The National Vice Chairman, Northwest, of ruling All Progressives Congress APC, Salihu Lukman, said yesterday that the level of impunity under the leadership of the erstwhile national chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, reached its height when he sought to unilaterally impose a presidential candidate on the party.

He said apart from freezing statutory organs of the party, Adamu wanted to foist then Senate president, Ahmad Lawan, on the party but was swiftly cut to size by state governors and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu who was then an aspirant.

Lukman in a statement, said it was, however, regrettable that the APC had continued to move from one leadership crisis to another, lamenting that today, the National Working Committee, NWC, had become a distant observer in the process of recruiting a new national chairman.

He said: “After winning the campaign to get the caretaker committee organize a national convention, which produced the current NWC, led by Senator Abdullahi Adamu, in no time the party was returned to the old mode of business as usual where statutory organs of the party were frozen.

”No meetings of party organs were taking place and the NWC became practically an observer whereby the National Chairman and National Secretary basically usurped the powers of all organs of the party.

“The height of it was when the national chairman attempted to impose Senator Ahmad Lawan as the 2023 presidential candidate of the party. Progressive Governors and many members of the NWC had to rise to the occasion and check his excesses, which produced President Bola Tinubu as the candidate of the party for 2023 elections. The rest, as is often said, is now history.

“However, we continue to move from one unhealthy situation to another during both the 2023 electioneering campaigns and the process of negotiations to produce leaders of the National Assembly after the elections.

”It was as if the party under the leadership of Senator Adamu was either contesting the authority of President Tinubu or at the least working at cross purposes.”

Agreed zoning formula favours North Central

Lukman also reminded President Tinubu and the Progressives Governors Forum, PGF, that the agreed zoning formula in the party ceded the position of national chairman to North Central.

According to Lukman, restoring constitutional order to APC will require some demonstration of commitment to give life to the statutory organs of the party, so that the debate about replacing the national chairman and all existing vacancies, including that of the national secretary, would be done within the structures of the party.

Lukman was again reacting to reports that former Kano State governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, had been tipped to replace Senator Adamu as the next national chairman.

According the him, the inability to revive statutory organs of the party will suggest that the process of replacing existing vacancies will be manipulated to suite some narrow interests within the party, even if it meant violating provisions of APC constitution.

Says some lecturers haven’t collected salaries for 30 months

Advises Tinubu on who to appoint education minister

President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, has described the education sector under former President Muhammadu Buhari as catastrophic.

He also said the administration of former President Buhari was the worst thing to happen to the country, lamenting that no government had ever given the education sector a paltry five per cent as the administration did.

He further noted with dismay that some lecturers had not collected salaries for about 30 months, while some had yet to collect the consequential adjustment paid about two years ago.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Vanguard, the ASUU boss advised President Bola Tinubu to ensure that the person he would appoint as the minister to oversee education sector was someone who knew what education was all about.

Asked to rate Buhari’s administration in terms of funding of the education, he said: “It was catastrophe, that was the worst that even happened to this country. There is no regime that had given five per cent to education but he did and even that five per cent was not monitored.

“As I speak today during that regime, University of Lagos, University of Ibadan, Ife, ABU get just eleven million per month for overhead cost.

”Meanwhile, my university (Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, Abia State) spent more than N20 million on diesel a month, UNILAG should spend not less than N50 million to N100 million on diesel a month but the government just gave N11 million. Here (Michael Okpara University), they gave N5 million and it’s hardly released.

“The take home pay of one senator is more that what have you have as overhead cost of University of Ibadan and Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife. How will that run? That’s why we have the problem we have today, nobody is interested.”

Further asked what kind of minister of education he would recommend to Mr. President, Osodeke said: “Such a minister should be somebody who knows what a university is and who knows what education is. Two, it should be somebody who will have the interest of Nigerian pupil, young boys and girls at heart.

”Three, the person should be somebody who must have his family in Nigerian university system, secondary and primary schools, not somebody whose child is outside, you go and do matriculation and convocation there but you don’t have a child here.

“So those are some of the things that should be considered in appointing the next minister of education. A person who believes in Nigeria and not those who believe Nigeria does not exist, we must go abroad. ‘You have headache you go abroad, a president had toothache, he ran abroad for treatment.”

On ASUU’s expectations of the present administration, Professor Osodeke said: “If you have watched, most of the past leaders have really not given the attention to the education system for growth. That is why we are having these problems, especially the issue of funding.

“If you check in West Africa, Ghana, Cameron and even South Africa, no country gives less than 15 per cent of its budget to education but last year, we got 5.3 per cent and it has never gone beyond 10 per cent in the past ten years.

