Re: Should Nigeria be Ruled by the Street

Dear Paul Collier,
I read your article about the fuel subsidy policy in Nigeria and the protest that has greeted its removal and rather than provide an intellectual perspective to the issue at hand, you’ve joined the array of foreign public commentators who don’t understand the issue but weigh in as experts to muddle the water.
Have u seen Nigeria’s draft budget for 2012? Do you know that in a period where Nigeria needs resources to support the poor and deliver infrastructures, the office of the Vice President will spend 54Million Naira on Newspapers, and that the Presidency will spend a Billion Naira on meals? Do you know that our legislators are possibly the highest paid in the world and that the average Nigerian is not even sure of how much each legislator earn?
Are you aware that Nigeria’s fuel subsidy bill curiously jumped from 250billion Naira in 2007 to 1.3trillion Naira in a space of four years?
The protest on the street is not a knee jerk reaction as a result of slick campaigning by well-financed special interests as you suggest, rather it shows the frustration of young people nationwide irrespective of religion and tribe who have watched the country fritter its resources and leaders make promises they can’t keep.
Young Nigerians want Government to cut wastes, tackle corruption and deliver on its promises before the Government can implement belt tightening measures.
Why can’t the president go after those who have illegally benefited from the fuel subsidy scam? why has no one been prosecuted in Nigeria’s oil industry? Why is our 2012 budget heavy on recurrent expenditure and shy on capital expenditure.
I am challenging you to giver year one students in Oxford University Nigeria’s draft budget 2012 and ask them to help save this country 1.3trillion Naira in reasonable cuts. Give them 3days to report back to you and you’ll be amused by their findings.
Contrary to opinion, young people in Nigeria are not unaware that a fuel subsidy bill of 1.4trillion Naira is unsustainable but the questions is how did we get here and how has the system dealt with those who became billionaires by feeding fat on our resources.
Before President Jonathan can talk about removing fuel subsidy, kindly advise him to tackle corruption, reduce the over-bloated size of Government (especially political office holders), cut down on wastes and fix the refineries.
If he’s done all this in the time he’s had as president, his policy on fuel subisdy removal would have been greeted with applause and not protests!
NOTE: This article was written in response to an article by Paul Collier
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Rotimi Olawale, co-founder of youthhubafrica.org is a youth development expert. For more than six years he has been involved in leading youth advocacy efforts mainly around the Millennium Development Goals. In 2006, he represented Nigeria as a youth ambassador at the United Nations Global Youth Leadership Summit held at the UN Headquarters in New York. Rotimi has held several global leadership positions including; member, UNFPA Global Youth Advisory Panel for 2 years; member, African Youth Panel. Rotimi is currently involved in shaping local, national and global policies to benefit youth and also leverage opportunities for young people. He was listed by the Nigerian government as one of 15 Nigerian youth on the world stage in 2008.