The convener of the Save Nigeria Group, Tunde Bakare, formally announced yesterday at the rally in Ojota (on behalf of protesters across the country I want to believe) that the protests will be suspended for the weekend to allow labour and the federal government continue their dialogue. He was quick to add though that if labour came back with anything short of the wishes of the people, the protests will continue. This was on Day-5 of record protests that had swept across the face of Africa's most populous nation and largest exporter of crude oil. If I was superstitious, I would have made a correlation between the date (Friday the 13th) and the "end" of the industrial actions and protests. But I will not...at least not just yet.
Several media, institutions, individuals have said a lot concerning the protests, the rallies and strike. Experts, civil group leaders (some of who's organisations were incorporated overnight) and "concerned" individuals have all contributed to the debate on the effects of the federal government's unpopular decision to remove a popular subsidy on premium motor spirit. A lot of facts, figures, revelations and threats have gone into the public domain in these few days of the year. To say the least, it's been the most interesting start to a new year in my entire life!
Well, the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress will continue their deliberations with the Federal Executives today. News from previous meetings suggests that both sides are willing to shift from their previous adamant positions. Labour Unions went into the meetings saying they won't accept anything besides a reversal to the norm. They argue that an increase in fuel prices won't automatically turn around the fortunes of Nigeria over night. Good point. But how about in six months as promised by the president?
Several opinions have been shared by several people. Professor Pat Utomi just yesterday removed some of the blame being heaped on the president and his economic finance team and placed it on the governors. He said most of them, who are his friends, do next to nothing with their monthly FAAC allocations especially in terms of producing a wealth-creating environment for the people and perhaps foreign investment. I think the Local Government Chairman shouldn't be left out of the loop-of-blame as well. Pastor Tunde Bakare said they've already shared the expected savings from the subsidy removal even before the money was made. According to him, they continue in their mode by putting the cart before the house. One BBC reporter calls it a "carrot without a stick".
On the pro Subsidy removal side, some said Nigerians are just postponing the evil day. They argue that there is no "best" time to remove the unsustainable subsidy in the light of all the under-development and infrastructural decay in the system. The CBN governor said the subsidy has only succeeded in being a means to fund a group of people, some of who he believes are just dummy or briefcase corporations. The Finance Minister said the country is heading for the rocks (paraphrase) if we continue to fund this unsutainable welfare package which in the short and long run has never benefited the ordinary Nigerian but the oil marketers. Several words have been added to the vocabulary of Nigerians in this period. Words like palliatives, ameliorate, even subsidy has had a whole new meaning.
As we await the outcome of the meeting between the labour unions and the Federal Government, this is my guess as to how it will all go down:
1. Labour/TUC meets with FGN.
2. Agrees to price other than N65/lit
3. Asks union staff to return to work.
4. Civil society groups are vexed but can't do anything about it.
5. Monday, everyone goes back to work. Life continues. Suffering and Smiling continues.
Cabals continue "cabaling".
NNPC continues "monopolising".
Customs and border patrol continue conniving.
No electricity still.
No roads still.
No health care still.
No potable water still.
Cost of living and inflation rises while wages and salary remain constant...&c.
In short, Life, in Nigeria as we know it, continues.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
The Knights have it! - The Fuel Subsidy Removal So Far
Jan 1: Knight to C4, Check!
Jan 3: Black King to C3, Check! (Exposing Rook to attack opposing King)
Jan 4: White Rook blocks...
Neither King wants to lose an officer at this moment. No exchange takes place. The Royals move pieces. Whenever in doubt, a pawn was moved. The sacrificial piece with the potential of being the most powerful officer is put in the line of fire. Black King shows its hand. White King sees the danger ahead - an offensive that will be vicious starting Jan 9th. White waves it away with the shrug of his hand. Over-confidence or gross foolishness? He revels in his advantage - he has control of THE Queen - the Prized piece. Black has a lot of pawns, flat-footed bishops, and knights. The board gradually starts becoming populated.
