₦airaland Forum

Golan007:
I don't defend bad governance.

I am realistic enough to know that a corrupt nation of a large percentage of it's youth, involved in cybercrime , Gangsters in higher institutions, few of who, that are really involved in profitable enterprise, would present, just miraculously, a band of ethical leaders.

Impossible.

Such generalizations do no good. In Nigeria you have plenty of the good, the bad and the ugly. It depends on the side you want to focus on. If you mention 10 terrible things about Nigerians, I’ll give you 10 positive things. We are one of the most enterprising people in the world. We have a large population so there are many yahoo boys and girls and also many enterprising people. A good number of them that go out of this country do great things there. That’s not to say there are not many also that are trading drugs.

It’s not impossible to have brave, fearless, men and women of integrity at the helm. We should be more concerned with the selection process. That’s where the good people are sieved out.

Winneygirl:
They made payment to NNPC.
NNPC has not forwarded any payments to Dangote.
He cannot release fuel until he has received payments. This is business. NNPC is the problem.

Every party to this transaction including the minister of petroleum has a a share in the blame:

1. IPMAN
Why don’t they just come out clean and say they paid to Dangote through NNPC because it seens strange that they are dealing directly with Dangote and yet NNPC is still in the picture. Is there an agreement or regulation that monies have to go through NNPC in this deal? If there is, then why are they not also dragging NNPC

2. Dangote
They claim that they have enough PMS to go round and now IPMAN is showing utmost willingness, what approval do they need to attend to them? Is it regulatory? If so, why not state clearly that NNPC is holding up the transaction? I thought Dangote was eager for marketers to come and lift PMS from their facility? If they are sincere and are interested, why are they not shouting that NNPC is holding up the deal? If IPMAN didn’t go public, they probably would not bother to respond. Or do they want to deal with NNPC exclusively so that they can be collecting subsidy?

3. NNPC
I don’t even blame them because if we had a government that could stamp their feet on the ground and ensure that no rubbish flies, NNPC wouldn’t be able to do all these with impunity. But how are we sure that the government officials are not beneficiaries of this scam called NNPC?

4. The government
It is the responsibility of government to ensure fairness in the industry and also ensure that players in the industry don’t get away with crimes. It is their responsibility to ensure that the truth comes out in the open and all shadiness is done away with. The government has done neither and seem uninterested except for their occasional lip service.

Golan007:
I'll respond to this.

Nigerian leaders do not fall from the sky.

They are a reflection of the society.

How we think, what we accept, who we are as a collective.

Thinking you would get angels from a pack of evil doers is a wild fantasy.

I’m not oblivious to think that leaders will come out of the sky but I’m not also oblivious to think that we only have bad people in Nigeria. Even if it’s 20% of the people, the fact remains that we are not all evil. Generalizing and saying that we cannot produce good leaders from the current crop of over 200 million people is self deceit akin to the statement by a heart broken woman that “all men are scum.” No not all men are scum.

We would bypass the good ones and bring in bad ones:

#1 if we continue to defend bad governance
#2 if we can’t be united like all the other nations you mention
#3 if we fail to choose leaders like it is a business decision rather than a Chelsea or Arsenal decision
#4 if we kick against INEC, judiciary and other umpires being in the pocket of the executive arm

Winneygirl:
Dangote is marketing his product.
"I have fuel that can serve all your needs. Come and lift fuel".
But is the fuel free?
Since the marketers paid to NNPC, they need 'confirmation' from NNPC that their payments have been forwarded to Dangote since Dangote is saying that he has not been paid.

If you transfer money to me through your bank, and I tell you that I have not received it yet, won't you go to your bank and ask for "proof of successful transaction "??

NB: NNPC is the bank in this scenario

Fair enough…I guess you are saying that NNPC is the elephant in the room. If that’s the case, where is the minister of petroleum in all of this? Is NNPC bigger than him?

Golan007:
Can't lie.

Far too busy to read this.

Hold your leaders accountable rather than defend them. Your defending them kills the unity and solidarity of a people movement.

That’s all, Peace✌️

Golan007:
Lived abroad far too many years to speak.

