Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the Finance Minister and she headed Team Government to the event where government officials engaged with Nigerians - at community level. The Town Hall Meeting was held in Lagos. The Newspapers Proprietors' Association of Nigeria (NPAN), organised the event and they had titled it: 'Petroleum Subsidy Removal: In Whose Interest''It was a forum in which the natural friends of government and anti-government forces were represented. Petroleum Affairs Ministers, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, was on ground, and so was the Central Bank Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. And there was Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the Edo State Governor, Chief Olisa Agbakoba, and Comrade Isa Aremu for the Labour Congress. Getting the government to connect with Nigerians over the deregulation subsidy removal issue has always been a problem, a baffling thing considering the fact that the current administration brought into its structure former editors and public opinion moulders especially from the media. Nigerians have seen their officials gather in high-profile settings, speaking 'big grammar' but never for once come down to their level and speak to them man-to-man in the language they understand, in the words that can better inform them of what their government means by petroleum subsidy removal.Yes, citizens knew petrol would be sold at higher prices ultimately, that transport fares would go up, prices of foodstuff would hit the sky, and nonsense would be made of the N18,000 wage increase that labour got recently. Nigerians also knew that their government will not inform them as to when the policy would take effect, but that it would keep it to its breast till whenever some officials suddenly wake up on another side of the bed one day to announce that subsidy is gone, finally. But that is all that Nigerians know. It is like government officials are afraid to step out and do what rational thinking governments doe' go to the street and speak street language. Everyone stays in the cocoon of his or her office and car, waiting for Nigerians to understand what no one has truly engaged them to understand, in that sense of the word. It was that jinx newspaper proprietors brok with the town hall meeting. Known personalities from the oil and gas sector, banking, and manufacturers of essential commodities were present at the occasion. They sat in the front seats, other citizens behind them, and they all faced a panel of discussants that was moderated by NPAN Chairman, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena. The position of organised labour has always been known and Aremu further articulated it. To Aremu, the fear of Nigerian Labour is that removal of subsidy, if subsidy indeed exists, will further impoverish its members, while the fund gathered from the process will end up in the pockets of a few. Agbakoba asked to what uses removed subsidy be put. Oshiomhole would support any move which may ensure that what went into the pockets of a few was used in creating more jobs for members of his constituency - Labour. Mr. Femi Falana was remarkable for the characteristic passion he displayed, faulting as usual, a system that no Nigerian believes in anymore. Alison-Madueke enumerated the items that would benefit from the subsidy removed, and those items, she said, would benefit other sectors of the economy. Sanusi did not see why any rational thinking person, seeing that so much goes into the pockets of the few, would not support removal of subsidy. And Okonjo-Iweala expectedly, matched figures to the topic under discussion.Questions and contributions came from the audience. Some wondered why removal of subsidy cannot come in phases; why the government cannot tell Nigerians exactly when subsidy will be removed, and why those who perpetrated the ruin that has become the lot of the nation's petroleum refineries still roam the streets. Everyone, however, said it was obvious that participants who were from different backgrounds, and who had differing mentalities had one thing in common - their love, their passion for Nigeria; a Nigeria that works. It didn't matter on which side those who contributed were, it was agreed, what mattered was that an avenue was created that allowed Nigerians to say it the way they saw it, and that the forum had provided the opportunities to rub minds. It was also the consensus that what everyone wanted was governance, good governance that looked after the interests of the majority, and one that catered for the poor. They also wanted the kind of governance that shows action, one that takes action; action now, not tomorrow. 'This is what can make the citizens believe in the Jonathan administration that promises a transformed Nigeria, said the participants.Significantly, Okonjo-Iweala spoke the kind of language that citizens at the meeting could relate with, and it was not much about what she said but the way she said it. Imagine a mother in the village, and remember the minister dresses like the natural African woman, then note the expression on her face that shows the level of her feelings for her children who have just expressed their worries. That is the picture of this woman on the day she led the government team to talk with Nigerians, at their own level. She had stood up, and with a mien, a carriage that showed she felt the pains of many, said: 'I saw Falana as he banged his hand on the podium and I thought that could have been me.' That was said with a voice that showed a mother, a mother that was really concerned for her children. Nigerians spoke, she listened, she took note, and when she reacted, she said: 'That's exactly what I am saying, too.' And what was the minister saying. She said she agreed with Nigerians that things could not continue the same old way; that a few, a cabal, cannot continue to take what belongs to every Nigerian, that what a few do to congest the ports, thereby forcing importers to increase prices of goods has been stopped, and those who may be found to have taken what does not belong to them either at the pension office or in any government Ministry will be handed over to the anti-graft commission. Ajibade is a Communications Consultant. tunjioa@yahoo.com
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