There is no denying the dictatorial stealth you speak about which is an unfortunate trait in our life, and there's no denying the bungling of many good intentions of government by this regime and those before it, which bring me to the reason for posting this message; deregulation, otherwise the withdrawal of government as an player in this and other regulated sectors beyond that of a regulator better assures the efficiency you wish.
On the other matter of spreading the wealth, it is an anomaly to put a program in place to "alleviate" the "impact" of pms market price given that it is not any more central to the lives of citizens, even the poorer half of the population than diesel, which has been deregulated for a while, or drinking water that was deregulated over the last 20 years with little fanfare, or are you aware of anyone that drinks government supplied water in Nigeria as you knew it in the 80s and before?
The reason I support deregulation includes the elimination of the corruption and racketeering that springs from subsidy programs the world over, which took an unprecedented impish twist in the case of Nigeria pms distribution and sale. There is no justification for imported pms selling for the same price at Makurdi as it does Lagos given the cost of transportation (deregulation includes the removal of equalization payment by government) just as a kilo of yam sells for different prices in both markets.
The subsidy program gave birth to corruption that included perfection of subsidy attracting documents with no drop of gas supplied. The removal of that subsidy is what led to a "fall" in the quantity imported chiefly because of increased policing given the new found attention, then we know these gains could so easily be lost when attention wanes, and to prevent a relapse into that massive fraud that cost all of us so much, the incentive for the fraud should be removed, which can only be achieved by deregulation, not increased policing, which has a price by the way.
Finally, there are not many better ways to assure fairer spread of the commonwealth than the appreciation of the purchasing power of the Naira (Nigerians) which the strengthening of its value against the USD means, given the import dependency of the economy, and more so if it is achieved without market intervention (selling more from government reserve) that all economists agree is short-termed gain and unsustainable
Okwy
------------------------------------------
We face forward,...we face neither East or West: we face forward.......Kwame Nkrumah
We face forward,...we face neither East or West: we face forward.......Kwame Nkrumah
From: Olayinka Agbetuyi <yagbetuyi@hotmail.com>
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Sent: Sunday, 27 May 2012, 2:48
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Understanding the Struggle
I think it is unhelpful to see the release of the statistics in the news report as license to view one side on the debate as uninformed and the other as vindicated. The report if anything is eloquent in what it does not reveal as well as what it does. if partial removal of subsidy led to 45% reduction in importation how is this shortfall being met? Have the Nigerian refineries bridged the gap by increased production in the interim? Yes, it may have saved the FG forex and shored up the value of the Naira but at whose expense?
As I stated in my initial contribution to the debate the success of the whole enterprise would depend on how govt ensures that majority of the people not only benefit from savings made as a result of the move, but that whatever programmes put in place to enhance purchasing power at new prices do not lead to inflationary trends such as seen in past palliatives as Udoji Award etc which only end up defeating the rationale behind minimizing the negative effects of such policies on the people they are meant to protect in the long run. Again it is undisputable that the whole affair was handled in a dictatorial stealth initally and much of what govt has been doing is due the manner in which the people decided to hold the govt accountable through mass action.
Olayinka Agbetuyi
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Understanding the Struggle
From: meochonu@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 25 May 2012 17:37:10 -0500
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
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As I stated in my initial contribution to the debate the success of the whole enterprise would depend on how govt ensures that majority of the people not only benefit from savings made as a result of the move, but that whatever programmes put in place to enhance purchasing power at new prices do not lead to inflationary trends such as seen in past palliatives as Udoji Award etc which only end up defeating the rationale behind minimizing the negative effects of such policies on the people they are meant to protect in the long run. Again it is undisputable that the whole affair was handled in a dictatorial stealth initally and much of what govt has been doing is due the manner in which the people decided to hold the govt accountable through mass action.
Olayinka Agbetuyi
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Understanding the Struggle
From: meochonu@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 25 May 2012 17:37:10 -0500
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
No, Okwy, I think you are the one who seems to have forgotten that the advocates of "subsidy removal" packaged it as part of the so-called deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry, in fact as a stand-in for deregulation. By the way, since you seem so hung up on a textbookish understanding of deregulation and are unable to unpack and deconstruct its rhetorical claims, how can you have deregulation when you have a government price-setting body called PPRA presiding over how to price and allocate petroleum products? The layers of deception and the ignorant and sheepish adoption of ill-digested neoliberal jargons have unravelled tragically with dire consequences for Nigerians. Wake up from your neoliberal dogmatic stupor!
Sent from my iPad
Sent from my iPad
Your shock is very understandable given your inability to grasp the difference between deregulation and subsidy removal, and it is unnecessary to misrepresent Sanusi's view on this, his statement at the most recent MPC that held this week is in the public domainOkwyAnd how did you, Okwy Okeke, miss the fact that the anti-subsidy critics who argued that subsidy did not in fact exist (at least not nearly to the extent of the numbers being bandied around by the FG) have been vindicated by the report of the fuel subsidy probe? Have we, the uninformed critics, not been proven right that what exists is a system of fraudulent payments, false import declarations, and round-tripping bazaars that benefits only a few favored oil industry players and their government and political allies? I am shocked and appalled by the escapism of your post, and by its inexplicable removal from the facts of the $7 billion dollar subsidy scam. Even Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is now doing the backslide, asserting that the revelations discredit the case for so-called subsidy removal. Is "subsidy removal" not simply the legalization of a corrupt regime of fuel importation?
On Thu, May 24, 2012 at 11:53 AM, Okwy Okeke <okwudili98@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:Many at the beginning of the year were up in arms when the FG attempted deregulating the distribution and sale of pms, though many if not most economists that were not seized by the frenzy of the day argued that the average man on the street would benefit in the long run.At the risk of sounding like a bull-horn for the FG, I wrote in this space that deregulation was the way to go, unfortunately, we ended up with a leg in the world of deregulation, and the other outside of it.Given our import dependence, the common man may have seen material savings (Naira has traded for N160/$ for several weeks now, ~7% appreciation from its November 2012 value), and more importantly, the reduction of rent-seeking activities by government cronies.Opposition is the check a democracy needs to be on its toes, then, we need informed and sophisticated opposition (keyword: informed).Okwy------------------------------------------
We face forward,...we face neither East or West: we face forward.......Kwame Nkrumah
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