Choose one, politicians in Nigeria or Malaysia?

The truth is, we (the people, at least) don’t know what’s going on in our oil industry.  Which reminds me of the column I wrote in 2008 in the wake of subsidy removal in Malaysia.  The government deemed it beneficial to remove subsidy on petrol – and it simply did.However, a more impressive thing was […]

The truth is, we (the people, at least) don’t know what’s going on in our oil industry.  Which reminds me of the column I wrote in 2008 in the wake of subsidy removal in Malaysia.  The government deemed it beneficial to remove subsidy on petrol – and it simply did.
However, a more impressive thing was the response of the government to its own action.  Below was my perspective on the subject in July 2008.

Malaysians paid about the same price Nigerians pay for petrol until three weeks ago when the government decided to remove the subsidy.
Now they pay RM 2.70 (N99.9, $.8) per litre.  But unlike Nigeria where people get nothing from the government after every price hike, Malaysians have several consolations – and the government is promising more.
One, there are cheaper alternatives to petrol, such as diesel and gas.  Here diesel is the chief fuel of public transportation.  And gas costs about a fourth of the price of petrol.   Further, every taxi is fitted with a gas cylinder and drivers can switch from petrol to gas when they run out of petrol;  because of these measures, public transportation is not affected by the increase in fuel price.
Even private vehicles which do not have gas cylinders in them can get one for RM2, 000 (N74, 000, $616).
Two, the government is giving a rebate of more than RM600 to vehicle owners.  With proper identification, Malaysians can claim the rebate at any post office.  This usually takes less than 10 minutes.
Three, the Prime Minister Abdallah Badawi has promised to increase the RM400 (N14, 800, $123) monthly stipend the government gives to the poor and the disable.  This monthly income for the poor, maybe the reason I’ve not seen any beggar (except one) since I came here.
Four, the government has started cutting needless expenditure.  This is unlike Nigeria where the only people that do the sacrifice are the people.
For example, the single most recurring problem in Nigeria is that of electricity.  But each person brought in to solve the problem is more incompetent than the last. 
A minister promised to solve the problem within six months.  The people waited patiently, hoped and prayed.  When they opened their eyes at the end of six months, the problem had metamorphosed into a monster.
Then power projects were scattered around the country and contracts were awarded through NIPP.  The promise was, by December 2007 the projects would be completed.  The people kept faith.  They waited patiently, fasted and prayed.  By the time members of House Representatives woke them up in April 2008; most of the contractors had absconded with up to 90% of the contract money and did not do up to 1% of the work.  Indeed, some of the contractors discovered the project site they were assigned on the day members of the probe panel visited the sites to assess the level of work done.
Now they’ve given us several years more to wait for stable power supply. More billions will be spent again, no doubt.  And the people have to wait again.  And we have no reason to believe the results this time would be different from that of the previous administration and the administrations before it.
Nigerians have sacrificed for too long.  It’s now the turn of the top government functionaries.  If they don’t know where to start, I’ll give them the Malaysian example.
When the government asked the people to be disciplined in their spending, the people countered that the government should lead by example.  The government responded by taking the following measures to save RM2billion (N74billion, $607million).
1.         Entertainment allowance for cabinet ministers and deputy ministers to be cut by 10%.  The current allowances are RM18, 865, for Prime Minister; RM 15,015 for Deputy Prime Minister; RM12, 320 for ministers and RM 6,000 for deputy ministers.  (Multiply the figures by 37 to get the naira equivalent)
2.         Paid annual vacations for ministers and deputy ministers limited to only Asean (Association of South East Asian Nations) countries and domestic destinations, and only for a week.
3.         Seminars and workshops must be held in government premises; hotels can be used only for international-level events.
4.         Functions should be moderate not extravagant.
5.         No special uniforms and apparel for events.
6.         No expensive gifts.
7.         No renovations of offices or shifting to new offices.
8.         Deferment of purchase of assets like cars, furniture, computers and office equipment.
9.         Purchase printing materials and stationery to be reduced.
10.    Maintenance of existing assets must be optimized to save energy.
That’s not all.  The government set up three committees to increase efficient use of energy resources, to improve bus services and to ensure proper dissemination of information on all measures taken to handle the fuel crisis.
The Nigerian government should also follow Idang Alibi’s advice that all generators in Aso Villa should be removed.  When the government follows this advice, we may expect the beginning of the solution to our power problem.  Right now the government officials do not feel the pains of the people.