“So that’s the critical issue. In the early 60s and 70s, the regional government, especially the western region, was giving 30 per cent. In some countries, they give up to 30 per cent because of the importance of education, but here we don’t regard it.

”Do you know why? Because the children of those who should ensure that it is done are not in the country.

“The first six months of last year we paid $600 million as tuition fee to UK universities. If you multiply that, it is more than N200 billion. That is what we have been saying should be put in education every year to revamp it but they are not interested. So that is the reason we are having this.”

The Federal Government, through the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, has issued a cease-and-desist order to Point of Sale operators from conduct that constitutes an infringement of the law.

This follows the move by PoS operators, under the umbrella of the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria, to fix new prices for PoS transactions.

The new pricing model began on July 17, 2023.

According to the commission, PoS operators that are found in violation of the order will pay N10m for corporate entities and N1m and, or, a prison sentence of up to three months for individuals.

The FCCPC, in a statement signed by its Executive Vice Chairman/ Chief Executive Officer, Babatunde Irukera, on Monday, said, “The Commission advises PoS operators that violation of an order of the Commission attracts additional consequences apart from the underlying illegal conduct that is the subject of the order such as up to N10,000,000 for corporate entities; and N1,000,000 and or a prison sentence of up to three months for individuals.”

The commission noted that it has not sought to limit the prerogative of PoS service providers to determine and set prices for services in a manner of their choosing, subject to Section 127 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018, which prohibits manifestly unjust or exploitative prices.

It stated that it respects and encourages a pricing methodology that is the product of market forces in a free, competitive, and undistorted market. However, it said there is no evidence that the PoS market lacks sufficient players or competition in Lagos or anywhere else.

The commission said, “While the Commission continues to provide consideration to, and for small businesses, enforcing the law must remain non-negotiable.

“Accordingly, the Commission, in escalating this in accordance with the FCCPA and ancillary instruments, has entered an Order & Notice (ONC) of the Commission to AMMBAN, persons identified as executives, members, and non-member PoS operators to Cease and Desist from conduct that constitutes an infringement of the law.”

It said the ONC had been served on AMMBAN. It was also noted that not all members can be personally served or will become aware through service on AMMBAN.

It further stated, “In addition, some persons, such as non-AMMBAN members, may become subject to the ONC. Accordingly, the Commission has, and is by this again publicly disseminating the ONC. Members are however invited to consider sufficiency of service of the ONC under Section 158(4) of the FCCPA which deems such service on their association or executives as adequate and acceptable.”

According to the commission, it had tried the cautious and collaborative approach but has now adopted the ONC to convey its will to enforce the law, including, and up to prosecuting violators and affiliates who may otherwise be statutorily liable for the conduct of a violating company or business.

It added, “In addition to stipulated statutory consequences, although the Commission prefers not to disrupt the business and operations of small enterprises, it will (if it becomes necessary) prohibit merchant services and privileges to PoS operators or AMMBAN members who persist in conduct that is inconsistent with law and economic efficiency.”

There are indications that many shop owners will have their shops revoked today in Enugu State for their failure to open for businesses.

Mondays have been observed as sit-at-home in Southeast states since 2021 following the arrest and detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, in Kenya and his subsequent rendition to Nigeria. His faithful declared sit-at-home to pressure his release.

The Enugu State governor, Mr Peter Mbah, ordered the resumption of businesses in the state on Mondays, describing the continued sit-at-home as wastful to the state, individuals and corporate bodies. He had invited some stakeholders and informed them to call off the order.

Despite his assurances of security, the compliance with his directive has recorded little success as motorists, shops, banks, schools, filling stations and other businesses have not been optimally functional since the campaign.

Chidebere Onyia, the secretary to the state government, in a statement, threatened to revoke licences of corporate bodies and shops of traders that do not open on Mondays.

According to him, “Any shop that is not open for business with effect from July 24, 2023 will be sealed and re-allocated to some other persons who are willing to do businesses or have their licences revoked in the case of corporate bodies.

“This notice serves as a final warning to all shop owners or corporate bodies who are yet to comply with this directive.”

A survey conducted by THE WHISTLER early Monday morning shows absence of vehicular movements, private schools shut, as well as shops under lock and key.

A trader, Chidebere Eze, said, “I may open if I hear that others are opening. The problem is that even if you open, nobody comes to buy. It is no more about IPOB, but frustration. The recent hike in prices of petroleum products makes even moving around expensive. So going to shop is expensive for me.”

A school owner at Uwani, Pauline Ezea, said, “You don’t expect me to risk lives of my pupils. We now teach on Saturdays to make up. Let them bring Kanu out, let’s see if this won’t end.”

