Opinion

Buhari’s Parting Gift

Published

3 years ago

January 18, 2023

Finally, what started during the Iranian crises of the 70s as a cushion for Nigerians now has a definitive expiring date – June 2023. It all started in the days when a dollar exchanged for around 80 kobo, and Nigeria produced almost all her needs, including cars. During those years of the windfall, all our refineries were producing, such that the country even exported petroleum products. In those days, brake pads, tires, and windshields were manufactured here, and our refineries were working. But that was some eons ago when patriotic Nigerians were allowed to roam freely, making their marks in every industry. Over the years, the issue of fuel subsidy has turned out to be a controversial public policy. In recent times, the issue of fuel subsidy in the annual budget has transformed into a national headache that only borrowing can assuage. From the outset, fuel subsidy was never meant to be normative, but then, corruption was not a thing in Nigeria at that time. However, since that time, multi-faceted corruption has gradually but surely hemmed Nigeria in on every side: corruption in the NNPC, as well as corruption in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, and of course, general corruption in every past administration to date. Due to corruption the country now survives only on the oxygen of debt.

Last year, there was uproar when the NNPC made a request of N3 trillion from the Ministry of Finance to cover fuel subsidy for 2022, but the lack of transparency in terms of how N2.565 trillion was spent for the same policy between January and August 2022 has only been met by an unholy silence. Surprisingly, the projected spending in the 2023 budget from January to June is a whooping N3.36 trillion – clearly, this is not sustainable by any stretch, and experts, politicians, and even ordinary Nigerians agree. Nevertheless, this humongous figure deserves interrogation. For instance, what is our daily petrol consumption? To put this question into its proper context, consider the response of the comptroller-general of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Hammed Ali during an appearance before the House Representative Committee on Finance on the 2023-2025 medium-term expenditure framework and fiscal strategy paper (MTEF/FSP) in September, he said: “The issue is not about the smuggling of petroleum products. I have always argued this with the NNPC. If we are consuming 60 million litres of PMS per day by their own computation, why would you allow the release of 98 million litres per day? If you know this is our consumption, why would you allow that release?”

“So, how did you get to 60 million litres per day? That is my question. The issue of smuggling, if you release 98 million litres in actual and 60 million litres are used; the balance should be 38 million litres. How many trucks will carry 38 million litres every day?” In this response lies the crux of the matter, because this high volume of consumption forms a major plank of the government’s argument. The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) had put Nigeria’s daily consumption of premium motor spirit (PMS) at 66 million litres as of September 2022, but in May 2022, the NNPC reported a daily consumption of 93 million litres. Is the difference reconcilable? I doubt. In recent memory, the time of Dr. Ibe Kachukwu as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources was the only time, Nigerians saw a semblance of transparency in daily fuel consumption figures.

These ghost figures lend credence to the idea that petroleum industry cabals and the Nigerian rich are the only ones benefitting from the current subsidy regime. Conversely, should the poor suffer because of criminal-minded oil tycoons? This columnist is in full support of the removal of fuel subsidy to forestall a state where Nigeria becomes insolvent. However, out of laziness or outright wickedness, previous governments, and Buhari’s government in particular, have been unable to put structures in place that would seamlessly ease the country into an era of full deregulation. Besides, deregulation should be orchestrated in such a manner that the poor are protected against monopolies and oligopolies. All political parties and the majority of people in decision-making positions in the country agree that the current subsidy regime is untenable. All the Presidential Candidates have voiced their commitment to remove fuel subsidy if elected, to this end, former Vice President, and Presidential Candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar was saying he would do away with fuel subsidy in 100 days if elected. In light of the 2023 budget, Atiku’s commitment is inconsequential, in that the outgoing president has already done the heaving lifting. But, at what cost?

According to the Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed: “The plan is, by June 2023, we must have completely exited subsidy, and it has to be gradual.” So, how gradual has it been since last year? In fact, Nigerians have been witnessing a gradual suffocation thanks to Buhari and his team. The gradual suffocation is intended as a prelude to NNPC’s projection that fuel would sell at around N462/L when subsidy is removed in June 2023. However, with all the comparisons that have been made in the past regarding the price of fuel in neighboring countries, a reasonable estimate might be N700. It is an irony, that a man who, eight years ago as a private citizen commented that fuel subsidy do not exist, is ending the same policy after spending more than N10 trillion during his tenure. So, did he lie in 2015, or, was it a case of finding oneself in the belly of the beast (cabal)? We may never know.