You would never hear a western youth make the statement you've just made.

I would wager neither would an Asian nor Arab.

There are so many poor African countries, some of which I have visited, you would be surprised to know they do not think the same way the Nigerian youth thinks.

You may continue to pander to them whilst expecting a different result.

Call me when it changes .

You said a western youth wouldn’t say what I just said? Then you need to specify the specific thing they wouldn’t say because I said quite few things.However, I’m convinced that a western youth would not defend leaders that pay lip service without corresponding action. They wouldn’t be lenient towards a government that has the instruments of coercion and state powers and yet allowed secrecy and deception thrive in the oil and gas industry.

I know you’d probably say the western people will take action but ask yourself, what action will they take? They will ensure that the leaders do the right thing or replace the leadership. The reason why they can do that is because they are enlightened enough to be critical of bad governance. Number two, they are enlightened enough to not be used as pawns in their own destruction through tribalism and similar tools. What do we have here and some other African countries? We have people who have been stripped of their dignity and so they continue to defend their oppressors. The result of this is that our opposition towards oppressive government becomes watered down.

The strength of a people movement is it’s unity and solidarity and when a people decide to take on the government, numbers is a key factor. If you have 80% of the populace challenge government excesses, then the leaders know they have a big problem. But when you have a government that has mastered the art of dividing us through sentimental factors, 52% of the people will kick against bad governance while 48% would be defending their oppressors. In that case, there will not be any meaningful outcome because the bad leaders know they have good support. You hear educated people argue that a presidential candidate acceding to a debate is not compulsory and you ask yourself are they truly educated?

Whether you like it or not, appointing suitable candidates to political offices and keeping them accountable to do the right thing is the key. If you say people should protest, they will go out and protest and get killed the same day then get buried three years later with impunity and nothing will happen because unity is missing.

Golan007:
Let's be honest, Nigerian cannot change for the better, neither do they really want honest change.

I remember vividly when Buhari attacked the Judges, Nigerians were the first to attack him whilst supporting the judges.

I thought Nigerians claimed the judges were corrupt?

2ndly:
Did you read the response to the reparations in which some white man said colonies should be grateful?

Those primitive-minded individuals who have been hypnotised by contemporary mirrors and machinations are the ones you expect to push for a better society?

Before you attack someone you also need to live above aboard. You cannot be correcting something that you also do. Even in the western world there are people that do wrong things so those leaders that sold their people off is not necessary representative of the entire population. Truth is that it’s normal today for a young guy to say that if he becomes the president, he will eat the national cake. There was a time when that statement would come across as strange. Bad leadership will lead to a rotten society but if the leadership is fixed, things will have no choice but to change.

Winneygirl:
They made payments to NNPC.
NNPC has not paid Dangote.
They want Dangote to release fuel...

This is Nigeria o.
If Dangote supplies fuel without payment, he will never see that money again.
This is why NNPC should never have been a middle man. This is a middle man problem.

Unfortunately, only those who have money at hand to pay Dangote will be able to lift petrol.
Money for hand, back for ground.

I know IPMAN have not said the whole truth but why would Dangote ask them to come and lift fuel and now that they want to lift the fuel, Dangote says they need approval?

Golan007:
What is clear, is that the average Nigerian is greedy and highly unpatriotic.

All the agents you spoke of did not fall from the sky.

They are all Nigerians.

It was not always like that though. There was a time when people would leave their goods on the street and go to another location in this same Nigeria. But when the head began to get bad, the body followed suit. When the administration of justice, law and order began to get faulty, corruption became the order of the day.

If leadership, just administration of law and order is fixed, the society would have no choice than to fall in line. Everything rises and falls on leadership. If you are expecting orderliness from a system without reasonable leadership, you’d be deceiving yourself.

Madups:
so conmebol world cup qualifiers is not part of mainstream football? Keep fooling yourself..

When I said mainstream football I meant football in Europe rather than Saudi Arabia and USA.

Amayabor1:
My argument has always been that Carvajal deserved that ballon d'or than Rodri or Vinicius.