A commentator, Maureen Ekwe, said, “People think Kanu’s release is being sabotaged by Igbo leaders. It’s true that we lose a lot in terms of economic activities and gains, but many feel the sacrifices are worth it.”

In a shocking development, the Lagos State Government has come forward to admit that 103 victims of the #ENDSARS protest will be laid to rest in a mass burial.

The revelation, which was exposed in a leaked memo, comes three years after both the state and federal governments vehemently denied loss of lives during the October 20, 2022 #ENDSARS protests, which were sparked by nationwide outrage against police brutality.

The #ENDSARS protests in Lagos, like in many other parts of Nigeria, saw thousands of youths take to the streets to demand an end to police brutality and the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a controversial police unit notorious for human rights abuses.

The largely peaceful protests took a tragic turn on October 20, 2022, when a violent crackdown by security forces resulted in the loss of several lives and injuries to many others.

Following outrage over the development, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye, Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Health, issued a statement claiming that the dead bodies prepared for mass burial were not from the Lekki tollgate.

For years, the Lagos State Government, as well as the federal government, had consistently denied that many people were killed in the protests, despite heart-wrenching accounts from some witnesses and victims’ families.

The refusal to acknowledge the lives lost during the demonstrations sparked anger and frustration among Nigerians, further straining the relationship between the citizens and the authorities.

The full statement reads:

RE: MASS BURIAL OF ENDSARS VICTIMS (MISCHIEF MAKERS AT WORK)

The attention of the Lagos State Government has been drawn to some social media publications about a purported mass burial plan for casualties of the 2020 #EndSARS incident. Peddlers of the news are deliberately misinterpreting and sensationalizing a letter from the Lagos State Government Public Procurement Agency titled: Letter of No Objection – Mass Burial for the 103, the Year 2020 ENDSARS victims, to misinform the public, stir public sentiment and cause public disaffection against the Lagos State Government.

While the Lagos State Government would not have dignified the mischievous elements peddling such news with a response, we consider it appropriate to set the records straight and draw the attention of well-meaning citizens to the antics of some unscrupulous elements who are hell bent on disrupting the peace and tranquility of Lagos with distorted news and half-truth about the PPA letter.

It is public knowledge that the year 2020 #EndSARS crisis that snowballed into violence in many parts of Lagos recorded casualties in different areas of the State and NOT from the Lekki Toll Gate as being inferred in the mischievous publications.

For the records, the Lagos State Environmental Health Unit (SEHMU) picked up bodies in the aftermath of #EndSARS violence and community clashes at Fagba, Ketu, Ikorodu, Orile, Ajegunle, Abule-Egba, Ikeja, Ojota, Ekoro, Ogba, Isolo and Ajah areas of Lagos State, including a jailbreak at Ikoyi Prison. The 103 casualties mentioned in the document were from these incidents and NOT from Lekki Toll-gate as being alleged. For the avoidance of doubt, no body was retrieved from the Lekki Toll Gate incident.

In the aftermath of the #EndSARS violence, the office of the Chief Coroner invited members of the public Throughout public adverts and announcement who had lost loved ones or whose relatives had been declared missing between 19th and 27th October 2020 from various clashes as mentioned above, to contact the department of Pathology and Forensic Medicine of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) to help with identification of these casualties deposited in State-owned morgues. Relatives were to undergo DNA tests for identification purposes. It is important to state categorically that nobody responded to claim any of the bodies.

However, after almost three years, the bodies remain unclaimed, adding to the congestion of the morgues. This spurred the need to decongest the morgues – a procedure that follows very careful medical and legal guidelines in the event that a relative may still turn up to claim a lost relative years after the incident.

Decongestion of our public morgues is a periodic and regular exercise approved by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to free up space in mortuaries that have a large number of unclaimed bodies.

Yet-to-be-identified gunmen on Saturday night invaded the residence of Mr Labaran Maku, former Minister of Information at Akpata community in Akun, Nasarawa-Eggon Local Government Area of Nasarawa State and injured four security personnel.

One of the injured security personnel, who does not want his name mentioned, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday that the criminals invaded the residence about 7:50 p.m.

“The criminals forced their way into the residence and started shooting sporadically and in the process injured four of us.

“They came in a mob and were communicating in Hausa language and banging the main gate to the house.

“When I refused to open the gate for them because I did not know who they were, they started shooting and jumped the fence into the compound,” he said.

Commenting on the incident, Maku decried the spate of kidnapping, banditry and other forms of insecurity in all parts of the state.

The former minister particularly said the state was under siege, adding that it was the third time his residence and relatives were attacked by criminals.

“You will remember that about a month ago, these criminal elements invaded my father’s compound at the village and kidnapped three of my family members.

