PRESIDENT Jonathan had cause to address the nation twice within seven days. The address of Saturday, January 7, was driven by pains, pains over the wanton terrorist killings by the Boko Haram sinner group in Gombe, Yobe and Adamawa states of the North-East.The president's pains over the continued loss of lives of innocent Nigerians to the reprobate religious group is understandable. Having applied both carrot-and stick in the containment of the Boko Haram lawlessness, without seeing an indication of reasonableness in the beastly group, Jonathan was bound to feel increasingly sad with the presence of these animals in our midst. By way of a recap, the president, in order to rein-in the murderous activities of the group and protect lives and properties of law-abiding residents of the affected states, has moved from a peaceful settlement option to mobilising a massive presence of riot police, the military and under-cover security agents to the states.He has also gone a little over-the-top to declare a state of emergency in a total of 15 local government areas of all the flashpoint states in the North. But driven by satanic sectarian beliefs and political considerations, Boko Haram, employing sneak attacks, has continued to revel in the blood stains of the innocent. The other side of the president's agony comes hugely with the nation-wide astronomical rise in the cost of transportation as a result of the subsidy removal on petrol, which took effect on January 1. The rise indeed has put a strain on the pockets of every Nigerian. Petrol pump price due to what is clearly profiteering by petrol marketers went up to as much as N200 per liter in some parts of the country, N59 higher than the N141 it should be in a worst case scenario as announced by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA). The domino effect of this aspect of the deregulation hit virtually everything on the wrong side, the worst being the cost of transportation. Coming on the New Year Day, when most Nigerians who left their locations in the cities for the hinterlands for the yuletide had not returned, the cost of transport fares which took them home had unfortunately tripled in some instances; leaving many stranded in their villages as a result. And this obviously has burdened the mind of the president.Against the usual practice, a visibly pained president in empathy and deference to the citizens had to stand rather than sit to address the nation that day. He said he felt the pains of all those who travelled home and now had to pay beyond their budgets to come back to their locations in the cities. He conceded that their anger and that of every other Nigerian who was confronted with the immediate effects of the subsidy removal was well-founded. He also confessed that implementing the subsidy removal aspect of the deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry was indeed a tough decision for him. Were he not the one driving the policy, he likely would have reacted in the manner some Nigerians are, towards the policy, the president said in forthrightness. 'I feel the pain that you all feel. I personally feel pained to see the sharp increase in transport fares and the prices of goods and services. I share the anguish of all persons who had travelled out of their stations, who had to pay more on the return leg of their journeys. If I were not here to lead the process of national renewal, if I were in your shoes at this moment, I probably would have reacted in the same manner as some of our compatriots, or hold the same critical views about government. But I need to use this opportunity as your president to address Nigerians on the realities on the ground, and why we chose to act as we did.I know that these are not easy times. But tough choices have to be made to safeguard the economy and our collective survival as a nation,', the president said. Jonathan further explained why he had to tread the path of deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector, citing reasons which obviously do not include an intention to willfully hurt the citizens, as some campaigners want to make it seem. 'As a president, elected and supported by ordinary Nigerians, and the vast majority of our people, I have a duty to bring up policies and programmes that will grow the economy and bring about greater benefits for the people. Let me assure you that as your president, I have no intention to inflict pain on Nigerians,' Jonathan said. The deregulation of the petroleum sector, he averred, 'is a necessary step that we had to take. Should we continue to do things the same way, and face more serious economic challenges, or deregulate, endure the initial discomfort and reap better benefits later' I want to assure every Nigerian that whatever pain you may feel at the moment, will be temporary'. To address the immediate challenges that have come with the subsidy removal, the president, out of an urgent concern and in an immediate step,directed all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government to embark with immediate effect on all the projects which had been designed to cushion the impact of the subsidy removal in the short, medium and long-term, as outlined in the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme document. And seven days into the take-off of the subsidy removal, he formally launched a mass transit intervention programme to be implemented in partnership with state and local governments, labour unions, transport owners, and banking institutions, supported with zero interest rate funding as well as import duty waiver on all needed parts for locally-made mass transit vehicles. All these obviously do not speak of a president who is out to annihilate his people.What struck a further chord in the minds of Nigerians, that indeed the president is poised to share our pains and further lead by example was his decision to cut back 25 per cent of the basic salaries of all political office holders in the executive arm of government, forthwith. To shrink the expenditure portfolio of government, in line with the efforts of government to reduce the size of the recurrent expenditure and increase capital spending, the president has curtailed overseas travels by all political office holders, including himself, to the barest minimum. Also, the size of presidential delegations on foreign trips has also been drastically reduced. As the president said, only trips that are 'absolutely necessary will be approved.'There is no doubt that the president obviously means well for the country and for us all the citizens. There is no doubt he is driven by goodwill rather than ill will.Though the president, he also feels the heat and frustrations from the decades of systemic malfunction. His position on the petrol subsidy removal showcases the conviction that securing the economic future of the country is far more important than securing our immediate comfort. The president well knew the attacks and the anger that would come his way for taking this decision, yet he embraced it. It is also clear that there is nothing by way of personal gains that would accrue to him for embracing deregulation, lest anyone say the policy is under-pinned by the president's greed and the need to line his pocket. He could have opted for continued borrowing to run the economy, spending the better chunk of the borrowed monies on subsidizing petrol as previous governments did in the past two decades and half, and leave the country as his predecessors left it. He would come out of government, without earning much of an ill will by so doing, yet he rather chose to put his head on the parapet, and make himself an easy and open target for anger and abuse by all so that our collective future and that of the generation next can be guaranteed . What more can speak better of altruism' He says posterity would judge him. He says tomorrow would vindicate him. For these, he ordinarily should deserve a benefit of the doubt and a chance to do the job for which we enthroned him with a popular vote. But, somehow, some feel that this is an opportunity to try their hand in bringing down a government to see how it feels.As the president observed, the issue of deregulation has spanned over two decades in the country, with several of the previous administrations, going about the issue by adding to the pump price of petroleum products.Egbulefu writes in from Abuja.
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