₦airaland Forum

Now the Only Alternative to this #ErroOfDemoncrazy regime of confused, weak and wicked leader is just 3 days away!

Read ds by Onyebuchi Ememanka. It is not too long, stop being ignorant of what God has made available for the Nation. Be a responsible Nigerian for once...Ds Subsidy nonsense:
NIGERIA'S FUEL CRISIS - WHY I BLAME GEJ

In discussing this very volatile issue, let me make one point very clear. I speak from a very informed perspective. This is not just one of those social commentaries.

I worked in the downstream petroleum sector for about 36 months as legal counsel and this was at the peak of the subsidy crisis. I handled and prepared critical documents, advised on transactions and participated in the subsidy scheme as a staff of the one of biggest indigenous players in the sector.

I have a perfect understanding of the system from the point where these products are negotiated and bought from refineries abroad to the contract for their shipping....from arrival at the Port in Nigeria to the inspections and the final destination at designated tank farms, so I speak with authority. When the subsidy probe started, I also made several submissions to the National Assembly Committees and also was at the EFCC during the investigations.

Weak and reactive leadership is a disaster to any organization that has it. The hallmark of great leadership is the ability to identify risks and institute effective risk management systems. No organization in this world can survive uncontrolled hemorrhage of scarce resources.
The subsidy scheme became an issue under President Obansanjo. It was under him that the concept of petroleum importation became full blown.

For reasons best known to the wily Owu Chief, our four refineries were left to rot while our country relied on fuel importation. That policy remained the biggest disservice former President Obasanjo did to this country.
However, as bad as that policy was under OBJ, there was still some level of sanity and control. At no time under OBJ did subsidy payments exceed 190 billion Naira annually.

There were stringent measures that controlled the participation of companies under the subsidy scheme.
Just before OBJ left office, he sold two of our refineries to Dangote and Otedola, a measure that would have worked if fully implemented. It is beyond doubt that the private sector remains the best economic and commercial managers. Government is a cesspool of waste and corruption.
When late President Yar'adua took over, he rode on a staccato of uninformed voices to reverse the sale of the refineries. He reversed the sale but did nothing to bring the refineries back to work. He continued to run the subsidy scheme and kept the restive sanity in the system. As at the time Yar'adua died, Nigeria's subsidy burden was about 230 billion Naira per annum.


Now for the uninformed, the petroleum subsidy scheme is a system where the federal government, on a bid to reduce the cost of fuel paid by Nigerians chooses to pay the difference between the landing cost of petrol imports, the prevailing price of the commodity at the international market and what is actually sold in Nigeria.
For instance, if the landing cost of petrol in Nigeria is, say, N 115, and after adding lightering charges and other logistics costs, the price of petrol should be N147, the federal government asks the marketers to sell at N97 and decides to pay the marketers the difference per litre.

Now enter President Goodluck Ebelechukwu Azikiwe Mainasara Jehoshaphat Effiong Jonathan!
Under him, subsidy costs jumped from 200 billion Naira to over 1.2 trillion in the first two years of his government.
Why? What happened?
Did the population of Nigerian triple within that period or did the number of cars quadruple? Was there an industrial revolution?
The answer is simple. Again, I speak from an informed position.
Due to weak regulatory regimes, the downstream sector became an all comers affair. Every Tom, Dick and Harry entered the business. Companies with no verifiable addresses, no tank farms, no vessels, no financial structures, no bank guarantees all became fuel importers. It was a bazaar.

It is only in Nigeria that such bizzare things can happen. Emergency millionaires were made in days. Time and space won't allow me to give you details of the unbelievable things that happened. Every top official of the federal government became an emergency fuel importer or middle man. Importation licenses were hawked openly. All you needed was for the PPPRA to give you a license to import. You could sell it for millions just outside the door.


Now there is a complex web that links the Petroleum Ministry, the DPR, thE Navy, the NPA, NIMASA,PPPRA, DMO, CBN and Commercial Banks in this fraud. Documents like the sovereign debt statements and the sovereign debt notes flew about and our money kept disappearing. From about 30 companies in the scheme, the number shot up to 300. Monthly, billions of Naira were paid out to people who have never had any contact with a Jerry can of fuel in their lives. No verification, no authentication, nothing. Money was being paid with reckless abandon. Dr Okonjo Iweala and Mrs Alison Madueke were all there watching!

It got so bad that some people will arrange with ship owners......take a two day hire of an empty ship, move it to Lagos Port, berth it there. Officials of the PPPRA, Petroleum Ministry, DPR will come there to inspect an empty vessel and certify that the empty vessel carried 10,000 metric tons of petrol, collect their money and walk away. The vessel simply sails away and three weeks later, close to 6 billion Naira will be paid as subsidy when not even a single drop of petrol was brought in.

It was when the government saw that it could no longer sustain that level of waste that GEJ made that attempt at removing subsidy which was stoutly and rightly rejected by Nigerians.
If you recall, the call for the probe of the Subsidy fraud didn't even come from the Presidency. GEJ never called for any probe. Neither did Alison Madueke nor Okonjo Iweala. The call for probe was triggered off by the submissions of Senator Bukola Saraki on the floor of the Senate when he took time to tell the sad story of the biggest fraud in modern Nigeria called FUEL SUBSIDY.
Nigerians should ask GEJ to tell us how our subsidy burden jumped from 200 billion to 1.4 trillion in two years.