“About two years ago, they killed two of my elder brother’s children at his residence in Gudi community of Akwanga local government area

“What happened today shows clearly that our state is under siege,” Maku said.

Meanwhile, Governor Abdullahi Sule of the state condemned the attack and directed the security agencies to arrest the perpetrators.

The governor’s directive was contained in a statement by Mr. Peter Ahemba, his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Public Affairs, adding that the government had adopted modalities toward tackling all forms of insecurity in the state.

Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has approved N10,000 monthly palliative for workers.

The N10,000 monthly palliative is to help workers cope with the recent fuel subsidy removal and its attendant economic impacts.

The government’s decision was announced at a press conference addressed by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, at the Government House, Ilorin on Monday.

Ajakaye said, “On top of the palliatives is a cash support of N10,000 for every public sector worker in the state, which will begin this month (July) and last until a new minimum wage is introduced to enable workers to cope with the economic shocks created by the subsidy removal.

“In deference to the new advisory of the National Economic Council for states to design their own independent responses to the development, the governor has directed the leadership of the civil service to continue a staggered work schedule — not exceeding three days a week — to reduce transportation expenses for workers,” he said.

Kwara had earlier introduced a 3-day work schedule for its civil servants but suspended it in deference to an earlier advisory of the NEC for states to await a more holistic response to the development.

The staggered work plan will not cover ‘essential workers, the governor’s spokesman clarified.

“The governor has similarly approved the payment, from this month, July, of new hazard and skipping allowances, and 100% CONMESS for consultants and medical doctors under the government’s payroll.

“He also approved a new regime of allowances for nurses working for the state government. The whole essence is to check attrition rate in the health sector, and attract and retain medics and specialists to provide improved, qualitative healthcare services for the people of the state,” he added.

“The governor has also endorsed immediate cash-backing of 2019 and 2020 promotion for Teaching Service Commission workers. The administration had earlier cash-backed arrears of promotion for TESCOM for the years 2015-2018.

“In the same vein, he has approved cash-backing for the 2021 promotion exercise of teaching and non-teaching staff of SUBEB and restoration of steps to all of them. This is a policy response to the yearnings of SUBEB workers since 2016 when SUBEB workers no longer had steps.

“The Governor also approved the extension of free bus rides for students of tertiary institutions in the state, while modalities for occasional distribution of food to poor and most vulnerable households are to be activated in the next few days.

“This shall be nonpartisan and would be coordinated by a government team to be supported by respected stakeholders who would get inputs from traditional rulers, religious bodies, market leaders, trade unionists, and community-based organisations to generate the lists of beneficiaries and disburse accordingly.

“The whole idea of these interventions, which gulp billions of naira of public funds, is to show empathy and deploy as much resources as the state can afford to support the people at this special time.

“The Governor has also approved the Kwara State Social Investment Programme (KWASSIP) to activate N500m worth of conditional support for petty traders and MSMEs in the state.

“The state government will receive fertilisers and grains from the Federal Government and pay for same. It is not free. Modalities for the handling of these will be made available later. This is to boost farming outputs and food security in the state.

“The government, meanwhile, will be setting up a committee to interface with marketers on the need to curb extortionist tendencies as seen in the arbitrary fixing of prices of foodstuffs.

A total of 529 foreign-trained medical and dental graduates failed the assessment examination conducted by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria.

This is according to the examination report obtained from the MDCN on Sunday.

The two-day assessment examination was conducted on Wednesday, July 12, and Thursday, July 13, 2023, at the University College Hospital, Ibadan in Oyo State.

The MDCN said 704 medical and 30 dental foreign-trained graduates participated in the assessment examination.

The council, however, said only 189 medical graduates and 16 dental graduates passed the examination.

It also revealed that 515 medical graduates and 14 dental graduates failed the examination.

The MDCN regulates the practice of Medicine, Dentistry, and Alternative Medicine in the country to safeguard the nation’s health care system.

The PUNCH reports that the MDCN assessment examination is compulsory for all foreign-trained doctors who plan to practise in Nigeria.

The assessment examination tests the candidates’ ability to apply their basic medical sciences and clinical skills in a health care setting.

Commenting on the result, the MDCN Registrar, Dr Tajudeen Sanusi, said, “The pass is at 27.4 per cent, which is poor. However, the assessment exam is necessary because we cannot put the health of Nigerians in jeopardy; it is better we have a few doctors than have doctors that will put the health of Nigerians in danger. All hands must be on deck to put this country in the right place.”

According to him, the assessment examination is a required global practice.

