a Tyre or similar.

Please Nigeria, next time an election comes, please vote for a person that says " I have a brain and a plan to solve national issues"

Abagworo:
Like play like play, this might be the end of PDP. Let them just reverse the price. If labour joins, people might start demanding more than just subsidy.

FG should act smart.

For Long we have under estimated ourselves - as been docile - Even docility has a breaking point. A step at a time the protest is gathering momentum. Fuel subsidy removal without appropriate pallative measure threatens the generally easy going lifestyles of the masses. How does one adjust to 100% increase of everything without income increasing.

Whether commuting to and from my job to my office in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, or racing down the back roads of the country's parched and neglected North, I would often shake my head in amazement at the lack of any display of discontent from ordinary Nigerians.

Power outages that drag on, in some cases, for days; crumbling roads; rampant corruption and rising food costs -- these are common complaints among the tens of millions of Nigerians that have been left behind by the country's oil wealth.

My bewilderment came from the knowledge that Nigeria is among the ten largest oil exporters globally, and yet it can hardly manage to power the street lamps in the showcase, man-made capital city of Abuja. Most people live on less than $2 a day; malnutrition and even cases of polio can be found in the northern states.

During national elections last year, government workers had to use candles and flashlights to check voters' IDs.

"Nigerians will just sit back and tolerate whatever fate that is handed to them," said a driver for an international NGO. "They will say it is God's will -- or they will lean on their extended family members for help."

I spent several months in Nigeria last year -- just as the "Arab Spring" was sending convulsions through the precincts of many North African and Middle Eastern power centers. I even travelled to Cairo to see empowered protesters staring down armed riot police in Tahrir Square. Yet even though Nigeria is just a few hours flight from Egypt or Libya, no one believed for a moment that the winds of change would reach Africa's most populous nation.

But that all changed on January 1, when the Nigerian Government moved ahead after months of deliberation and removed a long-cherished fuel subsidy that more than doubles the price of fuel and transport fares. The impact has been so great that many ordinary Nigerians can no longer afford to get to work. Over the past few days Nigerians have been taking to the streets in great numbers, in the first mass protests against the relatively new government of Goodluck Jonathan and his powerful PDP ruling party.

"The subsidy was the only benefit that we have been getting from the oil wealth and now that is gone," tweeted one angry Nigerian.

(Because of the subsidy Nigerians have the cheapest pump prices in Africa; but many use the petrol to power generators that have been made necessary by shoddy infrastructure).



To be sure, there are few parallels between the 'Arab Spring' protests and what is now transpiring in Nigeria. But one significant similarity is the use of social media to share feelings of outrage and to mobilize people.

One brief, revolting video of a young man being beaten by Lagos police during a protest went viral as soon as it was posted on YouTube.

So paranoid is the government of the situation galloping out of control that it is reportedly considering a move to shut down Blackberry messenger services in the country. The service has been a vital link for protest organizers and supporters. In many cities there are reports of police arrested and beating protesters.

Just yesterday indications were that the massive and powerful trade unions will join the protests, a move which could effectively bring the country to a standstill.

Even though Nigeria is the continent's biggest oil producer, it imports refined oil. Plans to install refinery capacity have never gotten off the ground, due to corruption and mismanagement. Most Nigerians harbor well-grounded suspicions that billions of dollars in oil wealth have been salted away in the offshore accounts of current and past leaders.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reportedly been pressuring the government to remove the subsidy, which costs the treasury an estimated $8 billion a year. If this is indeed the case, the IMF could be repeating the horrendous mistake of the last 1990s, when pressure on countries like Indonesia to remove subsidies and devalue their currencies triggered the East Asian financial crisis.

A general strike has been declared for Monday and on Twitter and Facebook the outrage is palpable. Said one Tweet posted by a Nigerian: "Nigeria is a fool at 51 (years old) and a fool forever. No electricity, no transportation, no fuel, no education, no good governance, no nothing."

Even members of the Diaspora are in awe at the growing 'Occupy' protests. "I'd like to see Nigerians truly have a revolution and be willing to die for what they believe in," said Oluwa Uduak, a Nigerian-American lawyer, on her Facebook page.

To be sure, Jonathan is not the first president to try to do away with the cherished fuel subsidy -- his predecessors tried but quickly backed down in the face of widespread opposition. Promises to plow the extra $7.5 billion of revenue from the scrapping of the subsidy into health, education and infrastructure have been poorly communicated and met with skepticism by ordinary Nigerians.

In order to quell unrest, promises could be made to install additional refineries, which could help to bring down the real cost of fuel. But such actions take months if not years and, with anger past the boiling point, the Jonathan administration may not have the luxury of time to bring about major reforms.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-bociurkiw/nigeria-occupy-protests_b_1183907.html?ref=tw

Thank God we have intelligent people on NL. One would think after Beaf  - nothing else exists.


Beaf which one is it " Fuel subsidy removal or Border Closure"

He is also blind to question


" About the directive from NCC to radio stations not to dicuss fuel susidy"

Beaf what is your thought on the 1600 buses. Is that not subsidy?

2012 is my year of break through - I hope to get contract to supply 160 Million Umbrellas to protect my people from Sun light rays whilst TREKKING

Fhemmmy:
1600 buses to carry 158M people?
These people are really helping . . . Great nation . . . Lol

LOl  - did you not do maths at school - The buses will work round the clock .

Each bus will carrry at least 98750 passengers  - how the passengers are loaded is another debate for a seperate thread

OAM4J:
To be managed by who? Federal or State?

Contract sharing has started. Fresh Buses.

efisher:
Fresh busses! Hahaha

o ye of little faith -- He also promised that buses will deployed by Monday next week .  

I am SURE  the buses will be working round the clock carrying  22 million passengers who voted GEJ and not PDP.

