Date Published: 02/09/10

DEREGULATION THROUGH THE BACK DOOR By Emmanuel Onwubiko  

Following vociferous opposition, the drive by the current peoples Democratic Party- led Federal government to introduce full deregulation in the petroleum sub-sector of the nation’s economy has since the beginning of this year taken another dimension. The new strategy by government is to deploy the services of their friends both in the media and the organized civil society to dish out some funny and highly unverifiable statistics and to propagate to Nigerians that deregulating the Petroleum sub-sector and the removal of the so-called subsidy will be to the best interest of the common people.  

For two weeks now, leading national dailies have carried some sponsored news stories seeking to convince gullible Nigerians that the huge funds said to have been spent by government in subsidizing the pump prices of petrol would have gone a long way to repair Nigeria’s moribund social infrastructures. By way of deduction and induction, the new sinister argument of government for deregulation of the petroleum sector is to the effect that subsidizing the pump prices of premium motor spirit over the years by government is responsible for the collapse of Nigeria’s socio-economic infrastructures.  

By way of providing example, Next newspaper of February 7 th 2010 carried a prominent story titled; “what subsidy money can buy”, and argued thus; “the irony of the petroleum subsidy is that with N2.49 Trillion the government could have used the sum to develop other sectors of the economy which needs attention to improve the standard of living of Nigerians.”  

The next further submitted that; “for instance, the government can actually shut down the epileptic refineries operated by the NNPC and instead deploy the funds into building three world class refineries at 5$ Billion USD, or N750 Billion each making a total of N2.25 trillion”.  

“in the alternative the government could have strengthened the transportation system, one of the major hiccups in products’ supply and distribution and delivered the Lagos -Kano Railway project estimated to cost $8.3 Billion USD, the equivalent of N1.3 trillion, which was cancelled by president Umaru Musa Yar’adua. Besides, a look at the budgetary allocations for some sectors in the economy, between 2006 and 2009 will show what impact, the subsidy fund could have made if the government had deployed the money to education, health and roads”.      

To say the least, this new approach of government to seek to hoodwink Nigerians to accept the proposal by it to fully deregulate the petroleum sub-sector is the most disingenuous and totally illogical propaganda I have ever seen in the last two decades that I have worked as a journalist and professional writer.  

It is a fallacy of hasty conclusion for government hiding under the cover of independent news reports to dish out half-truths, and very dubious statistical data and to muddle up unrelated facts in the guise of sound reasoning in support of the proposal to deregulate the petroleum sub-sector.  

On the part of the media both private and public, it is sad that newspapers that ought to be consciences of the people have allowed themselves to be used in the ongoing campaign by government to introduce the unpopular policy of deregulation through the back door and the use of propaganda. For accepting to be recruited in the current yeoman’s Job, the media has betrayed the collective trust of Nigerians and have violated section 22 of 1999.  

Section 22 of the 1999 constitution says that; “the press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this chapter and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people”.  

Chapter two, section 15 (5) of the constitution which contains the fundamental objective of the state policy provides that; “The state shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power”.        

For the Nigerian media to now support government’s unpopular position to deregulate the petroleum sub-sector even without identifying and arresting all the corrupt contractors who obtained huge funds from government for the turn-around-maintenance of the four near-moribund public refineries without executing the jobs amounts to conspiracy against the common people of Nigeria who are the real owners of sovereignty of Nigeria from whom public office holders derive authority and legitimacy.  

I shall return to debunk the band wagon propaganda by government through some media houses to convince Nigerians that deregulation without the strangulation of corruption is good. First, let me remind the Nigerian government and their friends and cronies in the Nigerian media of what Aristotle the Greek Philosopher pointed out that “he who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander”. Government officials ought to obey the voice of reason by doing first thing first before contemplating the full deregulation of the petroleum sub-sector.  

January 15 th 2000 edition of Economist, the London-based Magazine reported that; “Nigeria is believed to have realised some $280 Billion USD in oil revenue since the early 1970’s, most of it squandered through either questionable public investments or outright looting of the public treasury”.  

Nigeria made three times the amount quoted above during the eight year regime of President Olusegun Obasanjo from oil revenue but the nation’s infrastructures collapsed under the heavy weigh of corruption. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) are yet to fish out those contractors who collected massive public funds to fix and maintain the four refineries but failed to do their jobs.  

Because government failed to elicit the support of Nigerians on the deregulation issue, it now decided to use the back doors to drive home the unpopular campaign for deregulation. Nigerians must shine their eyes and resist this new dimension of tricking them into accepting the implementation of a policy that will surely see the astronomic rise in the pump prices of petroleum products and the consequential unprecedented rise in the general costs of living of most Nigerians.          

To debunk the half truths and worthless propaganda by government through the media that removal of subsidy will help to develop Nigeria’s collapsed infrastructures, one only has to pose a question to government.  

What has become of the massive budgetary appropriations and releases made in the different sub-heads of Nigeria’s public annual budgets since 1999 in the transportation, Health and education sectors?  

It is a big fallacy for government to seek to justify the monumental corruption by key government officials over the years in the strategic government institutions responsible for fixing our dilapidated roads, erratic power supply, poor sanitation, collapsed hospitals, and poor educational sector.  

If government through their friends in the media is arguing that because huge funds are spent to subsidize the pump prices of petrol for Nigerians therefore the socio-economic infrastructures have collapsed for lack of funds, then what has happened to the massive funds released to the different ministries over the years?  

In Job chapter 34, verse 4, the Holy Bible says; “Let us discover together where justice lies and settle among us what is best…” and Aristotle said that; “no government can stand if it is not founded on justice.”  

Nigerians have collectively spoken against hurried deregulation in the petroleum sector without government first of all righting the many wrongs caused by corruption and also fixing public infrastructures so that the pains of the implementation of the deregulation policy could be mitigated.  

We are sick and tired of these illogical and fallacious postulations in the media on the so-called merits of deregulation of the petroleum sector.