I am beginning to think a revolution might be great after all. It might just be the catalyst for disintegration

dmainboss:

honestly, if i were GEJ, I would just look for a way to disintegrate Nigeria. All of you ranting here come from states that contribute nada to the rest of us. pathetic. and you want to enjoy subsidy. sad. And your states have the largest number of local governments and overheads.

@ dmainboss, you struck gold with this post!

Everyone is seeking free "manna" from the FG but it's directly at the cost of the oil producing states. Funny enough these other states also have resources from which energy and income can be derived. They've been lazy all along. I wish they could learn from a state like Lagos and start looking inwards.

Nigerians should wake up and face reality, your Nigeria can no longer support fuel subsidy for ALL her citizens. We need stop behaving like a first son, who once upon a time got ice cream whenever he demands for one. But, as his parents had more children and family purse became leaner, his parents could no longer afford ice cream for all their children. The first son rather than show understanding, threatens fire and brimstone.

Decades of inept, bad and visionless leadership which didn’t start during GEJ's tenure has resulted in a comatose entity called ‘Nigeria’ and please spare me, GEJ is not the cause of all our problems as a lot of people have been brainwashed to believe! This population can no longer be supported with oil from the Niger Delta which is a non renewable resource. Look at the UAE, in addition to revenue generated from crude oil, they have invested in Dubai and made it a global tourist destination hence, creating another source of sustainable income in case, the oil runs out!

For other nations, their greatest resource is their population but ours is our greatest undoing. Whether ACN, PDP or CPC they would still have removed subsidy. What we need to focus on now is to ensure that money realised from this removal is invested in the development of social amenities. One question for the people raving, ranting and asking for GEJ's head-how many social and developmental amenities has the past governments put in place to make life comfortable for the common man ?All the structures that we have on ground were constructed between 20-30 years ago! FOOD FOR THOUGHT!

God bless Nigeria!

If ACN had won, they would have removed subsidy within 1 week of election!

@beaf: you asking me? Although the issue of govt subsidizing or not is still debatable. Can this govt be trusted with the said 'monies' realized from the subsidy removal? Going by govt antecedents and with the level of corruption among party faithfuls. The masses are resisting cos the govt cant be trusted. Everything is coded in secrecy by the politicians and itz only insiders like you that are privy to such classified infos. If there is more to this please tell us. Thanks.

ogugua88:

To all your writing, I ask you one question: are you okay? [size=14pt]How many Nigerians are able-bodied?[/size] With this subsidy, is it only the price of fuel that will increase? What of okada, taxi, or bus? Restaurants? Hotels? Hospitals? Food? The country is run on generators for Christ's sake.

When Nigerians have uninterrupted supply of power, then let them subsidize fuel. The number one issue with President Jonathan is his complete and utter disregard for prioritizing. In his version of the alphabet, E comes before B.

My sister, na you get your maut o! Can you tell us why you think Nigerians are generally disabled? Can you also tell us what exactly you are asserting this disability to be?

Nigerians are not disabled. Most are just mentally lazy and think backwards as a result of years of being traumatised by wicked govts. Thats why able-bodied individuals that can wade through bowls of amala and libations of odeku without shaking, think they need to be subsidised by govt.

I dont know of any country where the able bodied are all on welfare; not just the people, but their LG's and their states too. Its hilarious in a tragic way.

Some people are indeed very shortsighted, only thinking about how to fill their cars and their generators when decisions to achieve overarching goal of evading a looming catastrophic economic crisis is being taken. Imagine!

Selfishness is the reason why we are not moving forward. Believe me, tough decisions reinforced by overwhelming evidence should be taken without equivocation and implemented now!

The way this subsidy stuff is announced should be the template for other critical issues breeding and feeding corruption in every sector.

A society, then, whose members were unable to distinguish truthful messages from deceptive ones, would collapse. But even before such a general collapse, individual choice and survival would be imperilled. The search for food and shelter could depend on no expectations from others. A warning that a well was poisoned or a plea for help in an accident would come to be ignored unless independent confirmation could be found. You voted for facebook president what do you expect from it?

Beaf:

When people have no brains, they put up agbero attitudes like you. It is a sign of lack of intelligence.
Sir, do you fight on the roads or beat children in the streets? Is your "real job" armed robbery?
Why is it that you cannot argue without going personal, sir? Were you deprived as a kid? No milk? Bros, I'm confused!