“It’s a global practice that if you train in a particular jurisdiction and, you want to go to another jurisdiction, you subject yourself to an assessment exam. Even if you are a professor of medicine here and you’ve never practised in the United Kingdom or the United States, when you go there, you subject yourself to their assessment exam. So, it’s a global practice,” he said.

“Ninety-three million, four hundred and sixty thousand Nigerians registered to vote in the last elections; only twenty-five million, two hundred and eighty six thousand, six hundred and sixteen came out to vote. People who voted in the last presidential election all voted to escape Buhari and whatever he represented. They did not vote for pain. Whatever wisdom informed the choice they made, the underlying goal was that they wanted life lived well in abundance of peace. So, why would the man who got the throne throw everyone under the bus in order to get a fishing right in the shark-infested seas of Bretton Woods? The man is even now rolling out Buhari’s ineffectual, expired medicine as placebo – a regimen of dummy drugs. So, where do we go from here? Like characters in Caryl Philip’s novel, ‘The Final Passage’, it should be clear to us now that we can’t escape Nigeria. We are in a turbulence……..Stop putting your trust in princes and principalities. Can’t you see that for every plea that they “lighten the burdensome service” of their fathers, their response has been acts that add to the yoke? They withdraw whips and chastise with scorpions. They feast, you yawn. You have no inheritance in the house of their Jesse. Your interest is not their interest. Stop.”

Given today’s state of the nation, it is likely that both Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Mr Peter Obi are thanking their stars that they were not the ones declared as our elected president on March 1, 2023. If they were, each of them would have done what Bola Tinubu did with petrol subsidy with consequences beyond their capacity. They would have done it – they all promised to do it. But, if it was Obi in particular who withdrew fuel subsidy, the North and the West would have exploded in flames of protests. His ethnic base would have defended him with very solid silence. That is the character and structure of protests in Nigeria. Today, everyone is in pain but there is calm everywhere, and that is because the traditional protesters are the ones in government – officially and unofficially.

You notice that your neighbourhood is very quiet throughout the night. NEPA keeps doing its best, transmitting darkness. Super-expensive petrol has choked generators into a coma; noise pollution is gone. The roads are free too. The street offers a free-of-charge gym; trek and sweat away your hunger. Aye ti dara de – life has become so good and cool. Grand old Juju musician, Ebenezer Obey, warned the world years ago: Eda to mo’se okunkun, ko dakun ma ma d’osupa loro…(man who knows the way of darkness should please not be heartless to the moon…). But the heart of darkness would hear that song and sneer. Darkness has a distinctive taste of goodness which only killers of light can explain. Promoters of the night over the day would insist it is therapeutic. They push us to health experts to hear the counsel that if you want to sleep in peace, kill the light around you. It is not part of their knowledge that life and light predate death and darkness. They profess that we must enter the darkness of the night for the day to break; we must die in order to live. That is their logic; morbid.

Defenders of all government actions, I call them phlegm eaters; they existed in Old Oyo as Aj’ito oba. With their mouths, they collected the king’s excess saliva and phlegm and swallowed everything with uncommon relish. Yoruba storyteller and author, T.A.A. Ladele, in ‘Igbi Aye Nyi’ salutes them as ‘aj’ito oba ma p’ofolo’ (men who eat the king’s saliva/phlegm without getting nauseous). A friend calls them the king’s horsemen (awon olokun esin). They do more than tending the king’s stallions; they are ab’obaku, they drink and die with the king. Because they dine, or hope to dine with the state, they hawk the regime’s bitter, poisonous pills from street to street, online and offline. They ignore 21st century’s strides in medical practice with its noninvasive painless procedures and keep pushing the narrative of compulsory pain as a cure: “The times are hard but there can’t be a cure without pain.” I hear that very often now from tribal sour sayers and I wonder if all medicines must have the super-bitter chemical compound of denatonium benzoate to work. It is not as if regime defenders are not in pain too; they are, but they grumble under their wives’ hungry beds; they parallel the pain in town with that of childbirth. Yet, every woman who has been in and out of the labour room knows that unduly prolonged childbirth pain kills. I hope the regime and those who excuse its errors know, and agree in time, that interminable labour pangs incubate stillbirths and mortality of mothers. If you are close to the president and his men, please tell them the sky is blood-red; they should come outside and see for themselves. Unless something positive is done very quickly, businesses will die in thousands, jobs will be lost in millions, life will enter fully the final phase of anomie. It is nasty now, it will be brutish soon.