Carvajal won the euros and almost every club competition with Madrid last season. He was very instrumental to Madrid success. He scored in the champions league final and was the MOTM in that final (as a defender).

If you want to use number of goals scored and general contribution to madrid's success to judge , then give it to Vinicius. That's if you are looking at only club performance. If you are looking at club and country performance, you have to give it to Carvajal.

Which ever criteria one uses, Rodri doesn't deserve it.

Let me try to explain to you. Everything is considered together. In other words, Rodri’s semi final outing is also a factor but that will carry lower rank than someone who won it. However the Copa America outing of Vini will also be put side-by-side with Rodri’s Euros outing. Individual stats is also a factor and so is the award of MVP in those tournaments.
If Vini had won it, the award to Vini would be valid but not Carvajal.

As good as the things he did, this award goes to the best player in the year. He was in the best teams in the year but never came out tops in terms of the performer in those teams. There are quite a few players that did very well in the season but clearly Vini and Rodri were standout performers.

The award would consider Vini’s showing at UCL, Copa America, laliga, other competitions, his MVP awards in the tournaments, his individual stats.
The award would also consider Rodri’s showing at UCL, Euros, epl, other competitions, his MVP awards in the tournaments, his individual stats.
Finally, the award would consider Carvajal’s showing at UCL, Euros, laliga, other competitions, his MVP awards in the tournaments, his individual stats.

nairalanda1:
A strong currency cannot be gotten by tinubunomics, buharinomics,gejnomics, yaraduanomics or Obasanjonomics or army nomics


It can only be gotten by manufactured goods and services

You guys said GEJ should go because he was underperforming. It’s high time you hold the people currently at the helm of affairs responsible for this mess. The blame meted upon previous governments is unwarranted since they have now been unseated.

Amayabor1:
Lol. Very funny. You expect a defender (Carvajal) to carry a team? How many defenders do you know that have carried a team? Una funny o.

If we are to go by your arguments of number 1 and 2, then vini deserves it more.

Rodri was MVP in the Euros though and Vini was quiet in the continental competition where they left in QF (I think). Both of them won their domestic leagues. Vini won UCL as the most valuable player while Rodri finished in the semi-finals.

If you look at their numbers also Rodri a defensive midfielder got about a third of the goals of an attacker whilst getting more assists than the attacker. Also he was very good in his primary assignment (the best).

If they had given Vini it would have been fine because it was a close call but Rodri getting more votes than Vini is also very okay. What he did as a defensive midfielder warranted it.

Amayabor1:
In that case, Vinicius deserves it more than Rodri. The offensive part of Real Madrid has been on the shoulders of Vini for some time now.

I think both players have a good shout and a good argument to winning it. Having a defensive player score about half goals of an attacking player whilst being the best in his primary assignment is a great feat too. It was close between both but argument that Vini was robbed is not correct and neither was Rodri given an unfair pass.

Man city actually lost three games on trot when this guy was out. This guy went almost all season unbeaten in all competitions except the last game (I think). I think he even has more assists than Vini (not sure). Then Vini also had a quiet continental competition.

All in all, it would have been fair whoever they gave it between the two.

Amayabor1:
Lol. Watery argument.

Carvajal has been carrying Madrid and Spain for a long time now without him getting his flowers.

First, this ballon d'or is for last season. Limit your arguments to what each player did last season. All these "he has been carrying man city for years now" is inconsequential to the Balloon d'or of 2024. What was the performance of Vinicius, Carvajal and Rodri in this last season? What is the benchmark you would use to judge the performance of these players last season? The stats are staring you all in the eyes but no, sentiment will not allow you all to be fair.

Rodri pass Carvajal for stat and competitions won last season?. But we will give a 2024 award to Rodri because he has been carrying man city for years now. Lol

I repeat, the criteria is not how many trophies you won. Jorghino is a case in point. It is an award that considers a number of factors put together.

1. What did you win as part of your team? Different tournaments carry different weights
2. What was your impact in the teams that you won those key competitions with? A winning team typically would have 5-7 players that are really good. Can you say you were the best of the lot? Because this can be subjective, the Balon d’or award will have to rely on the award of the MVP given for that tournament.

