GOVERNOR OF CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA SANUSI LAMIDO SANUSI FLYING THE KITE FOR ANOTHER INCREASE IN FUEL PRICE

GOVERNOR OF CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA SANUSI LAMIDO SANUSI FLYING THE
KITE FOR ANOTHER INCREASE IN FUEL PRICE


Immediately President Goodluck Jonathan presented his medium term
fiscal framework on  the 2012 budget to the National Assembly in
September 2011 in which he outlined a  hike in petroleum products
price through the dubious means of removal of fuel subsidy, public
spirited Nigerians and groups in their millions and in their
characteristic patriotic interventions shouted themselves hoarse on
the short and long term implication of this anti people and satanic
policy as well the fact that the fuel subsidy regime was a fraud being
perpetuated on the masses by a thieving ruling class, bearing in mind
that Nigeria as the 7th world’s largest producer of the black gold,
the only OPEC member country without accurate data of its oil
production capacity and with four intentionally and criminally
sabotaged refineries had no reason to import not to mention
subsidizing imported petroleum products.

The Nigerian people in the light of the modern age of democracy in
which issues are logically and economically resolved by discourse
rather than force or deceit and lies as propagated by the federal
government even went the extra mile of requesting the government that
claims its policy is in the peoples interest to come down from its
Olympian height to organize a genuine and sincere public discourse on
this matter that had taken the front burner of public discuss and even
in our private homes, but the government in its characteristics manner
of propagating falsehood and lies like its predecessors and having
realized that the people had recognized its deceitful policy,
clandestinely organized jamboree talk shops in which only government
contractors were invited to chorus the falsehood songs of the benefits
of the removal of fuel subsidy.

The government also oiled its propaganda machinery by wasting billions
of tax payer’s money on fraudulent campaigns and mediums orchestrated
by its proxies organizations like Neighbour to Neighbour in the media
and other means of communication as well. The Goodluck Jonathan
administration as well employed to no avail in hoodwinking the people,
the worn out melody of deceit like his predecessors, who used all
sorts of 419 reasons and acronyms in the past like appropriate
pricing, deregulation, need to curb smuggling, fuel is cheaper than
bottled water, cartel is benefiting, etc, to raise extra revenue
through the fuel subsidy removal policy which at the end of the day
did not have any bearing on the economy but on their personal pockets.

The consequences of the insensitive, inhuman and wicked increase in
the price of petroleum products by the Goodluck Jonathan
administration is what we are living with today in which life has
become meaningless for the average Nigerian coupled with the fact that
the poverty level has risen astronomically as attested to recently by
a report of the office of statistics as well as the rampaging high
level of unemployment occasioned by the close of many businesses due
to high running cost as a result of a non existent public power supply
which is very critical to productive activities.

The House of Representatives fuel subsidy probe panel public hearing
initiated at the beckon of the masses turned out to be a huge joke in
which the Nigerian people for once were exposed to incompetence,
inconsistencies and buck passing by government officials in which the
abuse of public trust was unparalleled. It was revealed that subsidy
funds and license were given to business concerns not registered by
law to undertake such business in utter violation of the constitution
and the law on public procurement. The Minister of Finance, Petroleum
Resources, NNPC, DPR, CBN, PPPRA, all of the same sitting government
gave conflicting figures of local consumption of petroleum products
ranging between 28 million litres to 53 million litres per day with no
exact figures and when they were questioned as to the amount spent on
fuel subsidy, it was the same story with even the so called acclaimed
world bank economist Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala being the greatest
disappointment by being unable to substantiate her position with
facts, rather she claimed not to know any thing, oh what a shame!

Just this week, the probe committee of the House Representatives which
examined the fuel subsidy regime submitted its report in which it
outlined gross and criminal abuse of public trust by those saddled
with the petroleum and finance industry in paying out trillions of
naira to ghost importers of unimported petroleum products. That the
report indicted all the officials and offices concerned was a
testimony of the fact already espoused by the masses and experts in
the oil industry who reeled out statistics to support their analysis
that the fuel subsidy regime was a huge fraud on the people because
the amount of fuel consumed locally was not even up to the quantity
produced by the four dysfunctional public refineries which had gulped
over $800 million in the name of Turn Around Maintenance (TAM)
contract awarded by successive Nigerian government since the advent of
civilian administration in 1999. To emphasize the profligacy of the
Nigerian government, it was even revealed that from 1999 till 2010,
the country made over 500 billion dollars from the sale of crude oil
and the cost of building a functional refinery was less than 20
billion dollars with in a space of three years, yet the government was
frittering away our common wealth on TAM just to satisfy its personal
interest at the expense of public good which is the whole essence of
government.

And just when we were all coming to terms with how do we as a people
get prosecution for all the indicted persons involved in this
monumental corruption encapsulated in the House of Representatives
panel report on the mismanagement of the fuel subsidy funds in view of
the recent conviction in a London court of a common thief, James Ibori
former executive governor of Delta State who abused public trust here
at home but was shielded from prosecution by the Nigerian
establishment until the long arm of the law finally caught up with him
outside our shores, Mallam Sanusi Lamido, the governor of the Central
Bank who has abdicated his primary responsibility of overseeing the
regulation of our financial system in which the banking system is in
comatose but has taken up a new role of illegally donating the
people’s money to causes for which he has  interest other than public
good is already flying a kite for an additional increase in the price
of petroleum product in the guise of fuel subsidy removal by raising a
mischievous alarm that the fuel subsidy funds of N888 billion naira in
2012 budget will be exhausted before the end of the year.

If mallam Sanusi Lamido had pursued and executed the mandate of his
office with the same zeal with which he pursued and is pursuing the
removal of fuel subsidy, the financial system wont be in such a bad
shape like it is today where the productive capacity of the economy is
crippled because of lack of access to loans and economy unfriendly
interest rates due to a focusless policy of the CBN. Also, Mallam
Sanusi has being unable to use his office to prevent the free fall of
the naira in relation to other major currencies, yet he is not
bothered but is rather playing the arrow head in pursuing anti
people’s policies. Or is it that he wants his own share of the bazaar?
In addition, right under Mallam Sanusi’s watch, the excess crude
account has been depleted by the federal government from $20 billion
in 2007 to about $ 3.5 billion dollars in 2012 without accountability
and any visible developmental projects.

In a decent society, one would have expected the CBN governor to be
patriotically concerned with how to salvage the ruins of our society
from the ruiners currently occupying office who have chosen to abuse
public trust in this era of government of the corrupt by identifying
with the clarion call of the people for the full weight of the law to
be brought upon identified public looters instead of this misguided
and sinister alarm of his.

The President Goodluck Jonathan administration should better be
patriotically advised to immediately plug all loop holes in the system
that allows for abuse of public office by convoking a Sovereign
National Conference (SNC) to chart the way forward out of this
quagmire of a failed state that we all inhabit. The consequence of any
attempt to raise the prices of fuel again while subsidy funds thieves
and other identified looters are not prosecuted will make the January
2012 anti fuel price hike revolution look like a child’s play.

A word is enough for the wise!

Yours Sincerely

Nelson Ekujumi,
Executive Chairman,
Committee for the Protection of Peoples Mandate (CPPM)
26A Adeshina Street,
Ikeja, Lagos.
08023172694, 07033853232