By Ifeoma Okeke (Abia Writers) Edited by Nkechi Onuoha "I am happy to announce that the fuel subsidy has been removed." That was t...
By Ifeoma Okeke (Abia Writers)
Edited by Nkechi Onuoha
"I am happy to announce that the fuel subsidy has been removed." That was the words of our president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on 29 May 2023.
Fuel subsidies are financial assistance or help the government provides to reduce cost of petroleum products, which has a ripple effect on every facet of life in an economy like ours. President Tinubu and his government promised that the subsidy removal would bring Joy and decrease Poverty and stress. In contrast, it caused substantial harmful microeconomic problems because it led to a drastic increase in the prices of petroleum products, which resulted in a rise in Poverty and, by extension, crime. It is clear to all and sundry that our resources belong not to one person, not the president, but to the people.
Nigeria has four refineries, the oldest of which is in Port Harcourt. This refinery was built nine years after oil was found in Oloibiri in present day Bayelsa state and under the marshy soil and creeks of the Delta, where the Niger River runs off into the Gulf of Guinea. None of the first three refineries refined one drop of oil in the last ten years until Dangote refinery came on stream last year. The Dangote Oil Refinery has an installed daily capacity of about 650,000 barrels of crude oil. A few months ago, we heard Dangote raise an alarm that the government was trying to frustrate him.
It has been noticed that since the fuel subsidy was removed, petroleum product prices have been on an upward trajectory. An insider discovered that the man of the people (the Agbado king) has been deceiving us and Leading us to inevitable doom instead of being like the Biblical MOSES who led the Israelites through the Red Sea out of Egypt into the promised land. Our dear president is doing the direct opposite. The man who vowed to serve has been selling petrol products to those who put him in power at exorbitant and ridiculous prices.
The way he has been hiking the cost of petroleum products, one might ask what he will use the money for, seeing that he is already old and rich. The answer is simply sheer greed. Eric Fromm said, "Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction". The Bible says in Luke 12:15, Take care and be on guard against all covetousness (greed), for one's life does not consist of the abundance of his possession. Quran chapter 104 says woe to every Taunting, slandering biter who amasses wealth and keeps counting it again and again, thinking that his wealth will make him immortal.
Our daddy dearest has been amassing billions of Nigeria wealth to himself at our expense via his oil refining company in Malta, where he buys oil at the market price and resells it at an excessively high price to Nigerians. It is time to say no to this scheme and rise to our feet in unity and with bitterness in our hearts. The drums are rolling, and the men of Justice are being called upon. This scheme must stop at all costs; it is time to say no with one heart and one mind. This is not all about Biafra alone; every ethnicity suffers from it, including the Arewa, Odudwa, Biafra, etc. Because the sooner we say no, the better for the future generation.
We can't just sit back and watch the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria lead us to doom. It is time to say with one voice, "Enough is enough".
Remember, the resources of a country belong to the people, not to the leader of the nation.
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