Carvajal may have scored winning goals but he was never MVP. You can’t say he carried teams. The people that really carried Madrid were Vini in the UCL and Bellingham (then also Vini) in laliga. Carvajal was an effective and reliable member of the team. To carry the team means that when you are not there the team looses games and when you return, things come back to normalcy.

Amayabor1:
True. But Carvajal won the euros too. Including winning the champions league, la Liga,. Super cup and super league.

Whichever way one wants to look at it, Carvajal or Vinicius is more deserving of the ballon d'or than Rodri. Except there are other criteria they are using that we don't know of.

Ps: I was actually rooting for Carvajal to win the ballon d'or. He deserves it most.

There is not one ballon d’ or winner that won because he was part of a winning team. You have to be the best player in your team in the most important contests. Carvajal was within best 5 which is fair but suggesting that he wins the thing is stretching it.

The rationale is that a player that was most influential in carrying his great team to win deserves the award more than a good team lead player who just happen to be in the best squads.

Amayabor1:
When people who don't know anything about football open their mouths, you will just know.

Every year the ballon d'or takes place in a year the world cup also takes place, the winner of the ballon d'or is almost always selected from the best player or world cup winner for that year.

Messi won the ballon d'or last year because of his performance at the world and he also won the world cup.

The year modric won the ballon d'or, he had won the champions league and lead Croatia to a 2nd place at the world cup. He was the best player at the world cup. Where was Rodri then? It is only someone who started watching football last year that will be deceived by this stat. Modric won the ballon d'or because of his performance at the world cup and champions league. Same with Messi. This year is not a world cup year and Rodri doesn't deserve it based on the records.

World cup year is always different my guy.

Euros may not be as popular and appealing as UCL but it is just as weighty.

Madups:
This will tell you that the award has been joke for sometime now.. How can someone win the award and can't make top 30 the next year. FIFA is a disgrace not only to football but to humanity.

If someone leaves the mainstream football and there was no tournament as prominent as the world cop in the current year under review, then it’s possible to go from 1 to below 30.

tundegan:
Tinubu is a leader with vision, and he will be vindicated in the long run.

The same way Buhari is being vindicated now as having done well, right?

Objectivity and sentimentality do not go together.

MadPolitician:
2000 before December!
Agbadorians, keep defending:
Tinubu is dealing with the "importers"!

If you have money and you can intimidate others, you may win an election. But you don’t win in governance by propaganda and intimidation.

obaidan:
You should care because they won't pack up and leave, they will instead pass the cost to you

Very good post.

OluwaSegun0509:
You're right. What then do we doo to those who help put these people in power. Apart from vote buying and selling, what about the so called professors who rusticate students that engaged in examination malpractices but help turn rig and announced election rig results?

This is a valid question sir. The whole society is corrupt. The body will always reflect the head, it’s just a matter of time. Nigeria was not always like this but with successive failed and selfish governments, the administration of law, order and justice continued to suffer blows.

The reason why people do wrong things and get away with it is because the administration of justice is faulty. It creates the incentive to continue in wrongdoing so long as you have the influence, money or any other means to get away from judgement. In fact many a times, when you want to do the right thing, the system will punish you and you end up appearing foolish.

Everything rises and falls on leadership. If people decide on their own to stay on a good path but the administration of justice is faulty, those people will bear the brunt of the failed system. We unfortunately cannot escape the role of leadership in correcting societal anomalies.

The first step to correcting wrong leadership problem is for us - the people - to put away those things that separate us. Tribal, religious, political differences that cause us to take sentimental stances. We need to recognize as the people that we have one common enemy which is bad governance. If we are united, it will show in our twitter conversations for example. We will no longer be used by politicians to achieve their selfish goals with the bait of tribalism. We just need to choose leaders like it’s our personal business. We don’t need someone who has never sinned before because there is no one. What we need is people that we can choose if it was our personal business involved.