Jan 7: White advices Black to resign. Offers "palliatives" and 25% reduction in BASIC. Black turns down his offer.
Jan 8: Supporters of White advice him to resign. Tells him he's violated the Rules of Engagement. White declines, invoking the executive clause under the RoE.
Jan 9: Black knight advances ahead of pawns. White suddenly sees a potential threat. He advances several knights of his own. One move too many? The rules didn't suddenly change. He only invokes an executive authority as agreed by both parties before the game. Black is unpeteturbed. A pawn falls. Another. Several others fall, several under attack. Black is outraged and seems even more determined by the losses and pre-emptive strike. He activates bishops and knights in several other previously inactive portions of the board.
Jan 10: Players develop pieces on the board. Black acquires more pawns. White engages more knights and hides behind a colony of rooks. He also activates some pawns of his own. The board gets crowded.
Jan 11: Knights from both sides size up each other. Black pawns march into the faces of White Knights, but the officers sheath their swords under the King's orders. However, a weary piece from a previous unprovoked offensive strike by White Knights falls to the ground. Black Knights advance against the White Queen. A close examination of their formation shows they'll deal her a huge blow in 4 moves.
White King requests for a side bar.
Jan 12: The clashes between the Knights continue. The Rooks hold the position. Same goes for the Bishops. Officers of each King advices the other to back down. Nobody seems to budge based on the offers being presented.
Jan 13: Black Knights shield their "King". They take a recess in their offensive measures. They warn the arbiters that they will not be bound by whatever new rules White wants to make up again in the course of the game....
Jan 3: Black King to C3, Check! (Exposing Rook to attack opposing King)
Jan 4: White Rook blocks...
Neither King wants to lose an officer at this moment. No exchange takes place. The Royals move pieces. Whenever in doubt, a pawn was moved. The sacrificial piece with the potential of being the most powerful officer is put in the line of fire. Black King shows its hand. White King sees the danger ahead - an offensive that will be vicious starting Jan 9th. White waves it away with the shrug of his hand. Over-confidence or gross foolishness? He revels in his advantage - he has control of THE Queen - the Prized piece. Black has a lot of pawns, flat-footed bishops, and knights. The board gradually starts becoming populated.
Jan 7: White advices Black to resign. Offers "palliatives" and 25% reduction in BASIC. Black turns down his offer.
Jan 8: Supporters of White advice him to resign. Tells him he's violated the Rules of Engagement. White declines, invoking the executive clause under the RoE.
Jan 9: Black knight advances ahead of pawns. White suddenly sees a potential threat. He advances several knights of his own. One move too many? The rules didn't suddenly change. He only invokes an executive authority as agreed by both parties before the game. Black is unpeteturbed. A pawn falls. Another. Several others fall, several under attack. Black is outraged and seems even more determined by the losses and pre-emptive strike. He activates bishops and knights in several other previously inactive portions of the board.
Jan 10: Players develop pieces on the board. Black acquires more pawns. White engages more knights and hides behind a colony of rooks. He also activates some pawns of his own. The board gets crowded.
Jan 11: Knights from both sides size up each other. Black pawns march into the faces of White Knights, but the officers sheath their swords under the King's orders. However, a weary piece from a previous unprovoked offensive strike by White Knights falls to the ground. Black Knights advance against the White Queen. A close examination of their formation shows they'll deal her a huge blow in 4 moves.
White King requests for a side bar.
Jan 12: The clashes between the Knights continue. The Rooks hold the position. Same goes for the Bishops. Officers of each King advices the other to back down. Nobody seems to budge based on the offers being presented.
Jan 13: Black Knights shield their "King". They take a recess in their offensive measures. They warn the arbiters that they will not be bound by whatever new rules White wants to make up again in the course of the game....
