TODAY’S SUNDAY SERMON FROM THE CITIZEN PULPIT:-
Two incidents have compelled this write up. And both speak to why we are where we are as a nation and people vi’s a viz the future and citizens evaluation of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR administration.
First, before I went to bed last night, a short video popped up on my timeline and it was that of a young Nigerian , Paul “something” bemoaning our situation today in Nigeria, and of course seething with rage, sarcasm and lots of innuendoes, he kept latching at the administration lacing his presentation with, IS THE BOLA TINUBU ADMINISTRATION WORKING? CAN’T WE SEE THAT THE ADMINISTRATION HAS FAILED …he went on and on..
At some point, when he started proferring solutions, I could not just continue watching, particularly when he said that , No refinery is working as one of the panaceas to the guaranteed supply of petrol motor spirit [PMS] ⛽️ 😳.
Yes, while this may be true, just as I have also suggested in the early days of this administration, and many others also have put that forward and on the table as one of the things to go for if we have to overcome the issue of perrenial fuel scarcity that has almost become a part of our nationhood for over 40years.
But the truth is that, it’s an assumption to think that Operationally speaking , the refineries that have been in different stages of disrepair that dates back to decades can be fixed and work easily in the 11months old administration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Let us be realistic a bit here, and this is not a puerile defence of lack of capacity or will, the truth is that there are many inherited botched but subsisting contractual agreements signed by past administrations with all sorts of contractors under very curious conditions and circumstances, from the certified contractors to the brief case or portmanteau contractors that are in different courts[ within and outside] or at different stages of arbitration that have become clogs in the wheel of commencement of a new contracts to start another round of refinery repairs.
The Bola Ahmed Tinubu Administration cannot just pretend that it can just jettison such without consequences on Nigeria, remember the U.K PID case.
Two, if the administration even wants to start with the repairs, have we suddenly forgotten the long and winding procurement process that could run into minimum of four months, before its concluded and then awarded, so how could Bola Ahmed Tinubu Administration be able to get the refineries working in a period of eleven months?
Three, So if we overlook these two realities as mentioned above, have we suddenly forgotten the ” ubiquitous special intrests” the buccaneers whose Nigeria and the Nigeria they know is themselves?
Is anyone under spell or illusion that these guys who are so deeply entrenched in our system across all sectors will not sit idly by and allow any major action that will dislodge their meal ticket, they certainly will throw spanner in the works. Bola Tinubu’s fault?
Unfortunately, This is one of the wars within and even without that this administration is confronted with and must fight and win from the backroom. [ I will come back to this.]
The second issue that informed this write up also came up as I stepped out of church and driving back home, lining the route back home are six or seven gas stations ⛽️, from A.A RANO, to NIPCO and others, all of a sudden I observed that the very long stretch of queues that defined the route last week at all these stations had disappeared, and I began to ask myself questions, what happened? Who did what? How? suffice to say nobody would remember that only seven days ago, it was a gory sight to behold at these same locations.
I certainly may not know all that was done, and how it was done, but one thing I will say is that the government demonstrated some level of high sensitivity to the plight of Nigerians to see that the situation of serious discomfort to citizens and disruption of our tenuous socio-economic realities got attended to, no matter what anyone may say, it takes a sincere understanding of the pains of the citizens to rise up to their challenges and I give the NNPC and Bola Ahmed Tinubu Administration some credit for this, how they did it in Seven days, and what they did, I certainly do not know, but the topical issue and challenge now is how to make this a permanent reality, so that this administration can finally make history by resting this issue of fuel scarcity in Nigeria permanently. [ This is the war within and without that must be fought and won ]
This realities have drawn my attention to the clear warning to Christians ✝️, that in the Christian race “we are confronted with wars against principalities and powers, that we cannot see , and in high places, rulers of darkness, and therefore admonishes Christians not to let down their guards, if we must triumph.
Today I dare say and commend this same Christian admonition to the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Administration in its entirety particularly as the one year is about to end.
If this administration must succeed, it must operate henceforth conscious of this admonition to Christians as stated in the holy book.
In late 70s, Commander Ebenezer Obey, in one of his evergreen tunes of great importance and relevance to our context and situation today, it goes like this:
“iwa ika ko pe ara mi, e ma dan wo,
iwa ika ko pe ara mi, rara koda..
