If the president Knows

The fuel subsidy struggle the Nigerian people initiated and led has produced a massive amount can all learn lessons from. President Goodluck Jonathan may have the most to learn and I do hope he has been making notes from it to guide his future action. The first lesson is that although all Nigerian Presidents believe that they are all-knowing and all-powerful, the fact of the matter is that they are not.

Nigerian Presidents operate in an atmosphere of near total ignorance of the reality around them. They are surrounded by a bevy of security “informants” and sycophants who tell them every minute how enemies are plotting against them and how it is imperative to use their vast pow- ers to deal with the enemies. They are recounted endless stories about the sheer brilliance of the policy choices they have made and how they have and continue to impact positively on the lives of their constituents. The policy choices presidents are directed to make by the inner caucus are sold to them as the best possible. All good persons will be happy that these policies have been made by the all caring President. Any one that criticizes pol- icy must therefore disgruntled and an enemy of the people.

Presidents are told that they are the boss of the land and no one can stop a decision they have made. Intelligent people around the President suddenly transform themselves into total idiots telling tales to the President and the people. Even with my knowledge of sycophancy in Nigeria’s political culture, I am astonished at the types of stories we hear from a Ruben Abati, who until recently, was an intelligent critical mind people were eager to learn from. Today, he is the Nigerian champion of sycophancy and hunting down the Presi- dent’s enemies.

With people like that, how can a President Jonathan understand that the policy choice he was directed to implement by raising the price of petrol from 65 to 141 naira was simply wrong, was not feasible, will erode the goodwill he has in the country and will even threaten his hold on power. These are things everybody in the street knew but the President was never told. Nigerians have gone to the streets nineteen times to pro- test against fuel subsidy since 1986 and yet the President was told that it was some individuals who he defeated in the 2011 elections that are responsible. When events turned out the way they did, no one told him the policy measure was idiotic, he was told it was enemies plotting regime change who paid bribes to millions of Nigerians all over the country to come out and pro- test against the excellent policy he had invented for the good of the people.

Over the past two weeks, startling revelations have emerged from the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy. We are today finding out that different government departments have vastly different figures on the amount of fuel brought into the country. That companies are paid billions of naira for fuel they never brought in. That we still do not know how much of our national wealth has been stolen using fuel subsidy. All these revelations will be brushed aside as the machinations of a Speaker who has committed the crime of being elected into office by his peers rather than being imposed by a corrupt party machine.

While Presidents are told that they have massive power to do whatever they fancy, no one ever tells them the real power they have. President Jonathan should be told that he has the power to take a one week sabbatical from his minders and switch off Nigerian Television Authority. Let him start by reading newspapers to get the vibes in the nation. Let him read about the revelations coming out of the Farouk Lawan Committee and he will realize that the enemies are in Aso Rock eating pounded yam and drinking Coca Cola with him.

As begins to learn what millions of Nigerians already know, he be forced to come to the conclusion that he has around him some of the most corrupt human beings that have existed in world history. He will begin to link growing anger in the land with the growing poverty of millions. He will be shocked to find out that in one of yesterday’s papers, people were asked to define being rich and someone said having one hundred thousand naira is evidence of extreme wealth. He might even discover that not all households have multi-billion naira budgets for food and drinks.

The President will begin to realize that there are millions of Nigerians out there committed to change and an improvement in their lives but it’s not happening because some people are stealing all the resources. He will begin to learn that the real patriots in contemporary Nigeria are all those millions of Nigerians that went about to demonstrate against government so that government will get out of its foolishness and reverse policies that are anti people.

he President will then start asking himself what his transformation agenda means if it does so much harm to so many ordinary people. The President can then start asking himself questions about what was done with the $20 billion excess crude account that has been wiped out and only neighbour-to-neighbour appears happy with the breath of fresh air. He might ask himself why the Minister of Information announces new contracts every week and never ever reports project completion. The President might begin to discover that governance is about producing public goods not announcing contracts.

There is however a Catch 22 in the equation. Should the President know all these, would Aso Rock be safe for him. The billions that have found their way into the pockets of a small coterie over the past two years is so vast that consequences can be arranged for anyone that tries to change the agenda of the day. With a bit of sincerity and knowledge, it is possible to start creating traction for progressive change in Nigeria. The question is will those ruling and ruining our country allow it?