So What Next...After The Mother Of All Protests?

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I am almost afraid and weary to write this article. This is probably
because of my penchant to dwell very long on issues that are very close
to my heart, but don’t want to bore the reader with a long treatise.
Unfortunately, however, the problem of Nigeria is my problem, your
problem, and you know what, the world’s problem.

In sitting down to write this article, I have had to rely very heavily on
comments made by my friends and other people in the newspapers,
internet media, the social networking sites such as Twitter and
Facebook, etc., not because I cannot come up with my own, but because
they are very interesting, inspiring, sagacious and like our elders will
always say in, two heads are better than one.

Nobody has a monopoly of knowledge or opinions. We all have to learn
from each other, and believe me; I have learnt a lot from my countrymen
and women in the past two weeks of the oil subsidy removal imbroglio.
Let me state that I am in full support of removal of oil subsidy and
deregulation of our nation’s oil industry as long as it is driven by very
sound economic planning and decision and, very importantly, as long as
it is handled with a sincere, transparent, efficient, effective and well-
meaning government that is not as corrupt.

That is, a government that has a genuine interest and welfare of its people
at heart and such that is not bogged down by pettiness, political game-
play and lack of direction... but rather guided by sincerity of purpose and
handled by competent hands in all positions of decision making.
Alas, we are yet to witness a government with such demonstration of will
power and purpose. In fact our country has not been lucky enough to
witness many changes.

For long, what we have seen is mediocrity, with purposeless, clueless,
corrupt and selfish leaders (I prefer to call them “rulers”) handling the
affairs of our dear nation, at all levels of governance; governments that
have taken the generality of our people for granted especially in the past
three or four decades.

Hence the justification for the current permeating anger and protest as
demonstrated by the people.
I hold the same position with the people as a passionate Nigerian and
that is the reason for my opposition to the recent deregulation imbroglio.
Many Nigerians currently in opposition to this decision I know are thinking
along my line.

However, the reason for the recent protest, (which I believe have shaken
this government, especially the greedy, political ‘thieving class) has gone
beyond the popular Oil Subsidy removal.

We must let our people know, even after the end of the strike that there
are many challenges facing our dear nation that are far beyond removal of
oil subsidy.

We are currently faced with bad governance, corruption, insensitivity to
the people’s plight, lack of vision and purpose, mismanagement of our
natural resources and many more maladministration drives; looting of our
common wealth, cheating, fraud, deception and deceit, mostly by people
in government and their backers outside the government.

So, the protest goes beyond the subsidy removal. It is about sounding
aloud to those usurpers of people’s rights that enough is enough. There is
a general drive about   taking our country back from those usurpers of
power and unlicensed authority, who had condemned us to poverty,
hopelessness and idleness.

There are new dreams about setting a new groundwork and framework for
a New Order; a new power arrangement, a new system of government,
such that will be answerable to the people always.

I have always opined in this forum that our true problems are not tribe or
religion. It is about corruption in positions of authority, bad leadership,
bad governance, lack of foresight and all these go beyond ethnic or
religious composition.

I saw NIGERIANS of all professions, ethnic and religious affiliations taking
part in the protest everywhere in the country and I loved my people and I
was very proud them that at last, they are taking the initiatives. They want
their country back from the usurpers. I saw a renewed hope that may turn
things around for our deprived nation.

The expression of our disenchantment through this protests must be
sustained until we achieve a positive result getting rid of corruption and
bad leadership in our political system.

This recent action may be our only resort, our only and the only path to
true freedom, snatching back our pride and our rights.

Even our respected Finance Minister, a staunch proponent of the fuel
subsidy removal, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala appeared to mirror my
concerns: ''The issues on ground go beyond fuel subsidy. We need to
manage our resources so as to avoid the situation in Greece”, she said
She continued: “The cost of refining fuel is the problem (from N250 billion
to N1.3 trillion). A responsible government should find a way of costing
waste in the system. The fuel subsidy gains will be directed towards the
following under mentioned projects”

•        To create jobs from the fallout of Subsidy removal
•        To improve our health care System especially for those in the rural
areas
•        To improve the rail system so as to reduce the menace of
accidents on our roads
•        To embark on roads rehabilitation
•        To cuts inefficiency, leakages in government which have been in
existence from time immemorial.
•        Provisions of Youth Employment and Access to Credits to Youth
to enable them to be Self Employed.
And our Governor of the Central Bank, Lamido Sanusi, another strong
supporter of subsidy removal, contended that: “We are an oil producing
country; our refineries should be in place, the solution is not to undertake
a short term approach but a short term pain for a long term gains or
benefits”.

“Let us look at the costs (250 billion in 2011 to 1.3 trillion in 2012), some
people are milking the country and a system should be put in place to
block all financial leakages. Our borders should be closely monitored to
reduce the incidence of border fraud of oil products. It is in the economic
interest of the country to remove it”, he added.