I have a book by my side here; its title is ‘Democracy Kills.’ Our infirmary appears to have carelessly placed a life-and-death scalpel in the hands of a medical fetus. A man whose manifesto spoke about “phased subsidy withdrawal” and whose inaugural speech text was in concord with what was promised, went off the cuff and plunged the bus into Majidun waters. He was to later tell a bemused world: “When I got to the podium, I was possessed with courage, and I said subsidy is gone.” Just like that! Even Tortoise who took that plunge from the skies is forever nursing the wounds, and that was despite having enough presence of mind to arrange a soft landing for himself. Tinubu’s seventeen ‘words of courage’ represent the very meaning of whim and fancy. No captain does that without crashing his craft. These hardships will define his entire presidency just as the 2012 subsidy crisis mortally wounded Goodluck Jonathan. If a doctor did what Tinubu did, the patient would be in trouble, his own practice would be in trouble too. Whimsically, the man said “subsidy is gone” and it was gone. I hope the president knows that what went down with petrol subsidy was more than the unwanted tree branch: poor, nestling birds also lost their homes and all their toil; their kids are in the rains wondering like Ken Saro Wiwa did at the gallows: “Why are you people treating (us) like this? What kind of country is this?”

The governing of men should not be a deadly trial-and-error farce. What we suffer today is a doctor’s administration of IMF/World Bank poison as medicine. As indigenous people, we are told from infancy never to take kola nuts from strange people. Leopard and dog cannot be friends in equity. Ilorin bard, Odolaye Aremu, tells of Hen that dances to Kite’s friendly beats: Adiye opipi ko tete mo, o nba Awodi s’ore, o ro wipe eye tii ba nii wo’mo ni (beautiful Hen befriends Kite, she does not know in time that Kite is not a bird that assists in nurturing one’s child). I am not sure the president has not realized his error. If he has, congratulations to all of us; if he hasn’t, God save our soul. Unfortunately, he still lacks a team of knowledgeable pro-people economists that can help him pilot the plane out of this turbulence. The labour room of our economy is, at this moment, a bedlam of confusion and rank incompetence; it has a full complement of deceit and guile too. What is the difference between what the 36 state governors offered last week and Bola Tinubu’s offering a week earlier? Distinction without a difference. Tinubu offered to distribute N8,000 each to twelve million households across the country. There was an uproar; he recoiled and announced a “review.” While we scanned his dictionary for the meaning of his “review”, state governors met as the National Economic Council (NEC) and resolved to transfer money to households using their own list. Tinubu was even more open; he told us the value of his offering, the governors withheld their own figure; it is safer for them. Naked traps catch no game. American novelist, Alice Sebold, in ‘The Almost Moon’ notes that “poison and medicine are often the same thing given in different proportions.” She was right.

The more things change, the more they remain the same. Tinubu last week approved what he called Infrastructure Support Fund for the 36 states “to cushion the effect of subsidy removal.” How is Tinubu’s ‘Infrastructure Support Fund’ different from Buhari’s ‘Infrastructure Loans and Refunds Progranmme’ and the General’s various Budget Support Programmes? There is nothing Tinubu has offered as palliative for what he did that Buhari (who did not withdraw subsidy) did not give in his eight years, yet the field was as barren as the Sahara. What I am saying here is that Buhari’s medicine for the eczema of his absent leadership is exactly what hyper-active Tinubu is applying to the self-inflicted leprosy of subsidy withdrawal.

But if the grass becomes wise, what shall the grasscutter eat? Canadian author of many ‘dirty’ books, Stefan Molyneux, is a skeptic. He distrusts politicians and governments. He tells us to know that the state “fails at everything except at increasing its power”; that the state “survives only on propaganda which relies on unquestioning faith.” Applying what he said to Nigeria, I would say the writer is right. He wrote about the paradox of having “an agency that defends your property which also has the right to violate your property rights at will.” He likened having a bumbling government to the scenario of “hiring a bodyguard that you pay to beat you up randomly.” That is the oxymoron in what every hopeful person who voted in the last presidential election did. There was also the Yoruba sultry vote-massing catchphrase: Omo eni ko se’di bebere. I wonder how many waist beads have been lost to the strains of trekking in today’s harsh weather. The cynical argument of Molyneux against putting trust in politicians and expecting them to eradicate poverty, and create wealth for the poor, appears directed at this place – this country: “When poverty declines, the need for government declines, which is why expecting government to solve poverty is like expecting a tobacco company to mount an aggressive anti-smoking campaign.”

