By Segun Adeoye.
In Ancient Greek mythology Zeus the King of all gods who ruled from Mount Olympus was god of all the sky,lightening and thunder.
Zeus one day gave delectable Pandora the wife of a brother to Prometheus one of the Titans ,a beautiful box and told her this is my special gift to you , with a firm instructions not to open the box.
However on the way home curiosity overwhelmed Pandora and she wondered aloud what can be inside the box and why will she not open it.
Pandora closed her eyes and opened the box and all hell was let loose because inside the box was sorrow, disease , vice, violence, greed , madness,old age and death.
Pandora box is a euphemism for opening “a can of worm “or do something that will cause many unforeseen problems that did not exist or were known about before to appear.
And in my view President Tinubu removing Fuel subsidies on his first day in office is like opening a pandora box that have elicited and caused many unforeseen problems which did not exist or were known about before to appear after the removal.
Fuel Subsidies is a Stealing bazaar in Nigeria.
All subsidies amount to Government allowing people to spend money that they do not have , this Keynesian Fiscal/ Monetary approach to economic governance works fairly well when revenue surplus drives it , or when revenue surplus is generated.
But the scheme breaks down immediately revenue falls against expenditure.
A misalignment between prices and production cost worsen inflation , budget deficits and state debts , and also divert resources from critical sectors.
Furthermore it is a dubious and inequitable way of transferring wealth to indolent elites in most Capitalist free market economies.
Ideally Subsidies is usually packaged to facilitate investment activities that raises productive capacity of the people , such as education, health, entrepreneurship, infrastructure etc , subsidies is meant to stimulate production in this most important sector with the capacity to impact positively on the most vulnerable citizens..
But on the contrary in our Nation fuel subsidies is a consumption fast food investment and first line of payment and deduction on our annual budget implementation .
All past administrations paid subsidies on imported fuel for local consumption thereby importing inflation and keeping other countries refineries working while banks , politicians and public servants and many greed is good portfolio- wielding combos who daily feast on subsidies ruined our four refineries in order to sustain and maintain this grand larceny and staggering scam in our oil sector.
It is trite to say the essential features of Capitalism is the motive to make profits and gains no matter what, and we also know Free market economy which Capitalism promotes is actually freedom for the rich to perpetually pick the pockets of the poor and underdogs.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo ,I de kampe, alias “ebora owu” in 1977 ostentatiously introduced fuel subsidies for our refineries so that they can buy crude oil at a discounted / subsidies rate as an incentive and prelude to making prices of petroleum products affordable and cheaper to the Nigerian people.
The Fuel subsidies was beautiful and simple like all truly great swindles , but on the surface its initial objective was to make NNPC fuel cheaper for the Nigerian people but subsequently governments and politicians turned the scheme into a stealing bazaar for all comers to milk the Nation oil and gas sector and that overhunting and corruption optics on fuel subsidies later crippled all our four refineries and none of them presently could produce a litre because of internal sabotage by subsidies hunting scammers..
Economists have repeatedly said overhunting and overgrazing hurts the eco- balance in nature which eventually take out the hunters and grazers .
Presently there is no more money to pay for subsidies as there is no one available to borrow NNPC money to import fuel because it can no longer service nor pay back its humongous debts.
Do not be deceived the Rich and wealthy will never allow their Wealth and privileges to be Voted away.
President Tinubu emerged winner of the 2023 elections with the lowest margin ever with just 37 percent of voters acclamation ,but having spent all his adult working life in Mobil a multi- national global player in the oil and gas industry knows very well that his government cannot survive if it continues the subsidies regime that already crippled the economy and landed it in recession twice under PMB government but to scrap it.
The President opened-a Pandora box with “Subsidies is gone” on his first day in office and I personally believe that was smart, tactical and strategical especially by a player who understands how the oil industry works, but the entrenched Subsidies swallowing cabals, malicious political distractors and spiteful opposition will not accept the Presidential diktat and go down without a fight.
What we are witnessing presently is all the strategies and remedial measures being put in place by the President to ameliorate the pains elicited by subsidies removal is being undermined by a vengeful Cabals who have vowed that the removal is unacceptable and will not stand.
And to worsen the President dilemma the masses who are eventually going to be the main beneficiaries of subsidies removal are also the greatest opposition to the scheme because of the present pain it is generating especially the spike on food prices and transportation cost nationwide.
Despite all the odds the Tinubu administration have doubled minimum wage and also doubled and in some cases tripled monthly allocations for state governments nationwide , but the low income workers and Nigerian masses have continued to reject the subsidies removal and its manifest pains and gains for the people.
And it is apparent that the subsidies swallowing cabal have been instigating the people to protest, and for the first time in recorded history a British citizen , (a visible foreign and diaspora connection)are alleged to be part of opposition working against the Fuel subsidies removal.
The frequency of protest against Tinubu administration is unparalleled since we embarked on a new democratic journey twenty five years ago ,and at the last protest the National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu told a bemused Nation-that it had uncovered a plot to change the government that had just served about over one year out of its 4 -year Presidential mandate.
The truth is that the Subsidies guzzling Cabals want a change of government in order to restore the removed subsidies even though Heavens will fall.
I am of the full conviction that these indolent Subsidies thieving portfolio carrying combos would never relent and will continue the fight like the angry and saucy child whose favourite toy was snatched away and do whatsoever needed to be done to restore this free and easy money -making scam.
