Its about Trust and not Economics Mr. President…

Two weeks ago I wrote a piece detailing my feelings on the abominable Xmas day bombing of a church by the dare-devil Boko Haram. I called on Nigerians to rally round and face a common monster, little did I know that a more sordid monster was at our wake.

I must admit that I am no economic ‘sage’. I do not boast of a Harvard or Yale certificate. I’m just your average ‘Joe’ with the gift of discern, eking a modest living in this torrid land of ours. I write this a most embittered young man. I woke up on January 1st only to discover that my modest salary has been slashed in two by inflationary forces. I love driving my car at an average speed of 140km/hr on the highway but now I’m forced to go at 80km/hr. And to think that this untold inconvenience on my person was imposed by the same guy elected to safeguard my well being was all the more nauseating. My land is in a self-imposed ‘artificial’ chaos. Years of decay and systematic rot, powered by our leaders’ lackadaisical attitude towards the sanctity of trust handed to them by the common man has reduced Nigeria to a ‘base’ state; where anarchy looms and thrives. The central government; being the hub which galvanizes and directs other parts of the system has since been weakened and compromised; the consequence of which we glaringly witness today. For the common man; insecurity, desolate infrastructure, human rights abuses and other sharp inhumane practices have for long been inducted into his daily life, so much so that he has since resigned to fate. I cannot fathom the whole bruhahaha over this fuel subsidy issue. The argument is simple; its unbridled,’into your face’ capitalism versus a socially conscience case for the common man. It smacks of rigid and lazy calculation to assume that the common man living on less than $2 a day can survive with a 117% cost increase in virtually everything. True, the ‘subsidy’ regime practiced in Nigeria is so fundamentally flawed that it becomes suicidal to carry-on with it. It dithers our economy at the macro level. But my question to Mr President and his IMF trained ‘Super’ Minister is ‘what and who brought about this corruption? Who sustained the round-tripping? Who encouraged the over-invoicing? Who glorified the licensing patronage? Until this questions and more are answered and acted upon by the government, before the common man will make room for compromise and dialogue. I have outlined a few measures Mr. President should have taken before hurriedly announcing the fuel subsidy removal.

1. Let the government order a full holistic audit into the subsidy regime over the past decade and bring the unscrupulous corrupt beneficiaries of this sleaze to book. Thank God Unlike the Boko Haramites, these people are not faceless. We see them every time giving out huge donations at PDP campaign launches. We see their fleet of private jets lined up in hangers at Lagos and Abuja airports. We see them handed National Honors by the government every now and then. So unless they are paraded same way the petty thief is paraded and made to face the full wrath of the law, Nigerians shall and will never succumb to your sweet promises Mr President.

2. This one is simple…get our refineries working Mr President. Come on this thing isn’t rocket science. We are not asking you to build new refineries, we are simply asking that the obsolete ones we have be rehabilitated and brought back to service. With a combined refining capacity of 445000 barrels/day, (approxamtely 70,755,00litre/day) our refineries can sure cater for our national consumption and perhaps provide some for exports.

3. Lead the way in national sacrifice Mr. President. And I don’t mean the circus 25% cut on basic Salary you just announced. Substantially cut-down your allowances and that of the National Assembly. I was flabbergasted and at the same time moved when I read that the new Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti decided to forego his entire salary package because he believed the country is going through dire times. Okey I understand that you cannot entirely do so because you need to buy yourself new ‘shoes’, but you don’t need to wear Gucci or Prada to make a statement, we all know you are the No. 1 Big boy in the land. So cut down those allowances Mr. President. As symbolic as this might seem, it will nonetheless serve to inspire the people you rule and convince them that Yes indeed you are serious about the burden of government waste.

Like Mallam Nasir El-Rufai said, ‘…its not about economics but about TRUST’. Mr. President, its not about surrounding yourself with world renowned economists and corporate czars. Its not about elaborate power point presentations and promise-filled National addresses. Its about You literally coming down from Aso Rock to empathize with the common man. The challenges are dire Mr President but that doesn’t mean they are insurmountable. We need you first to be our President before you become a friend of the EU or UN.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… that we are a Nation too rich to be poor, too endowed to be ugly, too blessed to be cursed. The weeks ahead shall define where we are headed. I beseech that you rethink your decisions Mr. President, retrace your steps. I want you to remember that the ‘Protester’ was the ‘Man of the Year’ last year and the world has since changed the moment Mohammed Bouazizi set himself ablaze. A word, they say is enough for the wise.