GEJ coming out of the FEC meeting has promised 1600 buses nationwide to ease the burden of subsidy removal

43 Buses per state including FCT. 

Please enjoy the fresh air as the BUSES get Air Conditioning

Source  - Twitter #occupyNigeria

The is issue here is not removal of subsidy - But a lax border control or proper accounting process be it NNPC or Customs. Why not tackle that first rather burden the already stressed masses. The only person this policy favours are still the Oil importers. So what has the government solved.

300 armed robbers abi.

What a fool. Sycophancy is dam bad for ones health

There is absolute no show of strength by removing subsidy. What simply happened, is simply a transfer of payment to the masses without checking whether the masses can carry the burden or providing a safety net.

A very weak and coward move.

General Blacksta.

I promise to go easy on the masses.  The minimum will be aleast 37 executions every week during my life long term

Wary of the gathering storm of public resentment of its fuel subsidy removal, the Nigeria government might have prevailed on telecommunication service providers to shut down Blackberry Services (BIS) nationwide in order to prevent people from being able to organize protests against it.

Information reaching SaharaReporters said that those services will be disrupted by the companies tomorrow, January 3, following directives and threats from some people close to President Goodluck Jonathan.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/fuel-subsidy-protests-government-shut-down-blackberry-services

Victim mentality

ekt_bear:
Finally, if the removal of this subsidy means the success of this Chinese refinery in Lagos and other such foreign investment, then I am very glad that it is gone.

I dont think so - the notation that private individuals will be failing over themselves to build refineries in Nigeria is not correct.

ekt_bear:
When we first discussed t[b]his topic 8-9 months ago[/b], I suggested slowly phasing it out over time rather than removing it all at once.

I think it is less politically costly to do this, while having the same positive long-run impact.

Is this a contradiction-  Your argument favors subsidy removal with the condition that government put in measures to soften the landing.  The question is what has the government done in last  8 to 9 months to reduce the suffering  - absolute nada. I hear GEj has set up committees to manage the phantom savings. Why wait till now.   THe utlimate issue here is " TRust" .  Nothing will change and inflation will sky rocket.

Majority agree that life long subsidy is bad for one's country health but it is common sense to soften the landing before removing subsidy. In Nigerian context GEJ or adminstration can not trusted to manage the phantom savings. I have no faith in GEJ because he has no track record of achievements as an assistant or governor of one of the highest receipts of federal allocations with a population of under 1 million to manage.

what is going to happen to Inflation?. If we are believe that refineries are going to be built, it is going to take at least 4 years. which might be too late.

Jakumo:
To lighten the blow of increased fuel costs in Nigeria, [b]the current Goodluck Jonathan administration must URGENTLY ratchet up activity on ALL programs relevant to the generation of electrical power for the national grid, with emphasis on the use of gas turbines  that will progressively reduce, then stop the environmentally destructive and wasteful  practice of flaring off flammable gas at oil drilling [/b]installations in the Niger Delta.   With electrical power in reasonably consistent supply nationwide, consumer demand for fuel to run "standby" generators will drop considerably, allowing businesses to operate more cost-effectively despite the increase in fuel prices brought in on January 2nd, 2012.

I laugh in Jakumo

the Bolded is not applicable in Nigeria. You write like GEJ Is able to understand or solve Issues. You obviously dont know what are you talking about. How can you expect solutions from a person who produced no single achievement as an assistant/Governor of a state with the highest receipt of federal allocations and population of under a Million.

Beaf:
Is your "revolution" going to take place in London?
Welldone bros! You de UK de tell pipul make take bele face mopol! You are a "strong" man sha!

Chief Sycophant  - How far Long time -  You have finally stuck a dagger in the heart of the masses .

Tell Ademumu  - to slow down on this mad policy.

Right step would  have been  - Get the refineries working and then remove subsidy.

what mad government shifts more burden on the masses -  Please dont tell us about subsidy  savings.  You and i Know that " More loot to share"  They are already spending 1 billion naira to eat 3 square meals for a year.

Mumu Policies In Action

I am very sure massive savings will be found - In reducing the cost of Government. The Culprits who inflate fuel import figures - why not tackle that leakage.

show me any sane leader that spends 1 billion naira on food for himself and family.

IYA NGBALI:
pls how do i get visa to any of these countries afghanistan,niger,iraq,pakistan,india or libya,i really need to relocate from this country so that jonathan and my enemies would see what i would become in future.

You aint going nowhere - Enjoy the fresh Air -

Retardeen Policies in Action.  Did anybody think about inflation before commencing mad policies. The Simply logical step would have been
1. getting the refineries working at least 50% , 2. Reduce the cost of government.

What Mad family spends a 1 billion naira to feed themselves.  I hope they dont choke and die on the food. and yet tells you to tighten your own belt. It will never work

No wonder the mumu wanted tenure elongation - he is dame sure no right thinking individual will vote for him

Go on gej I believe in you.

Please enjoy d fresh air. Stop phocking complaining

Where is the after party taking place

All hail King Gbawe - Abeg no scatter us with Engrish - If i may ask " why do you bold some words in all write up" Are you trying to imply that some of us are dumb or what -

Please when is your dictionary comming out. I need to boost my Engrish,

In the Nigerian context - because we are very cultural

he will be called " 1st Ode" -

how can a man let his wife become presido - what happened to him

tell that to Ghaddaffi

afam4eva:
It's very difficult to convince anyone that a massacre that involved the death of people who were mostly Igbos is not ethnically motivated.

I suspect - you want to see it that way. As already mentioned if a redeem church was bombed , the occupants will be mostly Yoruba. It is just unfortunate that Nigeria is ruled by an inept few.

if you only Gej could posses 10% of  you brain  - Nigeria will be a better place.

3 gbosas