At the minimum, before the Federal Government can remove fuel subsidy importation should have been away with. At least, the Port Harcourt Refinery that is being refurbished, and the newly built $19 billion Dangote refinery must have started production. Secondly, the Gas – to – Fuel policy conceived in 2020 by the Buhari administration ought to have been completed, or accelerated. Thirdly, mass transit systems ought to have been deployed in every major city (Lagos is already light years ahead of most major Nigerian cities in this regard). This was the ‘Change’ we expected when Buhari won in 2015. Then again, has he actually failed, or is he plain wicked? If you follow the news the way I do, you might notice that something does not add up. For example, the 650, 000 bpd Dangote refinery was projected to be completed in the third quarter of 2022, but that date has been moved to mid-2023. Interestingly, at full capacity, the refinery can produce up to 50 million litres of petrol per day. Secondly, Phases 1 and 2 of the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refineries will restore a processing capacity of 189,000 bpd as of December 2023 which will inject more than 14 million litres per day. Thirdly, some modular refineries are already producing. Undoubtedly, this might sound like a conspiracy theory, but numbers don’t lie.

Clearly, the NNPC monopoly is being primed to give way to the oligopoly of Dangote and BUA in the petroleum industry. Ordinarily, there is nothing wrong if these Nigerian giants are the major players in the petroleum downstream, except that since the deregulation of the cement industry, their activities in the industry have not been very favorable to Nigerians in general. For instance, a 50kg bag of cement sold for as low as N2000 in 2014, and then N1500 in 2015. However, since that time, the price of cement has continued on an upward trajectory to its current price of N5000 per 50kg bag even though the product is manufactured in Nigeria with Nigerian raw materials. Another case in point is the unbundling, and deregulation of the power sector; a situation where supply is epileptic and quality of service remains abysmal, yet Nigerians are compelled to bear unmitigated tariff hikes and humongous electricity bills. Sincerely, had President Buhari made good on his promises, subsidy removal would have been a non-issue. Sadly, with half-truths, and ineptitude his administration has thrown the millions who voted for him under the bus.

Indeed, President Buhari has brought change, albeit a retrogressive kind that is virtually hard to imagine considering where the country was in 2015 and the fact Nigerians did not put up a fight in petroleum pricing. His failure reminds me of my good-natured History teacher, Mr. Similalayim Jaja, who was fond of retorting, “If you don’t know it, you don’t know it” during his tests. Apparently, his promises in 2015 were irredeemable promissory notes at best, but removing fuel subsidy after eight years without getting the refineries to work, or improving mass transit systems in the country is the worst parting gift.

By: Raphael Pepple

Opinion

184 Days of the Locust in Rivers State

Published

2 days ago

September 29, 2025

The Tide

Quote:”Sadly, what Rivers State experienced during the emergency rule was more than the devastating effects of a plague of locusts. The tragedy is that the “alien” invasion left a developmentally retarded landscape and a psychologically traumatized people in its wake.”

Locusts are infamous for their devastating impact on agriculture and food security, especially when they enter their gregarious phase. At this stage, they form large, migratory swarms and move with rapid speed, covering up to 150 kilometers in a day. As a result, they strike without warning and make early control very difficult. One locust can eat the equivalent of its body weight in plant materials daily. Its diet includes wheat, maize, rice, fruits, vegetables, and even tree leaves. Locust outbreaks can cripple subsistence farming communities and cause damage that could lead to food shortages, economic losses, and humanitarian crises. Adjudged one of nature’s shapeshifters, the locus leaves a devastated landscape in its wake. The declaration of state of emergency in Rivers State from March 18 to September 17, 2025, crippled the otherwise smooth-functioning bureaucratic institutions and many aspects of life in the state.

The first salvo, which heralded the “locust effect” was the appropriation of N30bn to acquire gunboats. Rivers people wondered aloud if their State had a navy or was at war. Again, N22bn was expended on installing a new close circuit television (CCTV) in a Government House that already had an effectively functional CCTV. Regarding this, Kenneth Okonkwo jocularly asked if they are “trying to see the [genitals] of an ant”. That was an anomaly given the fact that the administration was a stopgap measure. Not a few Rivers people questioned the motive behind the installation, in view of the sensitivity of security; this fact remains very worrisome. Like the shape-shifting locust, the Sole Administrator (SOLAD) consistently shifted from the authoritarianism of military demeanor to the multi-tongued man-of-many-words mien of politicians.

