Either way, it is the masses that still suffers. It is clear that this is not what they bargained for; they were promised a more better life but now they are being told to extend their wait, after a full year of the government in power. Fuel is not just the spirit that power machines – vehicles, generators etc – It is the jugular that keeps the entire nation going. It powers our economy both in the export and import sectors. Anything that affects fuel affect every other commodity, it is a spiral effect – transportation, housing, foodstuff, agriculture, in fact every part of our existence including medicine.
One week after the announcement, inflation rate went up by a record 9percent according to news sources. The question here is; should fuel be allowed to be determined purely by market forces considering its importance to the survival of Nigeria? Some say no, and, if we say no, do the populace have the ability to make government to comply to their wishes?
One thing you must concede to this government is their propaganda machinery, right from their days in opposition they have been been able to institute a strong communication network that has remained difficult to counter till date. So, even the poor man that is suffering in the street is claiming that the previous government is responsible for the present hardship, therefore we must all bear for a while. A while that has gone beyond one year. A summary of their position is this one that is currently trending on the social media; “Most Nigerians don’t realise we ‘ve been living in the matrix.
This subsidy removal is the new pill that may wake us up to reality. We are poor, we are broke. We have been raped, pillaged, looted and left for dead. All these years our economy has been sustained on the junk food of corruption. We have kwashiokor but because we look chubby, we think we are healthy.Those two bedroom flats in Abuja going for N700million. Those make up artists charging N500k and pre wedding photo shoot of N700k, aso-ebi for N90k. Buying rolexes and ferraris, range rover sport all over Lagos like keke Napep. It is all fake, it is all a mirage, we ‘ve all been living off the spoils of corruption, that is why the country is so hard now, no money circulating because no money to steal and rent flats and shop for girl friends, for civil servants to pay bogus tithes of N500k. For Senators to spray dollars at their daughters weddings.
For Nigeria’s big boys to spend N2m every Friday night at niteclubs. It is time to face reality, the party is over, now we may see the real Nigeria and Nigerians. Now that money will go into our roads and bridges and hospitals. It will benefit those who do not have a rich corrupt Uncle with connections in oil and gas, those who cannot travel to Dubai to celebrate birthdays. Those who don’t know what the cold stone ice cream taste like. Hopefully the real estate market will crash, the thieves with 15houses in Abuja will be forced to sell them fast for cash…..welcome to the real world.”
The above succinctly explains the type of propaganda supporters of this government are putting up but not quite three years ago, they were aggressively fighting against fuel price increase, what has changed in this country to warrant this sudden turn around? Have we explored all other avenues? Is the price increase the only solution to the country’s problems? What about government expenditures? What about our total dependence on foreign goods? Can’t we manage to patronize our own goods like the Indians and Chinese did before they blossomed? Can’t this government re-orientate Nigerians to their taste habits instead of imposing more hardships?
Unfortunately, there is no one to fight for the masses anymore as all civil rights fighters are now in the APC party or are sympathetic to this government, the ones that used to sponsor protests are now singing a new tune and the opposition PDP party is in disarray, if the PDP attempts to do what the APC did under the Jonathan’s government, be sure that more of them will end up in detention!
Can the present NLC (Nigeria Labour Congress) make the strike work? I have my doubts. Since former NLC President, Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar took over the affairs of labour, the body has become a toothless bull dog – all noise no action. They could not organize labour to fight for workers welfare – unpaid wages, indiscriminate retrenchments and various abuses of workers rights and privileges by government and private employers went unchecked. To cap it all in Omar’s non-performing NLC, they could not unite in an election conducted by his regime.
So, we now have two factions of the NLC; one headed by Comrade Ayuba Wabba, former president of Medical and Health workers union of Nigeria. The second faction is headed by Comrade Joseph Ajaero of the National Union of Electricity Employees. The Restoration group that is supporting Ajaero accused the former NLC President, Abdulwaheed Omar of “engineering the emergence of Wabba”and rejected the outcome of the election. How can two agree to a cause when they are not united? That is my fear. How will they be able to counter the propaganda machinery of this government and the APC? How can they convince the people to support them? How can they convince the likes of Professor Wole Soyinka, Professor Itse Sagay and other very important human rights activists that have joined this APC government to support their cause? Can they mobilize the resources to sustain a strike action for one week when the average Nigerian can barely afford a meal per day? Who is their pointman? Where is their Oshiomhole? I doubt if this strike will succeed.
By Sunny Ikhioya
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