Friday, January 13, 2012
Feeding and House Keeping Expenses
Yesterday, I spoke with a septuagenarian who worked at the State House during the Shagari regime. He confirmed that cost of feeding at the Presidency could indeed have risen to N1bn p.a. as of today. According to him, during his time, the state house feeding included sumptuous lunches for all senior officers. The feeding time-table even included a bottle of wine on Wednesdays. It also extended to the Dodan Barracks as well.
At first, he asked for the rationale behind these lunches and the explanation he received was that it was because they were direct staff of the presidency and they had no defined closing period. (In reality, most of them clock out between 2pm-4pm and seldom spend a minute after the top of the hour). At that point he said he wrote to his superiors recommending that the lunch should also include their support staff as well (since they usually engage in "eye service" and don't close until the boss leaves), but his recommendation was disapproved because of the heavy cost implications it would have on the Presidency. Well understood.
At that moment he then proposed that the lunches be scrapped altogether being that they all received feeding allowances as part of their salaries but that suggestion was turned down as well.
Recall that at that time, Nigeria had 19 states, a population of less than 30 million people, lesser ministeries and parastatals and the naira was stronger.
A better solution to these lunches will probably be to make staff pay for their lunches of which you aren't obligated to eat at the Presidential canteen. The Presidency can now decide to (or not) subsidize the actual costs of the meal (I'm sure most of you will be squinting at the mention of the word "subsidy" all over again. But this is what obtains even in some private organisations).
Let staff pay perhaps N300 for a standard N500 meal and peg the amount of subsidy per meal per level of the officer. And it shouldn't be heavy lunches, more like tea breaks.
After all, most of them have breakfast before leaving for work and why. Must you give free lunches when you still pay feeding allowances?
The cost of running the Federal Government of Nigeria is too high by all indications. There are duplications, double entries and unnecessary "welfare" packages that have been institutionalised when we weren't this much a people. Systems and processes that shouldn't have been put in place in the first place due to their unsustainability; a clear indication of the lack of vision of our so-called leaders. Programmes, isms, ideas (which became ideals) that cannot be sustained and which the people have now become accustomed to. Situations and instances that are windows and pathways to corrupt and sharp practices. Allowances and salaries that are bogus and outrageous. These are the real evils.
Public office has been made too attractive and lucrative. Energy and time that could and should be spent trying to discover and invent new productive ways and solutions are being spent trying to find loopholes to exploit in the system.
I believe corruption can be reduced to its bearest minimum in Nigeria by empowering the legislature and the security agencies and decentralising the system by empowering the states. Let every state dictate its own minimum wage structure based on its internal revenue strength. Let the states be responsible for managing its own resources. Let them contribute percentages to the centre and not that the centre takes it all and gives them "allocations" on a monthly basis.
Amend the constitution to empower the people. No government official should be entitled to any kind of immunity - clause or phrase. Since the blood flowing through their veins has not been laced with a special super human serume making it different from that of the other man, why should they get special treatment if they are found culpable of sins committed by the other man?
Nigerians have once before displayed to the whole world that they can be disciplined and civilised even though it was under a military regime. People queued at stations, processes worked, crime was at its bearest minimum, security agents were not trigger happy, there were no insurrections and to the best of my knowledge, the economy was impressively stable. I'm not advocating for a return to military rule because the immediate junta that came after that one was overthrown was the greatest undoing of this nation (the naira was ill-advisedly devalued, crime esp advance-free fraud was institutionalised and several attrocities were committed). I think good governance is a function of the firmness and character of the leader. We had firmness in leadership.
Nigerians are one of the best and easily malleable people. When we travel overseas, it takes seconds to conform at the arrival lounge of the visiting nation. What we need is good leadership and, most especially at this time when the foundation is being shaken, a firm leader. People - especially public office holders - need to understand that it can not business as usual anymore. You can't keep telling me there's a cabal somewhere and no one has been prosecuted. You can't keep telling me petrol meant for consumption by Nigerians is being shipped to Mali, Niger, Benin, Togo and Chad and no custom's official has been fingered. I don't understand why anyone in the NNPC hasn't been charged over the illegalities in the oil sector with all the information, facts and figures available in the last 4 days. If all these are not addressed and we continue sweeping stuff under the rug, we are not ready for change.
