It seems all you need to occupy places of responsibilities, especially as political appointees, in this country is to be one with deadened conscience or with no conscience whatsoever.
How do our leaders and political office holders go to sleep knowing that even though they have the power or are in a position to alleviate the sufferings of millions, yet they still choose to yoke their fellow citizens with so much misery, hardship, hunger and avoidable deaths?
For all that God has blessed us with, all we have to show for it is a population of mass hunger, hardship, the most embarrassing landscape of out-of-school children, almajiri, millions of unemployed and underemployed citizens. Millions of Nigerians are dying of opportunistic diseases, public schools are in utter neglect while public hospitals remain alternative places to die.
How do these people move around in the middle of all this and still keep a straight face and not feel any modicum of guilt?
Last week, President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote accused the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Engineer Farouk Ahmed of economic sabotage and living way above his verifiable and legitimate earnings.
Dangote who made the allegations during a press conference at the corporate headquarters of his Dangote Refinery in Lagos expressed frustration with the activities of supposed industry regulators who, instead of implementing policies and ideas that would benefit ordinary Nigerians, rather work to protect their personal interests alone.
Dangote, whose heavy investment of $20 billion (₦33 trillion) in refinery had given Nigerians hope that at last, the people would begin to enjoy the benefits of having a functional local refinery, however, as it has come to be part of our reality, our very high hopes came crashing down like a deck of cards.
For many years, those who should know said when local refineries resume we would enjoy reprieve. Alas, that is not to be. Nigerians are still being told that because petroleum is an international product we must pay the equivalent of international prices. In other words, there is not a cost benefit of local production. It’s as they say in the world of magic; the more you look, the less you see.
Back to the Dangote outburst last week, Africa’s richest man accused the NMDPRA boss of paying approximately N7.5 billion in tuition fees for four of his children studying in Switzerland, wondering if his earnings at NMDPRA or any other legitimate income of his could afford such exorbitant and unnecessary school expenses for his children in secondary schools.
The company had similarly accused NMDPRA and other petroleum industry regulators of trying to frustrate the effective stabilisation of Nigeria’s local refining capacity. They have also questioned the rationale of continuing to grant import licences to marketers to bring in low quality blended PMS into Nigeria, at exorbitant prices, thereby making it difficult for local refiners to break even in their business operations.
I do not have any iota of doubt that Farouk and his likes are saboteurs.
Recall that it was this same Farouk who was the first person to accuse Dangote of producing substandard products.
Farouk said the Dangote refinery was not completed, so they refused to issue a license. After completion, another problem came up.
Farouk said Dangote’s fuel was not good.
Farouk also claimed Dangote was producing more fuel than allowed. Dangote invited Farouk to come and inspect personally, he refused.
It also became an issue when Farouk insisted Dangote must buy crude oil in US dollars, until President Bola Tinubu graciously granted him naira for crude concession.
No rational person with patriotism running in his vein would take the position of Farouk and his evil collaborators. Even if, without conceding to his allegations that Dangote fuel is substandard, is it his place to say so to the world? Is it not for him to back Dangote and protect the interests of local producers until they meet the standards? Is it not in this same country that importers have been distributing poor fuel in the past with the connivance of these regulators? When individuals have succeeded in building refineries, that the NNPC and the government cannot achieve, those individuals deserve all the support.
Dangote has earned the goodwill of well-meaning Nigerians, so he has our support in his ongoing fight against saboteurs in the petroleum sector.
Dangote is more patriotic than most Nigerian politicians and businessmen.
He has shown this time and again with his continued investment in the country, while the same political class that have been frustrating him keep stealing our resources and stashing them abroad.
Dangote, if he wanted to be selfish, would not have cared about Nigerians, because he does not have or doesn’t seem to be interested in seeking the votes of Nigerians for anything, but he cares and works harder than those who have our votes for the interest of ordinary Nigerians.
Farouk’s lame excuse and defence against Dangote’s allegations and his subsequent resignation are enough evidence to prove his guilt.
Also, Dangote’s petition with the ICPC must be allowed to its logical conclusion. This is a litmus test for the ICPC. This singular case may just be all we need to sanitise the opacity that is the petroleum sector and exorcise the demons afflicting it. There is too much criminality within the insidious regulatory system.
These interests are well entrenched and it must take a determined President to crush and end the activities of these economic saboteurs. These criminals after looting our common patrimony still employ their children at NNPC and the Central Bank and other juicy sectors, after training them abroad at very humongous cost to the nation, to succeed them.
President Tinubu must also look into the regulatory system, and ensure that the exorbitant charges by these regulators are streamlined to the barest minimum.
After removing the subsidy in the sector, the least the government should do is to reduce the too many charges on these products so the pressure on the people can be reduced.
The petroleum sector is very vital to the success or otherwise of the economy and must not be left in the hands of stealthy operators within the petroleum sector.
Until the president comes down hard on these evil men and women, his continued retention of the petroleum sector as substantive minister of petroleum remains of no significance and importance.
Until Farouk’s goes to jail for this clear case of economic sabotage, others like him will still continue in their evil ways.
With N7.5 billion, thousands of out-of-school children will be educated up to university levels. Yet, one man with a heart of stone spent it educating four children. Even if the money is his legitimate earnings, how does anybody spend that kind of money on the secondary school education of his children, when everywhere on the streets of Sokoto are children who do not know where their next meal would come from?
These are the real enemies of the country.
Mr. President sanitise your sector so Nigerians can breathe or hand the ministry over to someone else to manage.