A president on a learning curve shouldn’t have used his first act to sink an unsteady needle into the jugular, the ‘terra incognita’ of a country of two hundred million people. Spur-of-the-moment decisions, trial-and-error experimentation with the spine of the economy was too much a plunge. Now, copying and pasting what ruined the past undermines the present and whatever promise it has. Buhari funded his fancies by printing mountains of money- almost N25 trillion. With Tinubu’s Infrastructure Support Fund, how much will be involved and where will the funding come from? Will it come from where Buhari got his, from Ways and Means, a euphemism for currency printing? Buhari printed N25 trillion; Idi Amin Dada of Uganda who pioneered that dark practice in Africa did not do up to that amount. Idi Amin’s was a miserable three million Ugandan Shillings. Will Tinubu go that way or is he there already? We cannot know because even now, we do not have a central bank governor; the president has not been “possessed with courage” to name one.

Ninety-three million, four hundred and sixty thousand Nigerians registered to vote in the last elections; only twenty-five million, two hundred and eighty six thousand, six hundred and sixteen came out to vote. People who voted in the last presidential election all voted to escape Buhari and whatever he represented. They did not vote for pain. Whatever wisdom informed the choice they made, the underlying goal was that they wanted life lived well in abundance of peace. So, why would the man who got the throne throw everyone under the bus in order to get a fishing right in the shark-infested seas of Bretton Woods? The man is even now rolling out Buhari’s ineffectual, expired medicine as placebo – a regimen of dummy drugs. So, where do we go from here? Like characters in Caryl Philip’s novel, ‘The Final Passage’, it should be clear to us now that we can’t escape Nigeria. We are in a turbulence. The sensible thing to do is to keep our belts fastened and ensure that the pilot stops getting high on hubris for our collective safety. More importantly, if you are a phlegm eater in the palace, stop sucking the king’s viscous throat. Stop putting your trust in princes and principalities. Can’t you see that for every plea that they “lighten the burdensome service” of their fathers, their response has been acts that add to the yoke? They withdraw whips and chastise with scorpions. They feast, you yawn. You have no inheritance in the house of their Jesse. Your interest is not their interest. Stop.

To be precise from the onset, it is apt to posit that the centrality, omnipresence  and ubiquitous nature of petrol in Nigeria has elevated it to the status of a deity in our daily lives. We revere this deity and pray that it never unleashes mayhem on us. Any scarcity or increase in the price of this deity brings untold hardship to Nigerians  and we are eager to appease it at any cost. We are hugely dependent on this deity because it is the dominant form of energy that powers our way of living. We are a petrol-fuelled  economy. We depend on petroleum products for transportation, domestic generation of power for homes, small and medium businesses, and mechanised farming. 

Over the decades, we appeased this deity with a sacrifice called a petrol “subsidy”. Recently, the cost of this sacrifice put a knee on the neck of Nigeria, threatened her with strangulation. To breathe and survive the strangulation, the new administration took a plunge and ended the sacrifice. As expected, with the stopping of the perennial sacrifice the high priests and guardians of the deity are livid and predicting doom and damnation to Nigeria. The deity has unleashed severe punishment on the nation . The increase in petrol price has created hyperinflation, a decrease in real GDP, a cost-of-living crisis, spike in food prices and a loss of disposable income for the citizens. The situation as it stands is precarious . Yet is not intractable. Having opted to stop the deity’s sacrifice, we must work hard to tame the deity – for a man who wants to wrestle with his “deity” must prepare for the battle.

Petrol is a crude oil derivative. Fortunately we have it  in abundance. Most Nigerians expect that we should enjoy some benefits and should be a master of the petrol deity. Unfortunately, our history shows that this has not been the case. Instead of mastery over petrol, we have become its slave. This anomaly is  directly linked with our failure to refine crude oil for local consumption over the years. The failure of the government to create the right framework to attract investment in refining of crude or resolve the decades-long collapse of refinery infrastructure has left us at the mercy of others. Other people process our oil and determine the price of finished products. For too long, we relied on imported petrol, subsidised the costs and consumed it even when there is no need . So we became almost addicted to it. This created in the minds of our people some entitlement mentality. And we must worship at the altar of petrol as long as we get it cheaply.

Successive  governments fed the beast of subsidy, which made it grow bigger  until it finally threatened our economic existence. Every government discussed the removal of subsidies, but none dared to try because of fear of the consequences. Goodluck Jonathan administration tried but was forced to  reverse it. For so long , most  Nigerians- especially those in the low income brackets , saw cheap, subsidised fuel as the only benefit they derived from a morally bankrupt and corrupt Nigerian state. However , when they woke up recently to the sleaze and alleged corruption of the subsidy regime, some started accepting the idea of the end of subsidies. At least to end the corruption anatomy of the so-called subsidy. But removing subsidy has left the price of petrol in Nigeria to the vagaries of fluidity and fluctuation of prices in the international market.

