Do you support the idea of removing fuel subsidy? Well, I don’t. But after reading the Simon Kolawole article posted here in Nairaland, I started to have a rethink. Then I remembered that this means that government Is helpless, powerless and at a total loss as to how to fight corruption, or they are so neck deep in it too that they can’t find a way out but to shut the door on everybody, both innocent and guilty.


The only thing that I believe I get from government is fuel subsidy (if we really know what that means). Let me highlight some of the areas that government is supposed to contribute to the lives of its citizenry and how it affects me. Now, I live in Abuja. The most developed and civilized city in Nigeria. The very best of what we have as a city is in the FCT…, abi?


EDUCATION: My child goes to a private school, I pay through my nose, but I don’t want my child to finish primary school and not be able to spell his name. So, no government contribution to education.

ROAD: Where I stay in Abuja is within the city limits, but the road has not been tarred, one rich Good Samaritan pays for a bulldozer to grade the road once in a while when it becomes almost impassable. So, no road by government for me.

ELECTRICITY: The area where I live is developing very rapidly, but we have just one transformer serving an ever increasing number of houses. Hence, the transformer breaks down regularly. And when it does, we stand the risk of going without electricity for up to a month. We have actually been in darkness once for up to six weeks. We had to contribute money to buy “cables” for PHCN.

WATER: My landlady dug a borehole, so no water by government for me. And when we have a prolonged power outage, we resort to “mai ruwa”. After some time, we tenants contributed money to buy a generator to pump our water and save our pockets from being drained by the “mai ruwas”.

SECURITY: We have had cases of robbery attacks around where I live, so the community met and formed a resident security team led by a retired major. We also contribute money to “settle” the police so that they patrol our area to keep the robbers at bay. So I pay for my own security too.
What more, no social welfare for the elderly, no social welfare for my unemployed relatives, so I have to send money left, right and center. This means I take care of social welfare on behalf of government too!

As far as I am concerned, fuel subsidy (I am not even sure if that is what really exists) is the only benefit Nigerians are getting from its government.