A year ago this week (on January 12, 2011), I posted a mail titled “USING DEMOCRACY TO SCAM THE CITIZENS”. It was my reaction to the series of scams politicians have subjected Nigerians to in the name of democracy. Today, Nigerians are in the streets protesting the removal of petroleum subsidy. Great! But...
All manners of explanations have been given as to the reason for such removal. The truth is that Nigeria will continue to retrogress as long as we Nigerians have willingly allowed ourselves to be scammed by these rouges. Nigerians should have taken to the streets in 1999 when we first realized that our votes were tampered with. Since then election riggings have become a norm, and the citizens’ right to good governance stolen.
Our politics have since turned into a free-for-all and our treasuries become a property of who gets there first, by hook or by crook. And to get there first you must maim, kill, kidnap and dehumanize any perceived opponent or opposition because the end justifies the means as the loot at the end is enormous. For instance, how on earth can one explain why each member of the National Assembly earns N290,000,000 a year in a country where average citizens do not make $1 (N150.00) in a day.
In a sane society where thieves are not at the helms of affairs, subsidy removal would have been done methodologically such as removing 10 or 20% on yearly basis till all the 100% is removed. Then a point must be made that even in United States, there are scores of subsidies put in places by the government, all in the name of making the lives of citizens better. In Nigeria, a reverse is the case!
The recent announcement on Monday, October 17, 2011 by the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Adoke “…that Nigeria loses about N240 trillion annually to corruption” is no news after-all. Are we expected to cry or laugh? In a normal democracy, heads would have rolled. Jonathan would have fired those linked or responsible. But how do we know if Jonathan is not even a part of the scheme? If they could not account for N240 trillion, how will they account for the one brought in by the subsidy removal?
In a normal democracy, such mammoth stealing would have triggered investigation led by the opposition. In Nigeria, the opposition is either a part of the scheme, supports the government in power or is made a target of assassination.
Akwa Ibom Scams: 5-Star, E-Library, Etc.
These schemes come in shapes and sizes. In Akwa Ibom starting from the previous administration, the citizens were scammed mercilessly. No one till today knows the actual cost of the IPP for instance. To fool the citizens, Le Meridian hotel was characterized as a 5-Star hotel. That simple classification allowed the treasury to be looted recklessly bearing in mind that the citizen who’ve never seen a 5-Star hotel which is a class reserved for the best hotels in the world would not even dare ask questions on the cost. And we know that only one such hotel exists in Nigeria, and that is, Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.
The present Akwa Ibom government having been associated with the IPP as well as the airport takes the looting to a different height that includes basically sharing the treasury with cronies. Borrowing a leaf from its predecessor, it came up with E-library, Tropicana, and fly-overs. The three being alien to the environment would allow the treasury to be emptied at will. And that’s what we’re witnessing. Unlike the 5-Star, I cannot, in spite of my years abroad point at any library called “E-Library” anywhere in the world. May be someone can intimate me.
On the matter of flyer-over, Uyo is not one half as big as the city of Fontana, a suburb of Los Angeles that I reside, and the number of vehicles at Uyo are not anywhere close. And there are no flyer-overs in Fontana other than minor bridges over freeways! So why are these needed at Uyo? The simple truth is that it is a scheme to loot as much money without the gullible citizens ever questioning.
It’s been widely reported that months’ salaries including the minimum wage are not paid; yet the governor is taking away millions everyone month in the name of security vote. In a normal democracy, the governor has no such control over direct salary payment. His control stops with the budget. The State Controller, elected by the citizens follows the dictates of the budget, not the whims of a governor.
To join the looting enterprise called government, you must be anointed by the governor who assumes status of Imperial King or Queen to impose Local Government Chairmen, Commissioners and even Council members.
What is the Way Out?
The way out of this sickness is the establishment of a true democracy. This will not just drop from the sky. Rather, like the ongoing protest against the subsidy removal, Nigerians ought to and must take to the street and demand a true and credible democracy. Such protests would trigger a dialogue that will bring about a true democratic transformation where the people are in control.
