Magaji Dau Aliyu was the Congress for Progressive Change House of Representatives candidate for Birninkudu/Buji Federal Constituency, Jigawa State. He spoke with JOHN AKUBO in Dutse on the politics of the fuel subsidy and concluded that the protest was beyond organised labour. Excerpts:HOW do you assess the response of Nigerians to the fuel subsidy removal'I congratulate common Nigerians for the kind of resilience they showed. This is the first time that Nigerians came out united against the leadership and the way and manner they are running the country.Do you think that the entreaties of former leaders like Olusegun Obasanjo, Shehu Shagari and notable Nigerians like Prof Chinua Achebe and Prof Wole Soyinka influenced government to change its stance'These are prominent Nigerians no doubt but they are not up to Nigerians because majority of Nigerians spoke on the streets and president Goodluck Jonathan still refused to listen. It is difficult to know what finally made him cave in despite his explanations. I have a feeling that he listened more to the cabal that sponsored the PDP campaigns and they probably were telling him who to listen to or the advice to take.Don't you buy into the government's argument that it is better for Nigerians to suffer now so that future generations will have a better life'How long will we suffer' This is a Government that signed into law the minimum wage of N18, 000 which some states are yet to pay. There is no water; we have inadequate electricity, inadequate health facilities. When the late Gen. Sani Abacha took over government he said hospitals were reduced to consulting clinics. I don't know what they are today. The roads are death traps yet there are billions of naira allocated to roads every year.In my local council Birninkudu, records from the revenue mobilisation show that the council received over N2 billion in revenue receipts in the last four years. Where did it go' When I talked with a member of the House of Representatives over the removal of fuel subsidy, he said that the Federal Government was economical with the truth. According to him they budgeted N200 billion for subsidy and the 2011 budget will expire on March 31 so it is covered. They are still with the 2012 budget so why is the President jumping the gun' Who is rushing him' Sometimes I get confused when I listen to his advisers.I am happy with the response of Nigerians because it is a sure sign that there is hope. My hope is that this country will be a better place for our children. Students are still at home because of the strike embarked by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). That is another issue entirely. I think the President needs informed advisers.Do you agree with the insinuations that the Government probably was flying a kite with N141 as cost of petrol and that it had planned to finally reduce it'I had shared that belief but the NLC would have lost the respect of the people if they didn't protest it or even negotiated that. Even though the NLC finally blinked and succumbed to government's 'take it or leave it' N97, they had initially threatened not to take anything more than N65. They had the Senate and the House of Representative as the true representatives of the people behind them. At the end of the day, my conclusion is that the entire drama was beyond NLC. Come to think of it how many Nigerians are gainfully employed' From what happened in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Akure, Edo and Rivers state, I insist that it was beyond NLC. Today they are looking embarrassed. They didn't get the N65 per liter that they sought and they don't sincerely agree with N97, which they didn't negotiate for.Even with the end of the strike, I am certain that the resistance to the N97 per litre will continue. With this price regime, a few people can afford to train their children in school. People will not be able to buy cars. Recently, the Minister of Petroleum compared Nigeria with America in terms of the price of petroleum products. My reaction is that in America the people have alternative modes of transport. You don't have to own a car in America to travel in comfort. They use petrol mainly for energy. But in Nigeria we generate over 2000 megawatts of electricity individually by powering our personal generators. The government has not been able to do any concrete thing on the power issue. Every individual that can afford a generating set that can power his house is a government of himself. You have your standby generator, you have a borehole and provide water for yourself, and you have to even pay for security and then you opt for kind of education and health care you can manage for yourself and your family. Where does the government come into the lives of the people' The truth is that government is shrinking in the lives of the people. I believe that there is enough challenge for the government before going for whatever they call subsidy removal. Let the government take care of the security challenges, because people are living in fear and with the other variables, the new price regime with its ripple effect will not make life easy for us all.
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