Father Matthew Hassan Kukah, a Priest of the Catholic Faith and the Bishop of the Sokoto Catholic Diocese has been consistent in his speaking truth to power since the military regime of General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida.
For his troubles, he has been harassed by government apologists but he has remained true to his calling of being a voice for the voiceless and hoi polloi in our rather decadent society.
He served meritoriously as the Secretary of the Human Rights Violation Investigation Commission popularly known as the Oputa Panel upon return to democracy in 1999 and has been consistent in being a moral compass of the nation.
Kukah recently said that one of the best legacies of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be to reduce the price of premium motor spirit a.k.a petrol or fuel in street parlance.
I have no choice but to agree the whole hog with him as the recent increase in petrol to 855 naira at the NNPC price is rather anti-people and extremely harsh on the masses who only recently celebrated a now pyrrhic victory in the increase in the minimum wage to 70,000 naira. Most people buy petrol at over 1000 naira which makes nonsense of the new minimum wage which cannot even purchase up to 100 litres of petrol.
It is bad enough that the economy before Tinubu’s coming in was in dire straits. Worse still is the fact that the recent petrol hike will lead to a concomitant increase in goods and services especially the essentials.
At a time when Nigerians are groaning in penury and can hardly eat a balanced diet, it is not in the best interest of Nigerians for the petrol price to be increased.
Nigerians remember with mixed feelings, Tinubu’s statement when he was inaugurated as President ‘Subsidy is gone!’ There was heavy propaganda by his henchmen that the savings from the corrupt subsidy payments will be used to fund infrastructure for the benefit of the populace. That has remained a pipe dream as more pain is the lot of most Nigerians rather than enjoy the gains of the subsidy removal.
This administration has brought nothing but needless pain upon the hapless citizens. There is really nothing to point out as the gain of this so-called democracy which has turned out to be a bitter pill in the mouth of most Nigerians.
Pray why should the NNPCL declare a profit running into trillions of naira and just about the same time the price of petrol is increased? I smell a rat here as the windfall since the NNPCL is now a public company should be for the benefit of Nigerians is now worse than the proverbial case of the more you look, the less you see.
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has planned a nationwide protest on September 15 to get the government to reverse the price. This is a hugely noble move considering the shift in priorities of NANS and its dismissal by critics as a body that has long lost focus. I hope the civil society will support this planned protest as more sturdy voices are needed to make it a resounding success.
Nigeria has been plagued by the curse of oil since its ill-fated discovery in Oloibiri in 1956 – four years before independence. The Western Region under the visionary leadership of the late Sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo was built on the back of agriculture. The north under the late Sarduana of Sokoto, Alhaji Sir Ahmadu Bello was built on the famous groundnut pyramids while the east under Dr. Micheal Okpara was built on palm oil. Crude Oil made us lose focus. The Nigerian citizen hasn’t even gotten a fair share of the oil wealth as both the military and civilian administrations frittered away our commonwealth and left us in utter tears, agony, and toil.
It is sad how power transforms individuals. Tinubu was once a pro-democracy activist and fought in the trenches from exile in the UK for the de-annulment of the June 12 election presumably won by the Late Chief M.K.O. Abiola. Today, history and fate has given him the golden opportunity to etch his name in the sands of time but he has chosen to act like the Biblical Pharoah who dealt with the Israelites with scorpions and brutality. Pharoah is even better than Tinubu as the Israelites were different from the Egyptians. In this case, Tinubu’s anti-people policies is dealing negatively on his fellow countrymen.
I shudder each time I am to pay my PHCN bill as I am on Band A. Before the sinister text message that saw us being lumped into Band A, we were paying 30,000 naira a month, now we pay close to 100,000 naira for electricity alone. Who knows how much we will be paying with this recent petrol hike?
If Tinubu has any decency left in him, he should immediately heed Father Kukah’s wise counsel by reducing the fuel price so that the masses can forever sing his praises. At over 70 and Biblically on the departure lounge, he should be more concerned about how posterity would remember him. There should be no place for the purchase of presidential jets, yatches, renovation of his deputy’s official residence for a whopping 21 billion naira amongst other nauseating acts of needless profligacy.
A word is enough for the wise! Would he heed to Fr. Kukah’s wise counsel? Over to you time!
Tony Ademiluyi is the Editor-In-Chief of www.liberatenigeria.com
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