“Our constitution is partly to blame for the cost of running the government
e.g. 776 local governments, 36 state governors, 26 ministers, special
advisers at both state and federal levels, bicameral legislature''. He
strongly believes that the type of political structure we operate now is too
costly and we need amendments to the Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria”, the Central Bank Governor opined.

According to him, the cost of running the government is too high and this
is where the problem lies.

In the words of Olutoyin Eweje, a Constitutional Lawyer based in the UK:
“The government should tackle corruption in the system, operate a
welfare system of government, address the gaps between the rich and the
poor and then remove fuel subsidy.”

She went further: “If the Federal Government is really sincere in fighting
corruption within the Oil and Gas sector they should institute an
independent and unbiased regime to investigate the going-on within the
petroleum industry so as to bring all the perpetrators to book”. (Easier
said than done, in our country, but it could be done with the right people
in authority, if we put our mind and backs to it)
“But the probes as presently being done will not see the light of the day.

A case in point was the panel on the Power sector (The Hon Elumelu &
Co) which was never concluded and all the culprits are back to their
respective offices...”The FG should stop making mockery of the system
and need to show commitment in their handling of matters of utmost
importance to the generality of Nigerians. Until the perpetrators of all
these corrupt practices are made to face the music, the people would
never believe the ability of the Government to fight corruption. Corruption
is a malaise and must be nip in the bud”, Eweje concluded

I believe Nigeria will not (or maybe I should say – should not) be the same
after this protest, which has opened more Nigerian eyes to the reality and
frustration of our existence.

Many more Nigerians, including our rural dwellers and market-women,
whom our rulers (I won’t call them “leaders” anymore) have generally
regarded as illiterate and not knowledgeable and usually disregarded and
deprived, are now aware of the poverty and hopelessness which their
rulers and their corrupting backers and cohorts have been subjecting
them to for many decades, stealing their common wealth and literarily
causing them death and other untold inhumane torture and degradations.

In a highly corrupt country such as ours with abundant natural resources,
there is one solution to our profligate and corrupt culture. We need to go
back to the Parliamentary system of government where cost of
governance and corruption in all facets of our national life will be
drastically reduced by checks and balances from a vibrant opposition with
its own shadow cabinets and less political hangers-on, thus making
politics less attractive to the present crop of political misfits, opportunists
and charlatans.

Nigeria, with endemic corruption, is not a good ground for the current
Presidential system of government. Let's give it an objective thought!
This democracy is built on a very shaky foundation. Perhaps it is time to
get an interim national government (ING) of civil society leaders for 18
months, convene a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) to determine
our Union, work out and establish a new Constitution, and then organize
fresh elections and thereby build a new democracy on a solid rock
foundation.

I know the above suggestions are fraught with dangers and uncertainties,
nor are they infallible, and are not a definite panacea to our problems.
But, we could at least consider some, if not all of them.
There are other suggestions such as a 100% commitment and utmost
sincerity in tackling corruption, ensuring total transparency, total
accountability, and attaching 100% importance to managing and cutting
waste in government. A 75% reduction in the salaries of government
official and political office holders will go a long way in accomplishing the
last.

Government must be made unattractive to thieves, hangers-on, charlatans
and the mediocre. It is only then that we will be able to identify patriotic
intellectuals and technocrats who really want to serve and are not going
into government just to make money. We have too many thieves and
clueless people in government right now.

We need people in government who are relentless promoters and
practitioners for greater transparency and who are against corruption and
who will strongly support the need for greater social accountability,
responsibility and civil society engagement.

There are too many conflicts of interests and private and selfish agendas.
It seems like it is only in our country that conflict of interest is not an
issue.

The current Petroleum minister and her husband are key players in the
industry she is meant to supervise. Many former ministers and top
government officials own oil companies; and an incredible number of
retired military officers and politicians. When they are not stealing the
money, they are getting N1billion feeding allowances.
In conclusion, apart from those mentioned above, why are our four
refineries not working and why is the government not taking steps to fix
them and build more
Nigeria produces 2.5 million barrels of oil per day and our domestic
consumption is only between 300 and 400,000 barrels per day, what is
happening to the huge excess?

What steps, if any, is the government taking to tackle the oil marketing
cabals who have been defrauding the country for several decades? Is
there any connection between the cabal and the refineries’ inability to
work?

A final word on the military occupation of Lagos.
And finally, regarding the sending of armed soldiers to occupy the City of
Lagos; when a democratically elected government tries this kind of
intimidating technique on its citizens, it does not portray Good
Governance.

Good Governance demands that governments (and leaders) are more
accountable to their citizens, and more importantly, that citizens have a
VOICE in how the state is run.

What the Federal Government has done has a strong undertone of
totalitarianism - which alienates citizens, reduces trusts, and engenders
social unrest as we have seen in the Arab spring. It also firmly portrays
the government as a weak and cowardly institution afraid of its own
people. The government was obviously ill-advised to take this step -
military on the streets - to intimidate law-abiding citizens carrying out
protests, voicing their displeasure at unpopular policies, and demanding
for a concerted fight against corruption.
Please give it a thought.

The Truth must be told always