Dunce.

@ Beaf, you have made some good points about the need for the removal of subsidy but you have consistently failed to address the effect of this policy on the average Nigerian. Without over-emphasizing what other posters have mentioned, there is simply no way low income earners ( who form the majority by the way) in the country can afford the new price of PMS without  adversely affecting their disposable income, livelihood etc  with in turn will have a negative effect on the real economy,a la- lower demand in good and services, increase in unemployment, general malaise in the economy,

Admittedly, you say the effect of the subsidy removal would lead to temporary pains that would have future gains. The problem however, is that we have heard this before as past posters have enunciated, it seems to be a recycle of failed policies. Do not get me wrong, in economic terms, it makes sense but given the very chaotic nature of the political system in Nigeria- how can GEJ and his government convince Nigerians that they would eventually reap the benefits of a policy that will definitely cause untold hardship to the "avearge Nigerian"?

More importantly, I have not heard anything from this government on how they intend to develop other sectors in the economy, so much emphasis is placed on the Oil sector- it seems to be a reoccuring phenomenon.

I am a proponent of intelligent critical analysis, but going by the antecedents of GEJ since he came to power, I am not confident this would be be beneficial for the country in the long term.

beaf, you are yet to answer any of my questions. forget state and local governments: they're not the ones           subsidizing fuel so they don't even factor in here, just answer my questions and maybe people here might just see what you are seeing

@beaf
u keep saying pple shld look towards their state gov, Is the state govt responsible for power supply, securing the borders, supply of fuel, interstate road, and policy making as well as clearing of goods or do they enforce any of the above?
How does an 'abled bodied man' overcome these barriers to make a living when the fed turns a deaf hear.
I find the ur agument for subsidy very insulting, especially when u consider pple who r willing to work but cant get a good job to express themselves.

Now government needs to be held accountable to avoid recycling corruption (i.e from subsidy removal to another form of scam on the fund recouped)

In the next few days, I believe the "shock absorbers" that are being or have been put in place will be revealed in greater detail.

The master planners of this transition have it all worked out. My only fear is that we (the citizens) may drag our feet for too long before getting on the bus for good.

@beaf tell us, is there a provision of N1.3tn subsidy in 2012 budget? So where is the N1.3tn savings going to come from?

Chubhie:

@beaf: you asking me? Although the issue of govt subsidizing or not is still debatable. Can this govt be trusted with the said 'monies' realized from the subsidy removal? Going by govt antecedents and with the level of corruption among party faithfuls. The masses are resisting cos the govt cant be trusted. Everything is coded in secrecy by the politicians and itz only insiders like you that are privy to such classified infos. If there is more to this please tell us. Thanks.

The bolded is what every honest, responsible Nigerian should be up against. People need to form all sorts of interest groups to look at proceedings with eagle eyes and ensure that every last Kobo of the subsidy savings can be transparently traced. That is the job of every patriotic person.

It is normal to have fears based on past experience, but if we continue to fear putting a toe in the water, we will never find out if there are splendours and riches on the other side of the river. I believe GEJ is sincere; he has said we should begin to see benefits in 6 months, lets wait a bit and if they do not come, then we take to the streets.

Lastly, I am not an insider. That is just a nonsense a few people have spread, because they are on opposite sides of the political fence and cannot muster a single argument that is not cock-eyed and k-legged; so they fight dirty.

Omo_Tier1:

@beaf tell us, is there a provision of N1.3tn subsidy in 2012 budget? So where is the N1.3tn savings going to come from?

After so many debates, some of you still don't get it. It is not just about savings. Nigeria has been paying for subsidy with loans except in a few cases where oil windfalls has assisted. The 1.3 trillion was not also provided for in last year budget. Simply put, we are living above our means as a country and eating the future today. The amount that was provided for in the last year budget was way below the 1.3 tr.

Beaf:


Tell me why you need a N65.00 handout as an able bodied individual.
I want to know what you think about your state being your primary focus for development, instead of the FG. State governors and LG chairmen are not mere decoration; they are there to provide jobs, industries and services, The states and the LG's should be funding the FG instead, but Nigerians don't think right anymore and thats why we are here clamouring with blood drenched eyes for the return of a structural anomaly.

GEJ is taking the country on a none return trip to true federalism by slowly decreasing the FG's powers and putting more in the hands of the private sector. Even NNPC as we know it is going. The boat is on a one way trip toward true federalism.