OluwaSegun0509:
“Negativity toward one’s nation does not foster growth, progress, or development. Instead, we should focus on the positive and support the collective goal of building a better future for Nigeria,”

Insincerity, mediocrity and lack of objectivity are more of a bane to growth than negativity. Now it’s convenient to say that Buhari was the problem meanwhile the same Buhari got 8 years and was supported 8 long years by those that now claim that he is the problem.

If we applied some objectivity then, maybe the outcry against his bad policies would be very loud and cause him to not be re-elected. But inspite of his bad policies he still had a lot of following and many of these people are educated persons. They made excuses for him, blamed previous governments for the current woes (the same thing they are trying to do now).

Governance is not an Arsenal vs Chelsea thing. We should put aside sentiments and make the people we elect accountable to us.

NewHe:
Are you saying the FGN should fix fuel price?

Try to understand. The writer is saying, sanitize the system first. $25billion for TAM of the local refineries is not moi-moi. All gone down the drain. No accountability. All this is the case and yet we can’t even beat our chests and say subsidy is truly gone. There’s a lot of shadiness that if it’s not addressed, price increases will still take us no where.

Tayorshd87:
According to you I believe u understand why the subsidy was removed and the implications which many Nigerians do not understand.

because d subsidy availability was a misplaced priority in the first place 😠

So the question is what can d government subsidize for its citizens 🤔

You don’t seem to understand the fundamental problem here. Are you suggesting that cost of living and inflation and plummeting of the Naira’s value should continue unabated because subsidy needs to be removed? In other words can you say that you must take off your hand from your body because you use it from time to time to do things that are wrong?

Okay tell me, after subsidy removal, what’s the plan to address hyper-inflation because the effects are pervasive. The SMEs and productive sectors of the economy would be hit seriously. It’s not just to announce subsidy removal and go to bed. You need to tell us what you are doing about the local refineries because you know too well that the effect of fuel prices on the economy is instantaneous and pervasive (meaning it touches every sector except the politicians perhaps).

You need to ask critical questions else you’d be supporting an administration for 4-8 years the same way you guys did, giving Buhari 8 years and hoping against hope that something will automatically come out of nothing. As we speak, the NNPC is still paying shortfalls yet they want us to believe that “subsidy is gone.” The problem is not so much in the removal of subsidy compared to the opaqueness and shadiness in the oil sector. If Nigerians needed to suffer a little whilst there is light at the end of the tunnel, there wouldn’t be much of a problem. As it is there is no such hope. They said PH refinery is mechanically completed after several failed promises.

Even if you truly save money from subsidy removal (“even if” is emphasized because the sector has a lot of shadiness) what is the guarantee that they will use it optimally when they like to buy yatchs and spend needless monies on First Lady etc from a purse they claim is so thin.

If you want to truly remove subsidy, you can do it progressively and at every step along the way, you need to be transparent and accountable and then also you need to communicate effectively. Tell the truth. If people see that phase 1 of the subsidy removal was massively impactful in subsidizing another productive sector of the economy and there are no cases of constant lying, why won’t we buy into it? These are the issues.

nairalanda1:
With which money?

Nigeria has been borrowing for decades to pay for subsides, and yes that statement includes tinubu's government. The borrowing has built up a large debt that has made paying any subsides difficult today. Tinubu is being forced to remove subsides because his economics people were yelling at him that there was no money even to loot. Even now, he is still borrowing.

Plus, we need a lot more money....a whole lot more than our budget in a year, to fix power. Even redirecting the 15 trillion road money to power won't pay for the problem

And yes, while corruption is serious, it is not the main issue.

Power is not affordable at all. It must be paid for, or we forget about it.

And don't start talking about looted money. It takes eons to recover looted money, plus it might not even be enough self. We need 17 trillion naira annually to fix power, or we forget about it.

You need to focus on where the problem actually lies else you’d be dancing around the problem. I’m happy you acknowledge that even the Tinubu administration is borrowing heavily. The problem is not actually having to borrow. The problem is “what is being put in place to ensure that these borrowed funds are put into productive use such that the multiplier effect of the use of these funds will create revenue streams in the future? This is the point you keep skipping for some weird reason while you always emphasize that Nigerians must pay through their noses.