At first, he asked for the rationale behind these lunches and the explanation he received was that it was because they were direct staff of the presidency and they had no defined closing period. (In reality, most of them clock out between 2pm-4pm and seldom spend a minute after the top of the hour). At that point he said he wrote to his superiors recommending that the lunch should also include their support staff as well (since they usually engage in "eye service" and don't close until the boss leaves), but his recommendation was disapproved because of the heavy cost implications it would have on the Presidency. Well understood.
At that moment he then proposed that the lunches be scrapped altogether being that they all received feeding allowances as part of their salaries but that suggestion was turned down as well.
Recall that at that time, Nigeria had 19 states, a population of less than 30 million people, lesser ministeries and parastatals and the naira was stronger.
A better solution to these lunches will probably be to make staff pay for their lunches of which you aren't obligated to eat at the Presidential canteen. The Presidency can now decide to (or not) subsidize the actual costs of the meal (I'm sure most of you will be squinting at the mention of the word "subsidy" all over again. But this is what obtains even in some private organisations).
Let staff pay perhaps N300 for a standard N500 meal and peg the amount of subsidy per meal per level of the officer. And it shouldn't be heavy lunches, more like tea breaks.
After all, most of them have breakfast before leaving for work and why. Must you give free lunches when you still pay feeding allowances?
The cost of running the Federal Government of Nigeria is too high by all indications. There are duplications, double entries and unnecessary "welfare" packages that have been institutionalised when we weren't this much a people. Systems and processes that shouldn't have been put in place in the first place due to their unsustainability; a clear indication of the lack of vision of our so-called leaders. Programmes, isms, ideas (which became ideals) that cannot be sustained and which the people have now become accustomed to. Situations and instances that are windows and pathways to corrupt and sharp practices. Allowances and salaries that are bogus and outrageous. These are the real evils.
Public office has been made too attractive and lucrative. Energy and time that could and should be spent trying to discover and invent new productive ways and solutions are being spent trying to find loopholes to exploit in the system.
I believe corruption can be reduced to its bearest minimum in Nigeria by empowering the legislature and the security agencies and decentralising the system by empowering the states. Let every state dictate its own minimum wage structure based on its internal revenue strength. Let the states be responsible for managing its own resources. Let them contribute percentages to the centre and not that the centre takes it all and gives them "allocations" on a monthly basis.
Amend the constitution to empower the people. No government official should be entitled to any kind of immunity - clause or phrase. Since the blood flowing through their veins has not been laced with a special super human serume making it different from that of the other man, why should they get special treatment if they are found culpable of sins committed by the other man?
Nigerians have once before displayed to the whole world that they can be disciplined and civilised even though it was under a military regime. People queued at stations, processes worked, crime was at its bearest minimum, security agents were not trigger happy, there were no insurrections and to the best of my knowledge, the economy was impressively stable. I'm not advocating for a return to military rule because the immediate junta that came after that one was overthrown was the greatest undoing of this nation (the naira was ill-advisedly devalued, crime esp advance-free fraud was institutionalised and several attrocities were committed). I think good governance is a function of the firmness and character of the leader. We had firmness in leadership.
Nigerians are one of the best and easily malleable people. When we travel overseas, it takes seconds to conform at the arrival lounge of the visiting nation. What we need is good leadership and, most especially at this time when the foundation is being shaken, a firm leader. People - especially public office holders - need to understand that it can not business as usual anymore. You can't keep telling me there's a cabal somewhere and no one has been prosecuted. You can't keep telling me petrol meant for consumption by Nigerians is being shipped to Mali, Niger, Benin, Togo and Chad and no custom's official has been fingered. I don't understand why anyone in the NNPC hasn't been charged over the illegalities in the oil sector with all the information, facts and figures available in the last 4 days. If all these are not addressed and we continue sweeping stuff under the rug, we are not ready for change.
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