short&sharp – Bode George’s new prison life

usman [email protected]. Between deregulation and exploitation There is no reason whatsoever for the sudden appearance of long queues in our filling stations even though the issue of withdrawal of subsidy on petroleum products is yet to be resolved. Why the scarcity of the products? This signifies that exploitation of the masses is not only caused […]

usman [email protected].

Between deregulation

and exploitation

There is no reason whatsoever for the sudden appearance of long queues in our filling stations even though the issue of withdrawal of subsidy on petroleum products is yet to be resolved. Why the scarcity of the products? This signifies that exploitation of the masses is not only caused by government policies, but also by some wicked businessmen. These people have now fully hidden under deregulation to exploit the innocent masses. The black marketers are having a ball as they offensively hike up the prices of petroleum products. Does this mean we welcome the opportunity to exploit us?

Comrade Bishir Dauda, Sabuwar Unguwa, Katsina, [email protected].

Why are

we like this?

Prof. Akunyili is talking about rebranding Nigeria. President Yar’adua is talking about the Vision 20-20-20 project even though we keep wondering which of the present top 20 countries Nigeria would overtake by 2020. We cannot achieve any meaningful progress the way we are growing deeply in corruption with no one challenging it. Look around you and tell me what you see: corruption everywhere; I wonder why we are doing this to ourselves.

Mr Geoffrey Nnadi, University of Maiduguri, Borno State.

PDP and

its double

standards

Many have rated PDP as a party of confusion, at times lacking in internal democracy and its executives practising double-standards. Reading the newspapers of Thursday, November 5, 2009, I came across a statement where the Chairman of the Elders Committee, Senator (General) Ike Nwachukwu scored his committee between lowest 70% and highest 95% in all the states so far visited for the reconciliation exercise. Ironically, the state that got the highest (95%), he said, was Akwa Ibom and the lowest (70%), Oyo State. This is an assertion of clear falsehood. If he had (rather) scored Akwa Ibom 70% and Oyo 95%, one would have seen it probably in order. What he refused to do was simply to drop a member of the executive (chairman of the party) in Akwa Ibom as purportedly agreed pending the party’s mid-term convention scheduled for March next year. Setting up the committee was not worth it.

Engineer Etim George, Plot 239, Ozumba Mbadiwe, Victoria Island, Lagos State, [email protected].

Life after deregulation

I am still trying to imagine how life will be for Nigerians if the Federal Government goes ahead with the implementation of its agenda on deregulation. The whole debate on deregulation brings back memories of the debates that took place before SAP was introduced by the then military government of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. Despite the arguments of the government then, SAP is today adjudged a great mistake and disaster. The present government should learn some lessons from that episode and be cautious about its claims that deregulation will be good for our economy.

Abdulrazaq Ibrahim, Aliyu Atta Road, Lokoja.