Date Published: 05/26/09
THIS FUEL WAHALA
BY OLUGBENGA FABILOLA
When I read from the media while in far away Bloomington, Indiana in the U.S.A., President Musa Yar’Adua advising that the fuel problem will not ease until another 2 weeks from then, I could not contain my worry, anger, shock and embarrassment over the kind of leadership we have in Nigeria. The questions that ran through my mind were:
- Why should we wait for 2 weeks to get normal fuel supply?
- Who are the Manager of fuel supply to the nation?
- What were they doing when they anticipated the fuel crisis?
- Was their planning faulty or sabotaged?
- Do they plan at all or they do things on adhoc basis?
No doubt, answers to these questions will show in bold relief the mediocre level of the kind of leadership Nigeria has. In an organised environment, the lingering fuel crisis is enough to sack a government using the available apparatus of democracy. The truth of it is that leaders in Nigeria do not accept responsibility, otherwise President Yar’Adua would have, without flinching, sacked those in charge of the Nigeria Petroleum industry.
I was troubled that my former tutorial teacher, Odein Ajumogobia, SAN (law being my second degree) gave the confidence the President has in him as his reason for not resigning. The little I know about him as a former teacher and now a colleague at the bar is that he is a fine gentleman, decent and responsible. He ought to have resigned honourably in order to make the difference if only to send some urgent message to the Nation’s leadership that he cannot be part of an unorganised system. I only hope that the system has not changed him. I have another friend in the Federal Executive Council whom I am cock sure would have resigned if he was in Odein’s shoes. This friend, not Gen. Godwin Abbe (Rtd.), (who I met per chance in January 2008 and who I am also convinced has a good vision for this country through this my friend), will not hesitate to resign where he feels that his hard earned reputation is being demeaned. He is even economically poorer now than when he was running his private business.
Nigerian leaders should learn to accept responsibility and should avoid passing the buck as this is a panacea for responsible and disciplined leadership. It is a shame of a nation that we cannot ensure continuous fuel supply to the Nigerian people at all times and not only to residents of Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna, Ibadan and some other Nigerian cities. It is a common knowledge that the fuel crisis is a common occurrence in most Nigerian cities in the North and the East and these problems are human creations being the wickedness of man to man in the bid to make money at all cost.
This fuel crisis must stop forthwith so that President Yar’Adua can be given a pass mark by the Nigerian people. Let us continue to pray for Nigeria.
Olugbenga Fabilola.