Between these two behavioral extremities of the SOLAD, Rivers people groped in the dark and lived in confusion; they ached from the antics of an admix of “a bird of passage” and “soldier of fortune” who responded only to directives from his masters voice from a distant land. Consequently, non-indigenes began making decisions for Rivers State: Bola Tinubu (Lagos State), Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Tajudeen Abass (Kaduna State) and Kudirat Kekere-Ekun (Lagos State). The SOLAD’s mindset became akin to that of an imperial officer assigned to milk a colonial outpost. Resultantly, a non-indigene was appointed to the sensitive position of Chairman, Rivers State Electoral Commission; the position of Chief of Staff went to another non-indigene and, and, and. In the end, it was a classical case of two brothers fighting over inheritance and a stranger stealthily steals it.

In line with the “imperial officer” metaphor, the SOLAD arrogantly and audaciously said that he is not accountable to anybody other than President Tinubu. Incidentally and quite tragically, when asked how the days of the plague will affect the people of Rivers State, one of the SOLAD’s masters gutturally bellowed thus: “To hell with them”. To hell with Rivers people?!! Of course, subsequently, salaries were delayed till the 34th or later in the months. As at September 18 when the days of the locust ended, many workers and pensioners were not paid for August thereby extending the month of August beyond 49 days. This was a sad reminder of the grueling yesteryears of agony occasioned by bureaucratic bottlenecks in salary administration, organizational recklessness and systematized insensitivity to the plight of the people.

In what Rivers people viewed as an adventure of “Alibaba and the Forty Thieves”, the Senate of the Federal Republic approved a budget of a whopping N1.48 trillion for an emergency rule of six months. A clear case of anomalous overreach and an outrage given the fact that the suspended governor was vilified for operating a budget approved by a factional section of the house. Even with the humongous budget, projects across the state were abandoned thereby affecting the economy of the state negatively. Meanwhile, Reuben Abati informs that “over N400bn” was spent within the days of the locust. On September 5, the agony of the ignominious experience of going on holiday without salary, a phenomenon that stopped when Fubara ascended the position of Governor of Rivers State, raised its ugly head again and Rivers people celebrated Id el Maulud empty handed. In other words, Rivers people celebrated “Sallah without Salary”.

Soothingly, the Rivers State House of Assembly has expressed the intention of probing the finances of the State during the emergency rule. Whether anything positive will come out of it is another matter. For Abati, “Ibok Ette Ibas must be prepared to give proper account”. Here is a call to duty for civic groups in Rivers State. Sadly, what Rivers State experienced during the emergency rule was more than the devastating effects of a plague of locusts. The tragedy is that the “alien” invasion left a developmentally retarded landscape and a psychologically traumatized people in its wake. Certainly, March 18 to September 17, 2025 has gone down in the history of Rivers State as 184 days of the locust. No wonder Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe said that “Nigeria’s problem is not the absence of resources, but the presence of too many resourceful thieves”. Again, skeptical of the then novel concept of democracy, Socrates projected that: “thieves and fraudsters will want important government functions, and democracy will give it to them…when they finally democratically take authority…there will be worse dictatorship than in the time of any monarchy or oligarchy”.

It is however, consoling that, following his reinstatement on September 18, Governor Fubara “directed the immediate payment of pensioners August salary”. Regarding this directive, an author asserts that “This swift action underscores Fubara’s commitment to the welfare of employees and ensuring financial accountability in the state”. What there is to take home from the swiftness of this action is that Fubara is not only simple and humble, he harbors a humane heart. Doubtlessly, the “grasses” of Rivers State have been brutalized and traumatized in the supremacy fight between two elephants. The prayer now is that the actors in the ring and those in the wings, including the millions of cheerleaders on both sides of the amphitheater, should sheath their swords.

By: Jason Osai

Opinion

94 Years From A Turning Point

Published

2 days ago

September 29, 2025

The Tide

Quote:”What the time demands is not the old strategy of might and arbitrary power claiming right, but balancing of past acts of arbitrariness, subterfuge and live by what the current period demands would fare better and not want to create more entanglements and encumberances.”

Astrology and astronomy may be regarded as being more of speculative than empirical fields of studies, but same can hardly be said about astrophysics. Thus there is an atomic principle known as stellar Activity Cycle (SAC) which stipulates that everything composed of atoms or matter has a duration or time of expiration. Thus all things that exist in physical forms must at a certain stage shed such forms, in preparation for another cycle in an evolutionary movement. A process of re-embodiment is provided for in the evolutionary cycles, which also have duration of time attached to each cycle of movement. Attempts have been made to estimate the age of the earth as a planet, using some plausible assumptions and data, including studies of old rocks. In this way the age of the earth is given as about 4.5 million years, ever though humans came much later when conditions of the environment could accommodate human life form.