Oyinbo pa’ogbon po won fi se motor,
Oyinbo pa Ogbon po won fi se keke,
Oyinbo pa ogbon po, won fi se oko ofurufu,
Nijo wo la mi a bo , lowo rikishi, pelu ote, tembelekun?
The literal meaning, or translation is this ,
“Our personal characterisation that is defined by wickeness is not good, it should be stopped, the whites got together with their wisdom, and came up with manufacturing automobiles, bicycles and even airplanes, when are we going to have a life devoid of selfishness self centered gang up, bellyaches and intercine wars” against ourselves? etc ..
So back then Commander Ebenezer Obey had alluded to the fact that our development as a nation has remained stunted by our character and personal characteristics as a people, whose identity is defined by our primordial instincts and negative values..
I totally agree with him and that is why I am writing this article .
Now my justifications, One, do we realise that many of those gas stations who today are now freely dispensing products had products in their stations all the while, and just refused to sell , while keeping fellow Nigerians in and under that level of hardship? Bola Tinubu’s fault?
The fuel they are now selling today after the seven days of long queues in their stations are not fresh supplies, they simply hoarded what they had and just got opportunistic, wanted to capitalise on perceived or rumoured scarcity, so they hoarded what they had bought at thesame old price, and while doing that kept fellow Nigerians like them in the throes of pains and UNECCESARY discomfort so that they can make more money. Bola Tinubu’s administration fault?
Have we forgotten that NNPC kept saying “we have enough supplies of products”, but what did we have foisted on us by unscrupulous compatriots? Scarcity! Until NNPC broke through this disingenuous age long drama and cartel.
Immediately they noticed NNPC was pushing out more products than expected , they began to sell the old stock again, which they had hoarded for seven days with attendant pains 😢 inflicted on innocent and already beleaguered citizens, of course with that came additional pains from sudden increase in the cost of goods and services. Bola Tinubu’s administration’s fault ?
This is one of the wars within and without that the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Administration must take head long, fight and win, else, a lot of goodwill will be lost unjustly.
Another, scenario, I heard somewhere that the guys behind the dollar to Naira fluctuations also include some Governors, who we are told, after collecting their State’s monthly FAAC allocation, would literally just proceed to get their own Bureau de Change people to buy dollars and stockpile it, as store of value and then the round of speculation starts.
I am told that the President had weighed in on this with some of them on this matter and warned that if that manifest scenario continues, he will wield the big stick.
Little wonder that today we have seen a semblance of FOREX regime sanity and stability hovering around the present rate over the last two months. It’s due to this and other efforts by the new CBN administration.
This is one of the wars within and without, that this government must fight and win, if the administration must retain a good place in the heart of Nigerians.
Recently not a few Nigerians were aghast at what transpired between some foreign road contractors and Minister of Works, His Excellency, Dave Umeahi, with regard to the quantities and specifications of products and materials to be used for the construction of some key roads, that exchange exposed the soft under belly of why our roads fail as soon as they are delivered , or why they never get done and contractors permanently asking for variation.
Let us imagine a situation where the Honourable Minister Umeahi is either in cahoots or hand in glove with these saboteurs, this administration would have had to bear the implications in the short or long run of that negative identity from the compromises of some unscrupulous Nigerians who would rather compromise the well being of our people and nation to feather their selfish nests .. This is another War from Within and Without that must be won if this administration must succeed.
Lastly, let us imagine the alleged irregularities in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs in less than one year , and many others as we hear in some places, like even the Senator Ningi brouhaha scenario may suggest, for as long as these goes one, the Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration will continue to bear the attendant unsavoury backlashes , consequences and backlashes, most undeservedly from a citizenry that’s at the tipping point of totally giving up and accepting that our situation is irredeemable.
It is about time to find, define and exalt our national identity over the age long limiting preference for personal pursuits of greed and selfishness that has pushed national ethos to the back waters rather exalted individualism.
This is the war within and without that must be identified, fought and won if we must restore public trust and confidence both of which are critical to the success of any well meaning government like the Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, at least as evidenced by the demonstrated responsiveness to a number of civic issues since assumption of office.
As the administration gradually approaches the one year mark, and preparing for the year two which is the defining year, the administration must take the Christian’s admonition to heart, that , there are wars within and without that must be waged and won. The nature, characters and characteristics of the enemies that we are faced with are already enunciated here.
Wishing the administration the very best as it gets set for the second lap of the four year race in a few weeks from today.
Congressman Bimbo Daramola.