“Nothing is more revolting than the majority; for it consists of few vigorous predecessors, of knaves who accommodate themselves, of weak people who assimilate themselves, and the mass that toddles after them without knowing in the least what it wants”
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The oil subsidy palaver: It is currently the hottest debate and one of the most talked about issue across the country and beyond our shores. And its few proponents are daily churning out different propagandas and ideologies on why the vast majority of us should and must support the oppressive idea of subsidy removal as being planned by the present administration under the commanding power of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
I am still finding it very difficult to believe that our dear coordinating minister for Economy and Finance could disrespect her intimidating gele and almost practically weep to convince the majority of us to accept this repressive plan. And to quote her as reported by the press, “What we are asking you Nigerians to do is to give us a chance. We know there is lack of confidence in government. We need to rebuild the trust. Even those of us in government are tired of complaining. We can’t succeed without you. Give us chance to perform and see if we can make that change” she said.
Thank God, our dear minister boldly accepted that we the majority have since lost confidence in government and are very suspicious of any proposed policies and promises of most of our politicians.
Perhaps the minister and those strongly advocating this unpopular plan are not really listening to the loud voices of Nigerians across the country and beyond on why they don’t want or subscribe to this plan called subsidy. They are not listening and hearing the pathetic voices of our mothers and wives on the skyrocketing prize of kerosene, garri, masara, dawa, elubo and all the other hitherto cheap foodstuffs the majority of us have been pacifying our oppressed bodies with to keep body and soul, amidst the insecurity and total lack of confidence in government over the years. It seems the president and his few supporters of oil subsidy removal have not been listening to the daily lamentations of the majority of Nigerians about the crazy yearly increase of house rents across the country. They have not adequately relaxed their busy minds to really see, feel and understand the pain most of us daily go through in the hands of our overzealous transport owners as we strive daily to get to our places of work, markets and schools. They have failed to comprehend that the majority of us are already tired of this long fruitless journey of promises and failure.
The majority of Nigerians on which all the goodies from this planned oil subsidy removal would fall are loudly saying NO! to this one-sided plan that is already causing serious hardship and wahala in many homes across the country. The few minority supporting this plan I believe are not being sincere with their conscience, if not, the poor states of our roads, hospitals, schools, including our various shut-down industries and retrogressing villages should have illustrated how truly the various imported government plans and policies on oil have failed us massively over the years.
I think it is important for the president and his few supporters to shine their eyes and listen to the mobilizing voices of the majority that could ignite a fire that might prove difficult for them to extinguish when the furious flame roars across the country and probably igniting that revolutionary vision acknowledged by the president few weeks ago.
It is important for the president and his tiny faction to see beyond their secluded views and broaden their vision to the reality that the power of the majority can always put a match to a time bomb waiting to explode, and the index so far is indicating a fragile timeline waiting to burst.
Also very important for the president to know is the fact that unpopular policies have always been the catalyst that saw to the downfall of various governments that failed to listen to the majority voices of their people across the world and an albatross to their regime.
I think the president and his cabinet owe all those enthusiastic Nigerians who voted in this administration and made it possible for them to now occupy their present positions a mark of gratitude and an un-quantifiable public service for all the trust they gave to them, including their selfless sacrifices before and during the presidential election; one of the most tensed period in our history as a nation, instead of now subjecting them to economic tension.
Some thoughtful questions for those in support of this anti-people polices are: Do they really have control over the pump price of petroleum product in the country? Do they have the will and gut to unmask and tame the elusive cabal that are ripping us off and benefitting greedily from this collective wealth? Do they truthfully have the patriotic zeal to deregulate this important sector of our economy for God and country? Has it really occurred to them that no government can and has so far succeed if its focuses depends solely on oil to revive its economy, initiate development and rebuild its infrastructure? Do they put into consideration that this planned oil subsidy removal is wrongly timed given the insecurity and our yet to recover economic meltdown?
The truth is the president and his fuel subsidy collaborators cannot claim to know more than all of us. It is relevant for them to have it at the back of their minds that the ladder of life is fragile and succumb easily to the inevitable wind of change which might someday turn against them as the future of many Nigerians, including them, their families and offspring depend on the good or bad policy and vision they will have left behind. It is significant that they know that we all belong to this country and own it as a responsibility to see that we all enjoy the free natural wealth bequeathed to us by God.
Right now the majority of Nigerians have said no to this unnecessary government policy and I think it is imperative for the National Assembly and all the state legislative arms, and the judiciary to compel the president and his proponent team to listen to the wish of the people who are the majority and make them see the wisdom on why our mass voice is opposed to this unpopular plan. The majority I believe brought about their emergence and will continue to have the vast support of the mass populace and shall always carry the vote of victory.
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