Throughout the long period of the earth’s existence there had been cycles of changes meant to prepare conducive environment for human habitation. There had also been other races of different anatomical features floors. There are stones about Lemurians and Athlanteans. Ancient races of previous cycles reached the peak of their civilisations and then gave way for another cycle of which present races of mankind may not bethe last. The story of Noah in the scriptures illustrates how an old order can give way for a new cycle to evolve. Nature does not show that anything in physical form lasts forever; nor does the form of the earth remain same always. Revolutionary movement of the earth in relation to other planets and solar systems, is governed and controlled by strict and accurate order, such that no unintended occurrence ever takes place. Where disasters and calamities occur, the purposes are usually intended to correct some imbalances and arbitrariness caused by human activities and volition.

Thus apart from the cyclic movements in the whole of creation, there are also regulatory movements, meant to restore imbalances and regenerate the system. Specifically, by 21st July 1929, the earth experienced a significant turning point, whose purpose include a comprehensive purification and balancing of imbalances, brought about by humans, over past cycles of existence. What some religious sects called End of the World, War ( 1914-1945) were marked as a period of great expectations, actually ushered in a new turning point for humans, even though the actual event remains unknown to many people. In cosmic events marking major turning points, human concept of time can create misleading ideas, such that a thousand years expressed as one day, can cause confusions.

There are minor and major turning points whose occurrences follow some cyclic order, depending on the maturation and evolutionary movements of various celestial bodies. Such turning points and the changes which accompany them are not accidents but signify various segments in the march towards progressive perfection. Sadly humans usually lag behind in the process of improved status, while the earth follows its marked steps of revolutionary movement. Sweeping changes which become painful calamities are usually the results of human negligence, derelictions and ignorance. There is a strong scientific opinion currently that the earth’s orbit is widening fast, causing the earth to move further away from its central axis (The Sun) and resulting in climate changes and global warning.

From such changes, the earth is likely to reach a stage of catastrophe, with its climate unable to support life as we know it now. While anxiety may be uncalled for with regards to cosmic designs and turning points, it is important to note that human recalcitrance make the application of forceful means to restore order inevitable. The likelihood is that such use of force is called for, now. In the long history of the involution and evolution of man on earth, there was a period of deviation or fall, resulting in attachment to physical demands and over-cultivation of the sensory faculty. Gradually and over a long time, natural intuitive faculty was left unutilized, thus bringing about a grossly limited range of perception, It is to be expected that any ability or endowment that is not used zealously and in the right way must gradually become dormant and lost.

So it was that through personal volition and choice humans became more and more myopic and restricted in perceptive capacity. While the cosmic cycles of revolutionary movements and maturation went on unhindered, the pace of human maturity and transformation became stuggish and encumbered. Having entered a new phase in the revolutionary movement, but with the humans therein lagging behind in the pace of development, the earth bears a pressure too high for humans to endure. This imbalance results in accelerated pace of events and experiences, forcing humans into a state of panic, stress and having to make up for past negligences. Everything dormant now rises to a boiling point. Thus apparently inexplicable events taking place all over the globe currently, are the result of accelerated rays of the new turning point, in which the status of man falls short of what time demands

94 years from 1929 should be long enough a time from anyone to know that humanity is at the beginning of a new era having to do with the cleansing of impurities, to restore good health. What the time demands is not the old strategy of might and arbitrary power claiming right, but balancing of past acts of arbitrariness, subterfuge and live by what the current period demands would fare better and not want to create more entanglements and encumberances. But those who would want to carry on with business as usual are more likely to meet with surprises and frustrations that would force them to find right answers to perplexities of the present time. Experience will be the best teacher of recalcitrant humans. More recalcitrance, more pain!

Vital lessons to learn include the truth that God’s Will manifests as three laws: Sowing and Reaping; Attraction and Repulsion, and rising and sinking; all powered by a cyclic, rhythmic motion, which sustains justice, harmony and equity in creation. Man’s wrong use of his free will brings about contrariness and disharmony, which he must rectify sooner or later, to be able to free himself from burdens. Some drastic measures would feature in the cleansing process which the new turning point entails, so that those striving seriously towards improvement can be protected from recalcitrant ones. The pace of the law of sowing and reaping will be accelerated to an alarming degree! Turning point demands shifting of ground, to have a balance.