Firstly, for the FG to be taken serious, it should tackle its excessive spending, the cost of governance in Nigeria is extremely high. Let GEJ tackle the senate and house of reps in terms of the amount of money they are being paid, then he can wholeheartedly move on to the populace and make some adjustments. In a sane environment, where is it heard of that a president's wife owns a charity organisation which is being funded by the Government? Where is it heard of that a single entity like Dangote and the likes would be given as much power as they possess presently? monopoly is greatly discouraged by these govts, the citizens are being defended.  These are the duties of government, which in simple terms means welfare of the country's citizens. Subsidy is the closest way nigerians get a direct access to enjoying welfare from the FG, is it roads? electricity? water? healthcare? I can go on with the rhetorical questions that begs for answers, but that would not change anything. Besides, tell me a single institution in the country that functions effectively? everything is failing and the only solution that you think of is for the govt to remove fuel subsidy? and not a long term plan of lets say 15% per quarter spread over a period of years, until the whole fuel subsidy is eventually gone, and such ventures should be made public and proceeds from the removed subsidy re-invested into improving the system, that is building refineries, building good transportation networks, thereby removing the extra cost of moving the products from refineries to depots. The spiralling effect of total removal would be catastrophic and the domino effect would be felt in every household, wither directly or indirectly.

[list]
[li]Do you know the meaning of true federalism?[/li]
[li]If your state governor or LG chairman was doing his job and your locality was churning out jobs and industries, would you be concerned about a N65.00 handout from Abuja?[/li]
[li]If you think Nigeria is phucked, because we cannot manufacture a single pin and states must beg for monthly upkeep from Abuja, why would you think you as an individual needs the same sort of welfare package when you are not disabled?[/li]
[/list]

Nigeria can not manufacture anything because of inconsistent policies by the Government. Every decision made so far is for the benefit of some selfish individuals, from privatisations to contracts. The way forward like i said earlier is for GEJ to tackle the senators and house of reps members with the single aim of cutting their overheads, which would show some level of seriousness. You can't remove subsidy and some selected few would be paid millions for doing nothing, tell me how many bills has been passed into law?

Can you tell me if anyone on the wrong side of the above questions is on the right side of reality? Nigerians need to learn to think in the right way, too many years of phucked up anti-people govts have made us not to understand how a country should be run. Thank you.

The only right way to think my friend is for the people to hold the FG responsible for its attitude of shying away from responsibilities. NITEL is failing privatise, Road maintenance not working, we privatise, fuel subsidy too high, remove the subsidy. Are we meant to pay for the incompetence of the govt? Or someone has forgotten that Nigeria is an oil producing nation? In the UK that you compare to Nigeria, there are council flats for "able bodied" persons, which comes at a cheaper rate or in some cases free. There is education Loan that are only repaid after the student finishes and gets a job, there is free healthcare, the transport networks actually works and people dont need to drive down to work most of the time.

Me i no dey go work on Tuesday until fuel is taken back to N65/litre  . Who go join me  

efisher:

In the next few days, I believe the "shock absorbers" that are being or have been put in place will be revealed in greater detail.

The master planners of this transition have it all worked out. My only fear is that we (the citizens) may drag our feet for too long before getting on the bus for good.

since when did government become santa claus whose gifts are revealed only after they are opened? don't the ppeople have the right to know what their government have in store for them? if they were so confident about their 'shock absorbers', then why weren't they revealed to Nigerians so they can find it easier to accept the fuel subsidy removal.

look, each time, government tells us it has it's plans all wrked out. and people like you come here to convince us to accept them. and each time, we end up with bigger problems

hahahaha, Beaf aka dmainboss aka werepeleri

This guy is just lying up and down this thread. This spin doctor is at work again in full force. Nigerians listen well and listen good, PDP does not care about you. This subsidy money is probably to revive the depleted excess reserves. Nothing like a working refinery will happen now or in the nearest future. Just take a look at the bridge joining the east to the west which has taken so many lives. The contracts that have been allocated to that small project over the years. Take a look at the Ogun- Ore road, nothing has been done and so many lives lost. Do you think PDP is capable of handling a big responsibility, when they cannot resolve something as small as roads or bridges. You people should keep deceiving yourselves. You are all in for it, except you fight for your right. The government should only remove subsidy when it has an alternative. This money will be stolen and looted. Just like the billions recovered from Abacha. You better rise up and join the protest.

