Abdulfatah, wishing Nigerians a fulfilling year in 2018 under the current leadership class, with the succinct and indisputable analysis of its morbid performance, as aptly stated by you, and its failures overshadowing achievements, is a self deceit, which crowns a senseless dream. What Nigeria is passing through under current dispensation is visionless political leadership. Such a scenario happens where the head of government is ethnically skewed in his leadership thrust or limited in desired intellectual quality his leadership position needs to better the lots of citizenry.
Who would not be stunned by the shocking news of as many as eight dead Nigerians appointed as board members of government parastatals only for its official to give a ridiculous and demeaning defence that “the list was compiled over two years ago”, suggesting it predated ascension of the administration to power. What a crap! Looking at the achievements of current government, even the problem of Boko Haram, which one could say PMB has military competence to handle, has been a subject of what to believe in the oscillating claims of government on its success. Now PMB has asked for one billion dollars from ECA to prosecute the war against Boko Haram insurgents, which Osinbajo tried to defend. What would any Nigerian have expected from him as Buhari’s deputy? What will give Nigerians hope is election of leaders with intellectual capacity, national and not tribal, ethnic or religious affiliations; which are currently the political considerations. We should embrace true federalism, the core point of which is restructuring of the country as a starting point. Agitations of all sorts would continue as long as current political trend persists. Agitations are human rights. Activists are not killed twice, are they? God save Nigeria.
–Lai Ashadele.
I read with keen interest your write up in Sunday Sun. You are the kind of journalist we need in this country, not propaganda ones. God is your strength. Keep it up. Happy New Year.
–Ogbebisi Eugene D.
I believe what causes fuel scarcity is handiwork of the cabals in oil sector that wants to enrich themselves during just ended Yuletide season. For sometime now there is no fuel scarcity and marketers used Yuletide season to cause fuel scarcity in order to increase fuel price for their selfish interest. Nigerians should resist any price hike. It is time our government built more refineries to cushion fuel scarcity so that marketers so that marketers won’t hold Nigerians to ransom all the time and during festivities. PMB should take proactive action against those behind the hoarding of petroleum products.
–Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia.
Abdulfatah, I most sincerely wish you and your family a very happy and prosperous New Year. Our desire is that 2018, by the grace of God Almighty, shall provide every Nigerian with a special reason to return thanks and praises to God. It is with every sense of sincerity and responsibility that one can boldly say that Nigerians have just had the worst Christmas celebration in the recent times. Because as the citizens were trying to conjure ways and means of providing the minimum that they could for their families in the face of the economic, security and political realities staring them in the face, for the celebration of the Yuletide, fuel scarcity stealthily crept in and literally halted movements, economic activities and the social life of the people.
The painful thing about this recent episode of fuel scarcity is that those that owed us serious explanations as to why it ever happened were busy passing the buck. While this was happening, those Nigerians that could afford generating sets were groping in darkness in their homes at night in the absence electricity which has become part of our national life as they could either not afford the price or could not find fuel at all. At the same time, transport fares escalated many folds. One would have expected that with the astronomical increase in the price of fuel, from N86.50 to N145.00, which Nigerians strangely accepted uncharacteristically without question, supply and price would be stable, especially at a critical period like the Christmas season. But instead, a heavy dose of salt was added to the already festering injury that the ordinary Nigerians have been nursing for sometime now. Those in authority should be reminded that Nigerians are suffering. The recent figures released by NBS concerning unemployment and job losses is scary and only suggests that the government’s claims that the economy has exited recession is just for the media and not real. The greatest shortcomings of this administration are its inability to own up to its failings, its belief in the manipulation of the media and the penchant for scapegoatism, looking for people to blame for its obvious lapses. For the patriotic Nigerians, this is the time to give account of how far the party and the administration have gone in fulfilling the promises made during the electioneering campaign.
A time to show the improvement their being in control, has brought to people’s lives. Anything short of identifiable and verifiable achievements in the areas of economy, security, employment and the general well being of the masses is unacceptable to Nigerians. A situation where a government spokesperson is speaking on television and majority of the citizens switch off their sets or change to another channel speaks a lot about the credibility of the administration.
Surely, there could still be time to make some corrections; but as things stand at present, the real Nigerians are hungry and angry. Thanks.
–Emma Okoukwu.