By: Bright Amirize

Opinion

Man and Lessons from the Lion

Published

1 week ago

September 22, 2025

The Tide

Quote:“Be not deceived; God is not mocked; whatsoever a man soweth so shall he reap also (Gal 6:7)”

The lion (Panthera leo) is a large carnivorous mammal belonging to the Felidae family. Though native primarily to sub-Saharan Africa, a small population also exists in the Gir Forest of India. Known as the “king of the jungle,” lions are iconic symbols of strength, courage, and majesty. Male lions are distinguished by their prominent manes, which vary in color and size. Their tawny coats help them blend into dry grasslands and savannas. Lions are apex predators, hunting mainly large herbivores such as zebras, antelopes, and buffaloes. They have been reverred in mythology, religion, and heraldry across cultures for millennia and they continue to feature prominently in literature, film, and national symbols around the world. Irrespective of how long the strongest lion lives and reigns in the animal kingdom, it inevitably eventually loses strength, becomes vulnerable and dies, miserably. That is the unavoidable harsh reality of this animal kingdom we call our world. As it is with the lion so it is with man and all mammals.

At the peak of the reign of the lion, it chases, catches, devours and gulps down the remains of other animals; it leaves the crumbs for hyenas in an act of generosity. However, in time, the inevitable natural occurrence takes place. The lion succumbs to the brutal reality of the aging process. It comes face to face with the realities of life after power: It can’t hunt, can’t kill or even defend itself. It roams on limbs enfeebled by time; the roars, which naturally came effortlessly thundering through the forest proclaiming its supreme reign, now require enormous effort to achieve; even a decibel audible enough to proclaim its kingship within the immediate surroundings has become a Herculean task. At this stage, the king of the jungle routinely climbs and takes refuge on trees during the day, away from hyenas that have become the predators. It is the existential reality of this stage in its life that informed the Igbo aphorism that translates thus: “Ukwu ji agu, mgbada abiaya ugwo” meaning when the lion is enfeebled, antelopes come to demand debts.

Everything it does now is with a lot of effort until it runs out of luck. The lion is cornered by a clan of hyenas that turns into a cackle with the mocking laughing-like vocalizations that characterize hyenas. The king is nibbled at and eaten alive by those it used to leave crumbs for. The hyenas won’t even let it die before they methodically dismember it thereby subjecting the “king” to the same treatment it subjected its preys during its reign. That is retributive justice. For both lion and man, life is short and physical beauty and strength are short-lived; they are ephemeral. Restated, as it is with the lion so it is with man especially those who rise to positions of great authority and enormous power in the affairs of man; more so with those who use it with reckless abandon without caring whose ox is gored. Everyone who lives long enough will naturally become weak, very vulnerable and, at some point, helpless. Therefore, let us be humble, simple and treat our fellow human beings with respect and compassion knowing that retributive justice is an immutable natural law.

Helena Blavatsky (1831–1891), the Russian philosopher and writer, who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875, and a key figure in introducing Eastern spirituality to the Western world, holds that every thought and act throughout life affect other members of the human family. A crime once committed and an evil thought sent out from the mind, are past recall; no amount of repentance can wipe out their results in the future. While repentance, if sincere, will deter a man from repeating errors, it cannot save him or others from the effects of those thoughts and actions; they will undoubtedly overtake him either in this life or in the next rebirth. Here lies the falsehood of vicarious remission of sins as touted in Abrahamic religions. The above highly spiritual deposition echoes the essence of the immutable law of nature, which applies to all, irrespective of station, location, color or creed. St. Paul admonished thus: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked; whatsoever a man soweth so shall he reap also (Gal 6:7).

Jesus informs thus: “I come quickly with my rewards in my hands. To give unto each man according as his works shall be (Rev. 22:12). The universality of these Biblical injunctions is found in their focus on “a man” and “each man”, respectively. Again, hinging on “soweth” and “works”, both admonitions emphasize DEEDS as the basis for salvation. History is replete with accounts of conquerors who captured vast lands, subdued millions of people and acquired stupendous wealth but who, eventually, went the way of the “King of the Jungle”. Is anyone listening? Is the roaring lion, whose thunderous voice currently permeates and sends the shivers across the length and breath of this tiny little minuscule corner of our planet, listening? Egbema people say that if a man fights different people during nine consecutive market days and his opponents are guilty every time, his kinsmen call him aside and advise him not to fight again irrespective of how right he is always.

A major difference between man and the lion is that man knows when to sheathe his sword and let peace reign. Peace is priceless and development thrives only in peaceful environments.

By: Jason Osai