viewlekan:


@ Beaf, you have made some good points about the need for the removal of subsidy but you have consistently failed to address the effect of this policy on the average Nigerian. Without over-emphasizing what other posters have mentioned, there is simply no way low income earners ( who form the majority by the way) in the country can afford the new price of PMS without  adversely affecting their disposable income, livelihood etc  with in turn will have a negative effect on the real economy,a la- lower demand in good and services, increase in unemployment, general malaise in the economy,

Admittedly, you say the effect of the subsidy removal would lead to temporary pains that would have future gains. The problem however, is that we have heard this before as past posters have enunciated, it seems to be a recycle of failed policies. Do not get me wrong, in economic terms, it makes sense but given the very chaotic nature of the political system in Nigeria- how can GEJ and his government convince Nigerians that they would eventually reap the benefits of a policy that will definitely cause untold hardship to the "avearge Nigerian"?

More importantly, I have not heard anything from this government on how they intend to develop other sectors in the economy, so much emphasis is placed on the Oil sector- it seems to be a reoccuring phenomenon.

I am a proponent of intelligent critical analysis, but going by the antecedents of GEJ since he came to power, I am not confident this would be be beneficial for the country in the long term.

There will be pain from the subsidy removal, which is unfortunate. As for the cover for the poor, the details are not yet etched, because I believe they will be laid on the table only during and after settlement with the unions.
However, both Okonjo Iweala and Deziani Allison Madueke have mentioned education, maternal care, agriculture, transportation and power supply as areas that will benefit. It is the raw details that are lacking, but which I expect will come out when the unions and the FG sit down for serious palleys.

Beaf:

My sister, na you get your maut o! Can you tell us why you think Nigerians are generally disabled? Can you also tell us what exactly you are asserting this disability to be?

Nigerians are not disabled. Most are just mentally lazy and think backwards as a result of years of being traumatised by wicked govts. Thats why able-bodied individuals that can wade through bowls of amala and libations of odeku without shaking, think they need to be subsidised by govt.

I dont know of any country where the able bodied are all on welfare; not just the people, but their LG's and their states too. Its hilarious in a tragic way.

Na my fault. That's what I get for responding to you on NL soon after waking from sleep. I meant living comfortably. If you're saying Nigerian citizens think backwards, do I dare think which way politicians are thinking?

Check the average income and poverty line of Nigeria, and then tell yourself Nigerians don't need fuel to be subsidized. Power first, then any other thing can fall into place, including a fuel subsidy removal.

dmainboss:

After so many debates, some of you still don't get it. It is not just about savings. Nigeria has been paying for subsidy with loans except in a few cases where oil windfalls has assisted. The 1.3 trillion was not also provided for in last year budget. Simply put, we are living above our means as a country and eating the future today. The amount that was provided for in the last year budget was way below the 1.3 tr.

This is really laughable! Inveribly you are saying the so called INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT will be financed by a non-existence funds FYI, last year budget appropriation for subsidy was a whooping N390bn! According to the documents released by the Senate, between January and March, N20bn was spent monthly on subsidy, however and curiously, between March, April and November when the scam was discovered, nearly N1tn was expended on same amount of litres of Fuel imported!

Going by your submission, it would be right to conclude that there is no N1.3tn Savings from any budget, hence the much talked about savings is actually none!

It might interesting you to know that when the N390bn subsidy was appropriated for, that sums why prepared by the same PPPRA, NNPC and Ministry of Petroleum officials, right, so how then did they miss out a whooping N1tn estimate in the budgetting process?, Guys, lets think with our heads, Nigerians are being bled massively!

Beaf:

There will be pain from the subsidy removal, which is unfortunate. As for the cover for the poor, the details are not yet etched, because I believe they will be laid on the table only during and after settlement with the unions.
However, both Okonjo Iweala and Deziani Allison Madueke have mentioned education, maternal care, agriculture, transportation and power supply as areas that will benefit. It is the raw details that are lacking, but which I expect will come out when the unions and the FG sit down for serious palleys.

why didn't the fg haave it's parleys BEFORE removing the subsidy?
why didn't it work out it's "palliative measures" BEFORE removing the subsidy?
why were we told that the removal won't kick in till April, only to be given it as a new year gift? nigerians deserve to be treated with greater respect than this by a government that tells us that it is deocratic.

look, what you are telling us to accept is a plan whose full scope we have not been shown. and we're expected to accept it. we're not kids, and government shouldn't treat us like kids

Beaf:

There will be pain from the subsidy removal, which is unfortunate. As for the cover for the poor, the details are not yet etched, because I believe they will be laid on the table only during and after settlement with the unions.
However, both Okonjo Iweala and Deziani Allison Madueke have mentioned education, maternal care, agriculture, transportation and power supply as areas that will benefit. It is the raw details that are lacking, but which I expect will come out when the unions and the FG sit down for serious palleys.