There are five main factors that determine the price of petrol in the international market, and these influence the price of petrol in Nigeria. They include: the cost of crude oil from which petrol is refined ; the cost of the product quoted on Platt, a price benchmark denominated in USD; the freight rate (cost of hiring a tanker to bring the product from where it is refined to where it is used, in our case West Africa); the littering expenses from transhipment and multiple handling; and Naira/ USD exchange rate. Any change in one or a combination of these factors will affect the petrol price in Nigeria. With subsidies gone, we are not protected from these events’ harsh realities. We do not have control over these factors and forces that determine the price of petrol. Therefore, we are at the mercy of this deity.

To survive, we must look for an alternative; fortunately, these alternatives exist though some may be more expensive . The government and our universities have been reluctant to research and explore these alternative energy sources for some inexplicable reasons. There are several alternatives to reduce or replace the use of petrol in the country. These alternatives can help diversify energy sources, promote sustainability, and mitigate the impact of fossil fuel consumption on the environment. Nigeria has significant natural gas reserves. Encouraging the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) as vehicle fuels can reduce the dependency on petrol for transportation. Promoting the production and use of Ethanol and biodiesel can provide cleaner alternatives for petrol in transportation.

Promoting hybrid vehicles, which combine internal combustion engines with electric motors, can be a transitional step towards full electrification. Encouraging the adoption of electric vehicles (EV)can significantly reduce petrol consumption. This involves building the necessary EV charging infrastructure and providing incentives for EV adoption, such as tax benefits and subsidies. Investing in renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power can reduce the dependency on fossil fuels for electricity generation, freeing up more petrol for other uses. Enhancing public transportation systems, such as buses and trains, can reduce the number of individual vehicles on the road and lower overall petrol consumption.

Past administrations ignored these alternatives, and we hope this current administration will focus on them. The petrol price upward swing is not going away too soon. This is a justification for some proceeds of subsidy removal to be applied to investment in viable energy sources and social services like education, health, and affordable public transportation. It is a welcome development that this administration is listening to the yearnings and demands of the citizens. I salute  Mr President for  calling for a review of the proposal to give N8,000 per month to 12m poor Nigerians and  commend the National Economic Council chaired  by the Vice President for coming  up with an alternative palliative strategy.

I will argue that although there is room for a well-considered palliative scheme for the poorest among us, that must not be the focus, for palliative is merely short-term measures to ameliorate the sufferings, whilst developing alternative energy is the long-term solution and must be the focal point of any government intervention. I cannot emphasise enough the importance of energy production in any modern economy. Production of goods and services for local use and export is fuelled by energy.

In the meantime, there are a few things the government must do to cushion the negative impact of a hike in the price of petrol. First, it must provide proper Communication. The government is losing the battle of properly framing this petrol price increase to its advantage. The dominant frame in the public sphere is suffering – all our people are seeing and hearing is suffering. The government’s  spin doctors must rise to the occasion and win the battle for the hearts and minds of the people. This is crucial in transitioning from dependence on petrol deity and maximising alternative energy regime . Secondly , even though the government must allow market forces to determine the price of petrol, it must provide a regulatory framework and infrastructure to influence the market. Therefore, I advocate for adequate regulation, price monitoring, price intelligence (Indicative price versus market price), and some quasi-interventions when necessary. This is important, especially now, because we are still a petrol-dependent economy even though we have deregulated the system and removed subsidies.

Third, implementing energy efficiency measures in industries, buildings, and transportation can help reduce overall energy consumption, including petrol and raising awareness about the benefits of alternative fuels and sustainable practices can encourage individuals and businesses to make environmentally conscious choices. Fourth, supporting businesses, especially SMEs, at this challenging time with the petrol price crisis the country is facing. The government must provide a tax holiday and other incentives to help most of these businesses survive. These businesses are central to our economic activities and must be protected from collapse.

Furthermore, we must admit that the current challenge in Nigeria requires a bold energy policy and a seriously informed economic policy. This time, as hard as it may be on the citizens, provides an opportunity to get things right and push Nigeria towards the path of industrialisation and growth. Government must seize this opportunity to make informed socio-economic choices to cut Nigeria off from continued service of a petrol deity we do not even know. It is important to note that transitioning to alternative fuels and energy sources requires careful planning, investment, and collaboration between the government, private sector, and citizens. Additionally, these alternatives’ specific suitability and feasibility may vary depending on regional factors and infrastructure capabilities.

In conclusion, we must do whatever it takes not to go back to the subsidy. It is an ill wind that blows no one any good. This is a time for everyone to unite and push Nigeria to the next level. It is not a time for scoring cheap political points and doing nothing. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Our collective duty is to provide an energy transition that is sustainable and pulls us out of the shackles of the petrol deity once and for all times.