In a true democratic environment, the peoples’ votes count. The people decide who to vote for and who to remove from office. The fear of losing power to an opponent forces the incumbent to be reasonable in serving the people and in decision making. Irrationality is reduced to the minimum because the consequence of such would be a loss of power. This is why we should all be willing to die for a true and credible democracy, else these scams will continue.
Sincerely,
Dr. Tom Mbeke-Ekanem, REA
Moderator
Author, Beyond the Execution -
Dr. Tom Mbeke-Ekanem, REA
Moderator
Author, Beyond the Execution -
Understanding The Ethnic and Military Politics in Nigeria
Los Angeles, California
Tel: (951) 640-0737
E-Mail: tedey@aol.com
Los Angeles, California
Tel: (951) 640-0737
E-Mail: tedey@aol.com
Dr. Mbeke-Ekanem,
In addition to your take on fuel subsidy and corruption in Nigeria, I wish to share with members of this forum a recent interview granted to Prof. Tam David West by Channels TV on the issue of fuel subsidy, which can be view at:
My current contribution is a follow up to an earlier argument, which I engaged Ekerete Umoren of Columbia, MD, under the topic, "Facts on Subsidy by Dr. Izielen Agbon", where I stated that it is fundamentally wrong, if not outright fraudulent, to charge Nigerians international prices for a local product. As clearly stated by Prof. West in the posted interview, Nigeria's demand for crude stands at 300,000 barrels a day while the refineries have a capacity of 445,000 barrels, hence the setting aside of 445,000 barrels in recurrent national budgets for domestic consumption. The true price/cost/value of this 445,000 barrels should be the total cost incurred by the oil extracting multinationals in bringing out the oil from the ground plus any (government controlled) profit margin they may add. That Prof. West said Nigerian refineries are purposefully sabotaged (by the government, working hand in hand with the cabal) so as to import fuel and excessively charge Nigerians should not come as a surprise to us. Contrast the present subsidy regime with the good old 80's when Nigeria was engaged in crude for refined products swap (otherwise called offshore processing) due to the inability of local refineries to handle the full 445,000 barrels, the country was making money from refining abroad - see 07:53 in part 1 of the interview. This was only possible because corruption was minimal and the oil industry was transparent as a result of Tam West's competence and uprightness.
Until and unless Nigerians decide to face up to the fraudulent make-up of the country by convening a sovereign national conference where the future of our living together will be honestly decided, the country will continue to hobble from one exploitative government to another and never achieve a significant percentage of its full potential. In closing, I wish to state that Nigeria was formed by the British for mass exploitation and successive indigenous governments have followed and improved upon the British template. At the risk of being called a fool, I rest my case and may not comment further on the fuel subsidy issue.
Okon,
Portsmouth
Portsmouth
My brother Okon,
Thank you immensely for sharing Prof. Tam David-West's interview with us. I wish those who have not had time to watch the video can find time and go through it (all three parts). Among the key points he mentioned is that a typical Nigerian governor's salary is five times the salary of President Obama of United States! Is this not criminal? Perhaps the most important point he made is that "Election rigger (in Nigeria) does more harm to the country than an armed robber".
Have I not been saying the same thing time and time again? When I call those in Akwa Ibom criminals, is this not the basis? Anyone who rigs election deserves a death penalty because of the untold hardship such criminal action brings on the citizens. A misadventure by an armed robber affects an individual or a family. But a misadventure of election rigger affects millions of citizens. Hence, such individual does not deserve mercy.
I do hope that as Prof. West suggested, Labor Union will put their feet down and, hopefully, use this subsidy momentum as a turning point to demand the establishment of a true and credible democracy in Nigeria.
Sincerely,
Dr. Tom Mbeke-Ekanem, REA
Moderator
Author, Beyond the Execution -
Dr. Tom Mbeke-Ekanem, REA
Moderator
Author, Beyond the Execution -
Understanding The Ethnic and Military Politics in Nigeria
Los Angeles, California
Tel: (951) 640-0737
Los Angeles, California
Tel: (951) 640-0737
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