I think Nigerians are one of the most enduring and tolerant people. This administration is borrowing at an unprecedented level and administrations in the future will have to grapple with the effects.

They say “there’s no money, there’s no money,” but revenue generation is not a static parameter. There’s enough unused land mass and other naturally available resources that can be leveraged on to ensure that the “no money” excuse of today turns around. Many countries in Asia that have turned their fortunes around didn’t have as much natural blessings as we do.

LordBiden:
It is much easier to criticize in an opposition.
Nigeria is a very difficult country to manage.
A leader might have good intentions but with bad advisers.
Who would have believed that tinubu would be worse than buhari.

Maybe aso rock demons are at play here.

It’s not hard to imagine if you are honest to see that the man would always delegate answering of questions when asked. I’m shocked that you expected better?

nairalanda1:
Because over the years, subsidizing fuel meant that it became unprofitable to produce fuel here, so importing resulted

As an example,.see Venezuela. Fuel is subsidized there to the point that it is free..meanwhile refining capacity has massively fallen as a result.

And it has nothing to do with sanctions. The rot started before the sanctions came into place. And last time I checked, nnpc was not running their refineries there. Nor did they have leaders from Nigeria running their country.

If you were a baker and it cost you 2000 to bake one loaf of your famous bread, and government came in and asked you to sell that bread at 20 naira to help the masses and paid you a subsidy that does not cover the loss,won't your bakery pack up?

Plus subsidy encourage corruption. One can declare any amount as expense from losses and chop the money.


Business needs profit to function. Refinery business is not cheap

I’m sorry for having to counter your posts over and again but the temptation is too strong. Zeroing in on the bolded part of your post, you have to specify the impact of subsidies on private sector refining differently from the impact of subsidies on public sector refining.

You claim that the subsidy regime has impacted local refining over the years but that applies to the private sector. Because of price regulations they cannot come in and invest due to a lack of assurance of profitability. I understand that.

But what about the public sector: are you saying that subsidy regime has curtailed them from being able to meet their combined refining capacity of over 400,000 barrels per day? No. Because they are not seeking endless profit maximization like the private sector, they have a different focus - production efficiency (lower costs), product availability and perhaps a fair margin to ensure that the organization runs sustainably by itself.

Is it impossible to achieve this? No. Why is it not being achieved and people still have their positions without any fear? Is there someone in charge of the petroleum sector? These are the questions to ask.

In summary, if government is the one subsidizing fuel importation when it could afford it, whilst working and employing all its state power to ensure that the local refineries work, by now, there would be little need to import PMS and stability in the sector.

And before you blame the previous government regimes, remember that many of them were kicked out because they couldn’t fulfill their objectives to Nigerians. So I urge you to hold the current elephant in the room which is the people that swore to give you good governance in May last year. What is your government doing now to ensure that the problem is fixed?

nairalanda1:
Nigerians don't get it...if you want the goods and services you want, you have to pay those who provide it a price that would enable them to afford to make their expenses be paid off, pay for the maintenance of production facilites, pay for transport, pay for taxes, pay staff gorgeous salaries, and still earn something to make a living

Paying subsidies and enacting price controls is a nice way of enabling corruption and a large mess. NO profit, people stealing money, etc...wahala starts.

The Soviets subsidised food, petrol and everything....until 1991, when they ran out of money, and began to break up.

This is a naive take I have to say. Nigerians are not unwilling to pay for goods and services. They are saying that the cost of the said goods need not be that high if the government is serious. There is no problem with the state running an organization if there is accountability and responsibility. It’s not a roadside mechanic that would ensure that NNPC is run corruption free. Saudi’s Aramco is owned (80-90%) by the Saudi government and they run 5 refineries wholly.

These excuses that government cannot do it has to stop. If you claim they cannot do it, you are aiding and abetting their crimes. NNPC are not demonstrating trustworthiness. We cannot just fold our arms and accept price increases when there is monumental corruption and opaqueness in their operations.

