ITS NO LONGER ABOUT WHAT IS SAID, BUT WHO SAID IT

Since the beginning of time, I have observed the eagerness (despite my obvious earphones) with which commercial drivers and motorcyclists want to have a conversation with me during a journey. Usually it’s about a wide range of topics – and anyone would be impressed by how much these people actually know (or feel like they know). I have always had these conversations with them believing that they were bored with their daily routines, and a little friendly banter could do them some level of good and teach me one or two things.

Lately though, everything has become different;
the conversations all have the same topic (you guessed it right, fuel). The reason for the conversation is not boredom, but a search for answers.

Fuel is no longer scarce in my locale, but the current price seems to be N130 per liter. I say ‘seems to be’ because it fluctuates between N120 and N140 per liter.

The new question is do we have a new official fuel pump price?

The Department of Petroleum Resources wants us to call them with information regarding any filling station selling above the approved pump price (which I thought was N87). But in my opinion, the hardship of the last couple of weeks has made it difficult to imagine myself assisting anyone to shut down them down since that would only return us to the state of scarcity. The marketers know how important they are to our daily lives – and they use it to their advantage in agitating for their demands (as the rumors have it).

My conversation with a cyclist yesterday when I went to purchase expensive fuel went well; his own opinion was that the minister of petroleum resources has a lot of work to do, the same way the president has a whole country to administer and as such, one man should not try to take on both responsibilities. He may or may not have been right; but he didn’t think the problem was getting the response it deserved and on that I agree with him.

He may not seem to be making any sense now, but one day an aristocrat with lots of undeserved laurels will say the same thing and it will be regarded as a revolutionary statement.

I remember when in the Garden City, a commercial driver said a lot to me about how the Treasury Single Account formula will not be favorable to the economy. He didn’t make much sense to me.

Charles Soludo said the same thing in his speech titled “Can a new Buharinomics save Nigeria?” Delivered at the 3rd Anniversary lecture of the RealNews magazine at Oriental Hotel, Lagos on 19th November, 2015 – and it made some sense, because of who said it.

So until the right people say what we feel, no one will hear us.
Pray for Nigeria, Pray for the world.