With his brave decision to end the fuel subsidy scam, President Tinubu has effectively snatched the feeding bottle of a corrupt few who, for decades, have held the country to ransom. Rapidly and steadily, these individuals have dug an astounding six trillion naira hole into the country’s finances just to satisfy their amoral craving for easy wealth and unearned privileges.
Because of them, Nigeria failed to benefit from an oil boom that gave rise to new industries and prosperity in similarly oil-rich nations such as Saudi Arabia. Profits that ought to have gone into government coffers to build roads, renovate and equip schools, put drugs and world-class equipment in hospitals have gone into their private bank accounts, all in the name of subsidy. They have plundered the country’s revenues to zero. We are now borrowing to fund their greed. Such is the sorry situation of the country.
By saying no and refusing to bend to the will of this tiny but undoubtedly powerful cabal, President Tinubu has certainly incurred their wrath. They are now plotting to fight back. Conspiring with their accomplices in the downstream oil sector, efforts have gone into staging an artificial petrol scarcity nationwide. Although the NNPCL is able and continues to provide the required petrol supply for the nation, they are refusing to sell. When they do, it is at unjustifiable cut-throat prices. There is no drop of patriotism in them. They see Nigeria and Nigerians no more than as cash cows and beasts of burden to be milked and ridden roughshod.
With the scarcity and accompanying hardship, their intention is to make you, the ordinary Nigerian, suffer even more. They have no remorse that they have ruthlessly cheated you out of various opportunities that other oil-rich countries used to empower their citizens. They also want to make you angry and turn you against the one man who has displayed the courage to put an end to the systemic theft.
They want you to be angry, and they want your anger to be directed at President Tinubu. They are offering money to partisan unions to threaten strikes. They are egging transport workers to increase fares. They want to ground the country to a halt and hold us all to ransom once again, just to satisfy their personal greed. They are counting on you to do the work for them. They have polluted the media space, especially social media, with various false narratives designed to hide the corruption of the subsidy regime. They are also sponsoring falsehoods about President Tinubu whose only interest is saving Nigeria from the suffocating grip of a tiny cabal that has looted our treasury dry.
How can a nation so blessed with natural resources be struggling to pay salaries? How did we fall from the admirable heights of the 60s and 70s when civil servants of any level had statutory cars and could pay for their own homes to this point where a career in the public service now resembles a highway to poverty? We can’t build hospitals, we can’t arm our soldiers, we can’t construct roads, but we can pay SIX TRILLION NAIRA every year to this subsidy cabal. Nigeria now exists to pay the subsidy merchants. None of that is fair.
To defeat them, you must resist their lies and stand solidly behind President Tinubu. As with all revolutions, the initial phase will be rough. They will fight dirty and throw everything they have at it. We will witness difficulty. But this is for the greater good. With the exclusive and unearned benefits guaranteed to this cabal gone, more honest private players will enter the market. They will import and process crude locally, and the price of petrol will fall. It is already happening with cooking gas. We only need to hold steadfast and steady as our nation seeks to rid itself of thieves without a conscience.
Reject their partisan strikes, if they call for one. It is not in your interest. Endure the queues and temporary surge in price. Difficult as they are, it is our final price for freedom. President Tinubu is resolute and unwavering. He has a plan and he is executing it with courage. Your role is to keep the faith and refuse to be wooed by seductive lies and propaganda sponsored by the desperate cabal. The cabal regime must fall for our nation to progress. Sign up for this struggle and hold the line. Every man counts.