Between 2008 and 2013, the PPPRA was about the most corrupt government office in Nigeria. People who worked there lived like Emperors. They spent dollars like there was no tomorrow. Only the privileged found their way there. Each time I went to their office in Abuja then, I left with a heavy heart. This country is in serious trouble.
The only time sanity came to that sector was when GEJ brought Reginald Stanley, former Group General Manager of PPMC who also headed the London Branch of the NNPC into the picture. Reginald Stanley cleaned up the PPPRA, redeployed close to 80% of the workers and rejigged the subsidy program. It was then discovered that more than 60% of the funds paid as subsidy in the last three years were paid wrongly and fraudulently.

That was when the subsidy probe started. Out of the over 300 companies that were collecting subsidy, it was found that not up,to 30 were really importing fuel. Close to 700 billion Naira were stolen in the subsidy scheme. Till date, not a single person has been convicted.
Again, throughout the five years that GEJ ran this country, not one single attempt was made to even find out what is the problem with our refineries.
And yet, people say I shouldn't blame GEJ!
Who should I blame?
My father.....in his grave?

Wake up and deal with reality, In 3 days time, Buhari will preside over this Nation's affair....U don'r have to like him!

And the much awaited change is here...3 days to go!

Now the man is finally here, GMB......the inevitable choice for change!

And the serial failure finally FAILED TO LOSE TO FATE....MOHAMED BUHARI, WELCOME TO YOUR FINEST MOMENT. This is what it means to FAIL to compromise!

and the people keep winning...sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeriaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

So, now that Buhari won, what will u do?

and d change is getting closer

And the people keep winning.......

PDP, pls keep campaigning for Buhari ooooooooooooooo

Nigerians are winning this...........

Still coming closer.........

Fayose, Buhari is.........

And the change is getting closer..........

Get it clear: Saturday is not about Buhari,
It's about CHANGE. Buhari is only
'fortunate' to be on that platform ds time
around...Stop deceiving yourselves, You
know this is not the change you expected
4 years ago, when Jonathan was
enthroned. Simply put Jonathan is not
that change as it is oblivious today! No
need to argue with me to prove that
Buhari is that change now...The point is
SIMPLE: FOR anything to CHANGE at all,
there must be CHANGE ds Saturday!!
# simplecommonsense

Buhari is old, Buhari is sick, Buhari is
stern, Buhari has friends, Buhari has no
friends Buhari has no certificate, Buhari,
where is your wife Buhari's wife is in
purdah, Buhari's wife has no certificate,
Buhari's wife is a make up artist, Buhari's
daughter is abroad, Buhari is an extremist,
Buhari delegates, Buhari is a dictator,
Buhari is at home, Buhari is abroad, Buhari
is a soldier, Buhari cannot compromise,
Buhari is working with BAT(Bola Ahmed
Tinubu), Buhari has no plan, Buhari's plan
is too costly, Buhari is this, Buhari is
that...... Well, just in case we missed it,
Buhari is HUMAN!!! And thank God, we all
can say; Buhari is not a thief; Buhari is
not lazy; Buhari is committed; Buhari is
passionate; Buhari is a Nigerian; Buhari
WAS a general; Buhari has been to war;
Buhari has true followership; Buhari is a
politician's nightmare; Buhari is a
movement ; Buhari is clean; Buhari is
disciplineD; Buhari is persistent; Buhari is
tenacious; Buhari is simple...Love him or
hate him, Buhari for president Buhari has
changed Nigeria for good...Even without
the LAW of YAHWEH as it were, u can't
DENY BUHARI'S uprightness!!...

I simply told myself now that, let's even say for d purpose of argument, d religious leaders are right, defending and questioning what Buhari candidacy stands for...So what exactly are d politicians afraid of about D's Buhari candidacy? Why are they running around like this, why do they want him dead, and what are they trying hard to protect? To whose benefits are their propaganda? To d populace they have misruled, To d God of heaven whose laws and ways they care less about, or to d religious body whose teachings they abhor in their daily conduct? Just thinking!

I simply told myself now that, let's even say for d purpose of argument, d religious leaders are right, defending and questioning what Buhari candidacy stands for...So what exactly are d politicians afraid of about D's Buhari candidacy? Why are they running around like this, why for they want him dead, and what are they trying hard to protect? To whose benefits are their propaganda? To d populace they have misruled, To d God of heaven whose laws and ways they care less about, or to d religious body whose teachings they abhor in their daily conduct? Just thinking!

I simply told myself now that, let's even say for d purpose of argument, d religious leaders are right, defending and questioning what Buhari candidacy stands for...So what exactly are d politicians afraid of about D's Buhari candidacy? Why do they running around like this, why for they want him dead, and what are they trying hard to protect? To whose benefits are their propaganda? To d populace they have misruled, To d God of heaven whose laws and ways they care less about, or to d religious body whose teachings they abhor in their daily conduct? Just thinking!

When the oppressed is d one defending their oppressors, no more hope.How can any Nigerian defend ds wickedness of Fayose and others?

Now at The university of Ibadan, international conference centre, where d Governorship debate will be coming on.

and d time is getting closer by d days..... waiting for change.