If these kinds of shenanigans are happening in Aramco there would be sack letters and heads will roll. You cannot call yourself the minister of petroleum and the sector is having a monumental mare under your watch. It’s unacceptable no matter how you stylishly make an excuse for government incompetence.

nairalanda1:
Because over the years, subsidizing fuel meant that it became unprofitable to produce fuel here, so importing resulted

As an example,.see Venezuela. Fuel is subsidized there to the point that it is free..meanwhile refining capacity has massively fallen as a result.

And it has nothing to do with sanctions. The rot started before the sanctions came into place. And last time I checked, nnpc was not running their refineries there. Nor did they have leaders from Nigeria running their country.

If you were a baker and it cost you 2000 to bake one loaf of your famous bread, and government came in and asked you to sell that bread at 20 naira to help the masses and paid you a subsidy that does not cover the loss,won't your bakery pack up?

Plus subsidy encourage corruption. One can declare any amount as expense from losses and chop the money.


Business needs profit to function. Refinery business is not cheap

Sorry but it is naive of think that subsidy removal will automatically bring financial discipline in running the operations of NNPC and by extension the refineries.

Right now there are lawsuits against NNPC of missing monies, unremitted monies. While I understand that NNPC is pressured financially, there is a lot of corruption happening inside such that subsidy removal will only transfer that burden to the average Nigerian.

Subsidy removal will not change bad character or political weakness to clamp down on unscrupulous elements. That one is squarely on the table of the minister of petroleum and if he sleeps on it, either willingly or unwillingly, then the problem will remain, subsidy removal or not.

nairalanda1:
If I was a customer of yours and you were selling bread at N1200 per loaf, should I take your loaf and pay you N100 for it because 'the minimum wage is N70000 and i am poor?"

Don’t be deceived. The reason why this government wants to end subsidy regime is not because they are thinking about the future of r because they want to do the right thing. The real reason why they are now interested in removing that burden is because of a drastic decline in revenues as a result of lower crude production. They didn’t really mind a subsidy regime which was a cesspit for corruption as long as there was enough revenue coming in.

They need to channel all their energies, resources, intellectual capacities, political might and will to see to it that local refineries work. It can be done.

nairalanda1:
And should you , assuming you were selling rice, sell it to Nigerians at fifty naira for a 50kg bag because we are all.poor and suffering under tpain?

The issue more than the cost to Nigerians is that people are asking for solutions. What’s the way out of this mess? Nigerians are right to ask about their local refineries. It’s a valid question. We have crude oil but we import PMS. Is there any concrete plan to address this malaise?

If you say the problem with refining locally is the subsidy regime that has gone on for decades, my question to you is simple: Is it impossible to reduce the subsidy progressively while getting the refineries to full working capacity. And while at it, NNPC would communicate clearly the true state of things. Firstly, the fact that they are still subsidizing (which they still deny) because of excessive devaluation of the naira, then they will also communicate clearly their plans to progressively come to a certain point where the price of PMS is commensurate with landing costs.

Then they won’t stop there. They will also have a clear roadmap for fixing the local refineries. We get told every now and then that Port Harcourt refinery is about to start producing even since last administration but every time, it ends up being a joke.

You cannot claim that refineries are not working because of the subsidy regime. IF THERE ARE PEOPLE SABOTAGING GOVERNMENT’S EFFORTS TO LOCALLY PRODUCE, WHO ARE THEY? WHO HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO BOOK? ARE THEY MORE POWERFUL THAN GOVERNMENT THAT WEILDS STATE POWER AND HAS THE INSTRUMENTS OF COERCION AT ITS DISPOSAL? Do you expect that a Sesan or Mohammed or Chike by the roadside will deal with unscrupulous elements trying to profit at the expense of the state? No! Government has to stand tall.

You cannot blame subsidy regime for non-functional local refineries. Are the government officials not complicit in this oil theft matter? The latest we are hearing is the APC chairman in Edo state involved in this shady stuff. THE SOLUTION TO LOCAL REFINING IS A STRONG POLITICAL WILL NOT ENDING OF THE SUBSIDY REGIME.