But isn't that putting the cart before the horse? How can a policy be formulated and be promulgated without a consise and clear framework that would alleviate the impact of the policy on the most vulnerable in the society?

You say Iweala and Allison have "mentioned" education, maternal care etc, so essentially no palliative measures have effectively been put in place ?

efisher:

@Evil brain, from your last reply to me, if you say I'm dumb like Okonjo Iweala, I will take it as a complement. It's really flattering to me. Hahaha.

There's a difference between being st.upid and acting st.upid. You and Okonjo-Iweala are acting st.upid.

viewlekan:

But isn't that putting the cart before the horse? How can a policy be formulated and be promulgated without a consise and clear framework that would alleviate the impact of the policy on the most vulnerable in the society?

You say Iweala and Allison have "mentioned" education, maternal care etc, so essentially no palliative measures have effectively been put in place ?

I am very sure the likes of Okonjo Iweala have a very clear and focused framework. However, you have to factor in the ugliness and gutter morality of Nigerian politics; anybody making sincere fundamental structural changes would need to keep their cards close to their chest if they are to have any success.

it's time to weep for mother nigeria!

Thanks once again evil brain, I'm flattered!

Concerning the issue of details of the palliative measures, many of you erroneously believe no one has the details. I can assure you (just like the case of FOI) that all key stakeholders including the labor unions have the info. The only thing is that it takes time for those in the larger society to know. Most of us only get our info from what the pages of the newspapers and other media. As I said earlier, this will become clearer in the next few days.

It took my neighbours house helps the entire day to travel back to his house! They spent most of the day looking for affordable transport! What if Nigerians just cannot afford to pay for fuel and work grinds to a halt nationwide?! Forget NLC induced/encouraged strikes. What if we just cannot afford the 'real' price of fuel? What then? Folks the FG hasn't done its homework properly and this(not BH) might be what finally breaks the camels back.

Omo_Tier1:

This is really laughable! Inveribly you are saying the so called INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT will be financed by a non-existence funds FYI, last year budget appropriation for subsidy was a whooping N390bn! According to the documents released by the Senate, between January and March, N20bn was spent monthly on subsidy, however and curiously, between March, April and November when the scam was discovered, nearly N1tn was expended on same amount of litres of Fuel imported!

Going by your submission, it would be right to conclude that there is no N1.3tn Savings from any budget, hence the much talked about savings is actually none!

It might interesting you to know that when the N390bn subsidy was appropriated for, that sums why prepared by the same PPPRA, NNPC and Ministry of Petroleum officials, right, so how then did they miss out a whooping N1tn estimate in the budgetting process?, Guys,  lets think with our heads,  Nigerians are being bled massively!

Again, you completely missed the point and kept repeating things I said.

First, the government is paying with loans, fact. Secondly, the government will still borrow from time to time, but we should never borrow to spend on consumption. we shoudl only borrow for production. We should only borrow for investment. Infrastruture is investment. Power, Roads are investment. They will produce wealth. When you borrow for consumption, you are being stu.pid.

The bolded is simply repeating what I said. They budgeted 390bn but spent 1.3tr. So they didnt provide 1.3 tr in the budget at the beginning of the year. That is not rocket science my friend.

Madam Due-Process, Oby Ezekwesili on twitter:

Often, we get lost in the techs of management and forget about the essential bond of trust between the public and their governments.

Trust is essential not just for obtaining resources but also for making government work effectively.

Public Policy 101!

Now that's someone who's thinking with her brain. If Nigerians thought for a second that the subsidy money was going to be spent on anything other than chop money for "awon boys" then we wouldn't be so pissed. If anybody believed that Jonathan had any clue how to invest to stimulate economic growth, We'd all keep quiet.