MY TAKE ON SUBSIDY

I have read through the trend of discussions and picked some interesting submissions. I however have some few questions to ask.

I'm not going to go into the subsidy argument as I've seen so many patterns and I really want to keep learning.

Should we be blind about this whole subsidy noise so much so that we also peddle some outrageous messages going round? Somebody sent a blackberry broadcast that the office of the first lady has a furniture allocation of N5 Billion!!! That for me beats common sense except my facts aren't right. Much as we can't argue the fact that there is a high level of executive recklessness and wasteful spending, we also can't afford to get unnecessarily dirty in trying to sell our dissatisfaction.

Second, while we are entitled to our opinion on this issue as it affects us in different ways, do we really have to close our eyes to logic?

I don't believe I have to be popular to make my points. Inasmuch as my facts are clear and I can defend my stands, I'd go ahead; I therefore have learnt to respect people's opinion even if they appear to be unpopular but like I said, common sense is very important. That still leaves me with one salient question of being truthful and sincere. Being able to see beyond our respective comfort zones. Because at the end of the day, it is a question of the collective. No matter how much we feel we can get around this as individuals, it is a collective thing at the end of the day because we all have dependants. We all deal with the larger society in more than one ways.

I strongly believe in the economics and paper analysis of subsidy removal as it doesn't make any sense to me. Like previous IMF induced policies have also looked wonderful on paper without regards for the objective reality within the Nigerian confines, subsidy removal would not do any better. What got us into the subsidy mess ab initio was government recklessness and brazen corruption. So the question of removal shouldn't be made to look unusually fantastic. The problem at hand is far beyond subsidy.

I am not going to be part of people who try to discuss the subsidy removal as a stand alone issue or as if it started and should end with this government of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. I also strongly hold on to the fact that government is a continuum. We are unfortunately a nation that lacks plans and strategies with leaders branding projects as if the pojects were executed with their fathers monies.

Logically, does the timing of the removal seem right especially for a government that has made so much noise about April 12? A government that is soliciting trust? So it beats me when people still talk about trust like a commodity you pick off the shelves of a supermarket.

Trust, whether political or not is, a process. A process of trials, failures and successes with evident efforts of genuineness and sincerity of purpose. The likes of Shagari weren't as successful with policies but one way or the other while people accused government of recklessness, they could pinpoint the culprits. We aren't afraid to fail as all theories based on human beings are so inelegant and can't always be right.

People smoke for different reasons for instance. So trying to outline purchase theories based on weather is almost unreasonable. What about those who smoke to get high, to awaken their mental alertness, to show off etc. We really don't have to hit right into the bulls eye but we must at all times be seen to have tried and failed having given our very best. Just as we must be seen not taking pleasure in failure or making excuses for our democracy as young.

This also comes to us as members of this political platform and occupants of this very geographical space called Nigeria. We can't afford to address this issue outside the context of reality. We should pick issues and be as realistic as possible. That's only when we can command the respect of the outside world. When a government fails to prioritise education, this is what we get. How many people can understand the economics of subsidy removal? Even amongst us?? Why then do you blame people for littering the street in protest?

How many government who have adopted fire brigade approaches have been able to earn the trust the their followers. During the Egypt protest, Mubarak reshuffled his cabinet and made so much promises; that didn't solve the problem and the protest got wilder. That explains the fact that you can't make subjective proposals and expect the masses to believe you. It doesn't work in leadership.

Leaders should endeavour to articulate their plans and follow through so that the people can have a fair idea of what is happening around them.

We are citizens of this country with no place to go to. We should be fair to our country and by extension, ourselves.

The whole subsidy noise is centered around N1.2 trillion. Does that amount actually solve our problems of dilapidated infrastructures? No. People in this country have stolen well over that amount and are strolling freely on the street, if this government can't be bold dealing with such individuals, why taking on the helpless followership?

Now that people are protesting, why were policemen sent out to harass and kill protesters? When was Subsidy Reinvestment And Empowerment Program (SURE) conceived? An after thought? The same fire brigade approach?

So, it has been removed. For how long do we have to wait to have the system running properly? Would prices be brought back to normal especially when the government lacks control? How do I trust a government that can't even enforce benchmark prices for PMS?

It's all about market forces. Now importers have to sell what they import keying in their respective profit margins, how do we benchmark that. What eventually would be the role of government beyond begging for trust and making empty promises.

God would not come down to change things but my faith tells me we would go to God one day and give accounts. Why do we emulate the western world only when it is convenient for the government. So, Sanusi can ask us where in the whole world is subsidy done the way its done in Nigeria or even done at all? This is for the government of Goodluck Jonathan, where in the whole world do leaders tell their followers to get used to being bombed? Where in the whole western world that they visit and stash money do they sleep without lights or with the fumes and noise from generating sets? Where in the world does government export her oil and refuse to give account of what is accrued after sales? Where in the world do senators live like thin gods???

We can't be realistic only when it is convenient for us. We can only make a good nation when we begin to speak with a broader understanding of the collective hardship government policies bring on us.

The report sheet of any leader is right on the face of her followers. When you fail your followers, steal from them, refuse to educate them and then cry for trust, you are not a leader but a cheat.

Whatever our respective opinion on subsidy is, is fine. We only have to argue in the light of reality and not just from our comfort zones. No matter how hard or bad things get, man would get to his destined point.

I am a Nigerian and a strong believer of a better Nigeria. A better Nigeria that I don't see Dr. Goodluck and his cabinet helping us build. A Nigeria that isn't arrived at by impulse. A Nigeria that requires genuine leadership with developmental agenda is what I look forward to and we shall get there.

God bless Nigeria.