Since the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan came on board, it has witnessed one controversy or the other, though not in anyway similar to controversies recorded in 1999. Many would, however, disagree with the word 'controversy' and, rather settle for the fact that the whole 'goodluck' thing has been a mistake all the way. This writer is of the belief that the President has not been proactive, and has failed to understand the basic realities of the Nigerian system.Policy makers in Abuja would disagree with this rather harsh criticism and contend with critics that the administration is just a little more than a year old, and so, it has more to give Nigerians to better their lives, instead of one being quick to judge. However, when an administration begins its tenure with the intention to remove the poverty gap amongst the vast majority of its people, by giving what it does not have, then, such an administration should seriously be having a rethink.This writer is of the opinion that the Goodluck, who drove all night and day, asking the electorate for their votes with a face of sincerity and assurance that it would not be business as usual in a political terrain known for its lack of patriotism, high-handedness and penchant for chicanery, during the few days Professor Jega's INEC allowed for electoral and political campaigns, has suddenly forgotten why Nigerians voted for him and not his myopic party.Thus the insistence by his administration to remove subsidy would not have occurred in the first instance.It has, perhaps, become a routine for all Presidents in Nigeria to win elections, and the first thing they do is to make the people who brought them to power more miserable than they were. For those who do not see the deceit millions of Nigerians have been subjected to since 1986, it is high time we, the silent majority woke up from our 51 years slumber and disagree with the Okonjo Iweala-led economic team and the Goodluck administration as a whole, on their insistence to remove oil subsidy.The lies we hear all the time is that petrol in Nigeria has always been heavily subsidised and must be removed, so government can free itself from subsidising our cars and generators, and use the money for development. This argument began in 1986, when the Babangida-led administration argued that petrol was too cheap at 23 kobo per litre, and an increase of 70 kobo per litre was made in 1991.Many would have thought the increase was fair, since it was still within the range of the kobos, not until the interim government of Chief Ernest Shonekan also argued along the same line and increased it to N5.00 per litre. As a result of the June 12 crisis, which General Sanni Abacha inherited and who desperately wanted acceptance from the masses, he reduced it to N3.25 kobo. And having taken a firm control of the country, he deceitfully increased it to N11.00 in 1994. Abacha's intention was to use the subsidy to set up the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) for exactly and surprisingly the same reason President Jonathan is giving Nigerians today. When General Abdusalam also came on board, he increased it to N25.00, and later reduced it to N20.00 when Labour kicked against it.However, many had thought that since democracy had come to stay since 1999, petrol would become a blessing, but Baba Iyabo (Chief Olusegun Obasanjo) became the face of subsidy removal in this country. From N22.00 and N40.00 to N75.00, all these prices were arrived at when labour and the public cried out. It was not until the late Umaru Yar'Adua came on board that the price was eventually reduced to N65.00, the price at which Nigerians are still buying petrol per litre till date.By 2012, as it is being predicted, fuel prices will skyrocket on the same excuses given since 1986. The question this writer keeps asking is, since petrol price had been increased over the years, what development has been achieved in the areas of health, education and all sectors of the economy' Is petrol the only product subsidised by the government in this country, that the powers that be has always been bent on using it to make life difficult for the people'What has all the proceeds from oil over the years been used for' Can the Jonathan government tell us how much Baba Iyabo made for the country, first when he increased pump prices about three times, and secondly, during the second Gulf War, during which oil prices reached an unprecedented level' If one moves round the geo-political zones, what meets the eyes are bad roads, jobless youths and a malnourished population. Since development breeds industrialisation, urbanisation and a healthy workforce, which was the main argument of past leaders for subsidy removal, where are these developmental monuments in the country'President Jonathan, this writer believes, should be asking series of questions, amongst which is why there is no functional refinery in the country for decades and why Nigeria has been bedevilled with importation of refined petrol for years. Are there no other means to remove subsidy without making the poor masses share the burden' Who are those controlling the oil sector that has made it a curse rather than a cure for our woes'Why has oil continued to be the nation's mainstay, when there are other natural goldmines waiting to be exploited and which can pave the way for the government's so-called development blueprint' President Jonathan cannot deny the fact that the removal will hurt Nigerians, while the political elite, which he belongs to will continue to enjoy its largesse. Nigerians condemn the removal of oil subsidy in its totality. The government should look for other means to free the economy of burden and begin its development blueprint.If Nigerians are to accept any form of removal of oil subsidy, then, all those who at one point or the other brought an increase in fuel prices upon us in the guise of development should be made to answer for the wanton poverty brought upon Nigerians, with the bleeding of the economy with the resultant negative effect. Part of the sanity and reforms which the petroleum sector needs is not subsidy removal, but the total eradication of the cabal frustrating the growth and development of not only the region which coughs out the oil but the entire nation.With the 'occupy' protests engulfing the West and Greece in economic catastrophy, a lesson the President must learn is to avoid a situation whereby one day, the people will rise against the status quo. Nigerians are known to be gullible and prefer to suffer and smile at the same time, but there is a limit to the pain the body can bear. We must ask the people hounding their dictators in the ongoing Arab Spring. When decorum, common sense and sanity becomes the experience in the petroleum sector, Nigerians can then accept to buy fuel for N500, not forgetting that life had been made better by the same government which insists on subsidy removal.Oluwafunminiyi sent this piece in via creativitysells@gmail.com
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