Re: Kachikwu, get your act together

I write in response to your editorial entitled Kachikwu, get your act together which was published on page 53 of your Monday April, 11 edition. I do so not in my capacity as Director, Press and Public Relations of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, but as a concerned Nigerian and public commentator who is worried […]

I write in response to your editorial entitled Kachikwu, get your act together which was published on page 53 of your Monday April, 11 edition. I do so not in my capacity as Director, Press and Public Relations of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, but as a concerned Nigerian and public commentator who is worried about a policy in our country that is responsible for the series of devastating fuel crises which we have, for so long, been experiencing as a people under so many administrations stretching way back to the 1990s.
I am surprised that your editorial lamented about‘’ statements made in recent weeks by Kachikwu which you said have ‘’worsened the fuel crisis currently bedeviling the country instead of alleviating it’’. You are of course referring to the Minister’s statement, made more or less under the duress of public pressure for a quick end to the present round of fuel scarcity that the situation will clear on April 7, which never happened. Every enlightened person in this country knows that the reason we have frequent fuel crisis is because the downstream sector of the petroleum industry has not been deregulated, or to put it more clearly,
Subsidy has not been removed. If that had been done, we would have felt the pains for a little while and the inter-play of demand and supply or market forces would have ensured the normalization of fuel supply in Nigeria and there will be no need for the periodic pains the whole nation is subjected to because of the lack of political will to adopt this significant policy option.
I expect that all well-meaning Nigerians, especially well informed persons such as newspaper editorial writers, to champion the urge national duty of calling for the deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector in order to do away with petrol subsidy which is the root cause of the incessant petrol scarcity in our country. Unfortunately, labour unions, radical academics who are illiterate in economic matters, opposition politicians, civil society organisations and almost everybody else who think of themselves as public do-gooders and self-acclaimed defenders and protectors of the “poor masses” have taken it upon themselves to resist the removal of fuel subsidy.
The nearest we got to carrying out this bold and courageous national step was under President Goodluck Jonathan in January 2012 and we saw the kind of united opposition that made him back down. Some of us who are not sentimental about things have realized over the years of our suffering that the so-called ‘’poor masses’’ suffer more from the subsisting bad policy of subsidy regime which gives room for fuel shortages than if they were to purchase fuel under a regime of market forces. Yet, we have stoutly refused to campaign for a deregulated regime. Instead, we focus on mere statements. This is leaving the substance to pursue mere shadows. Over the years, a battalion of what I now want to Christen “Subsidy Denials” has formed, claiming, without any concrete evidence or reasonable argument, that government does not subsidize petrol and other petroleum products.
Their advocacy has been so vociferous that now not many citizens believe the government is telling the truth about subsidy. Those who are not in denial say since God has blessed us with oil, Nigerians must enjoy cheap oil products even if doing so has serious ill effects on the national economy. There was a year that a quarter of our national budget was used in subsidizing fuel consumption by Nigerians!
What an act of irresponsibility. My humble position is that instead of writing editorials criticizing Ibe Kachikwu (or any other Nigerian who finds himself as Minister in charge of that sensitive portfolio) for statements that did not come true, we should seek to address the wrong policy that is responsible for the situation we are lamenting about.
Having worked closely with Minister Ibe Kachikwu in the past two months I can testify on my honour that he is an organised person whose acts are never disjointed. His acts are together in the pursuit of the national cause. I see him as an honest gentleman who is unfortunately caught up in a situation he or the government he is serving is not in full control of. The best he or anyone else can do in the circumstance is to manage the situation the best way he possibly can. National scapegoating is not going to solve the problem. Our policy of fuel subsidy is responsible for the national scapegoating we have now become used to.
Each time the wrong policy brings about fuel queues and the accompanying pains, we demonise whoever is the minister of petroleum and the government in power at the time. I am certain that if we do not summon the courage to do the right thing, the tenure of this administration will also one day come to an end and a succeeding government will come in to face the same nightmare. While I suggest that the government should summon the courage to do the needful, I also call on all of us Nigerians, especially opinion-moulders, to be prepared to lend support so that fuel subsidy removal will not be such a hard sell. We need to do so for the sake of our economy and the convenience of the people. Kachikwu is by no means an incompetent or reckless minister or one who makes unguarded statements. He is a victim of a wrong national policy that has cost the nation trillions of Naira directly and indirectly.
We should address the substantial issue which is the urgent need to change a very bad policy that is in urgent need for a change in the interest of the nation’s economy.
Alibi is the Director, Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Petroleum Resources.