Topic: DPR Interview; How did it go, guyz?

Those giving economic arguments for or against fuel subsidy withdrawal miss the point totally. It is not about economics. It is about TRUST!The spending pattern & priorities of GEJ since 2010 is evidence of who he cares for and what.Under his watch, we increased our debt stock by about $20bn, ran down excess crude from $6bn to zero, FX reserves from $45bn to $ 30bn...... ...Under GEJ, Dollar exchange rate moved from >N140 to N160 today. Debt stock has doubled to higher than 2005 levels. Interest rates over 20%!And all this is while nearly 10 trillion Naira has been spent on government officials, trips abroad & perquisites/subsidies to politicians!Power supply improvement? Minimal. Jobs created? Zero. Transport Infrastructure? Zero. Agricultural output? Minimal. Private jets? Yes, lotsStationery, refreshment & snacks in the Presidency will consume about N2bn, with N1.6bn spent by GEJ & his VP in 2012. Does that make sense?Miscellaneous spending by the Villa alone totals N1.7bn for food, honorarium & something called "welfare packages" - another security vote!In the 2012 budget, NASS intends to spend N150bn on itself, the same amount as in 2011 to pay those huge allowances. It has NOT been reducedSo we will spend about N320m for every NASS member in 2012, as we did in 2011. Where is the shared sacrifice? Where is accountability?We must resist the N8,000 tax being imposed on every man, woman & child to fund the fuel subsidy & insist that FG cuts its own wastefulness!The issue with GEJ is simply that of trust. He has wasted huge financial resources & put us in debt in the last 20 months. We must be wary!We cannot trust with more money as he will only waste more of it. That is the issue & he can only earn that trust through small steps."- Nasir El Rufai, via twitter.

Hi debrown, sincerely appreciate ur effort.pls clear me i waited for ur response and afriend choose to help ont within d wk and d name was there only for me to nw see ur mail.

Debrown I sent u a PM pls did u receive it. I pls wanted u to help me check if my name is there pls check ur inbox

@Debrown. Kindly check for me too. I sent u a PM.

Originally Posted by debrown

@oscarnovic, you are right about more jobs to be created in the Petroleum Industry with subsidy removal. However, this is NOT a way forward for Nigeria if all Nigerians are to be carried along. GEJ needs to Build Refineries first, Tackle corruption squarely and Cut costs before removing subsidy. Pls note that all the OPEC countries where there is no subsidy have provided the basics (e.g power/electricity) and an enabling environment for their citizens to survive. By removing subsidy (if there is even any subsidy at all) without cushioning the effect will bring untold hardship to Nigerians. I can't say much about this topic now but in my opinion THIS GOVERNMENT IS A COMPLETE JOKE.

@debrown...........well said. In as much as we need dis job,the truth must b told,its all about 'Nigeria'. I personally believe thr is nothing like subsidy too. Why must we fall frm sky scrapper wit pains n injuries before u start...? I dnt TRUST Govt. My only prob now is,hope it dosnt delay/destruct things,cos d pet minister,NNPC n DPR r all behind 'deregulation'.

@Debrown.. weldone for the wonderful work u r doing for assisting in checking of ppl names on d list....it takes one with a hrt of gold. Nice coment u wrote wt regards this subsidy thing, u spoke my mind. From d fIrst day dat PPMC announced d removal of subsidy I kno wIthing me dat thIs will directly or indirectly course a delay... My prayer now is that may what ever delay that ll come(or may not come) be the best fo us all. Amen

@ Debrown. I feel you pain but you forgot something in your analysis.You forgot the fact that we will be spending one trillion i.e 1,000,000,000,000 on SECURITY.My brother can you imagine the amount of money we can save if we can drastically reduce from that expenditure. I am not against fuel subsidy removal because a lot of politicians are benefiting but however as General Debrown said before its removal the basic amenities should be in place vis a viz optimized refineries, completion of the three refineries in Bayelsa, Kogi and Lagos and provision of efficient electricity with subsidized transport. From reliable sources this was the agreement the government had with NLC then all of a sudden they reneged on the agreement. In Kuwait the citizens don't do that much, transportation is virtually free and education is basically subsidized for their citizens. Gov Jang should retract his statement.Democracy means Government of the People by the people and for the people. In Malaysian you buy a bus ticket that starts from lets say mile 2 in lagos up to like the last bus stop in lekki all for the price of N40 naira.point to note is that the Bus is mostly air conditioned. In Summary my take on the whole issue is this make sure you have implemented policies that will ameliorate the effect fuel subsidy removal will have on the citizens before you totally remove it or you can call Labour renegotiate a step by step subsidy removal such as April 1st 2012 N85 July 1st 2012 ( N105) Oct 1st (N125) and January 1st 2013 (N145) while aggressively implementing policies that will benefit the masses. i strongly believe that when the Masses see the proposed dividends of the fuel subsidy removal they will support the cause. I believe the government should start sowing good seeds so that they can reap the fruits in upcoming months. @ All.I finally want us to commit everything to God in prayers so that the nation as a whole shouldn't disintegrate due to the current challenges and i also believe since we will be the instruments God will be using to add new advise to the government by God's divine grace come this Jan 2012 in DPR. We should ask for divine wisdom so that we can suggest policies to the Petroleum Ministry that will better the lot of Nigerians as a whole. It is well. God is in control.Guys start preparing our resumption is far closer than it has been before. Have a blessed week ahead.

@JJ God is good and Gen Debrown,well said.But i dnt tink they will reverse it.Jst yesday GEJ launched the mass transit.Did u ask why so much amount of money was allocated to SECURITY in this budget?!? I tink is to combat both BOKO HARAM n any possible crisis dat myt result from the SUBSIDY REMOVAL.
@250,u guys re alrdy Govt ppl,i suggest u limit ur comment regarding this.

Originally Posted by Oando

@250,u guys re alrdy Govt ppl,i suggest u limit ur comment regarding this.

And as govt ppl, 'Napoleon is always right'. As govt ppl, u allowed perceived wrong to just go. 9ja indeed

Originally Posted by statesman

And as govt ppl, 'Napoleon is always right'. As govt ppl, u ALLOW perceived wrong to just go. 9ja indeed

Slip of fingers, sorry.

@Oando I stand by every word that come out of my mouth. I am responsible and entitled to my opinion. What is the impact of the 1100 (not 1600 as GEJ said b4) buses launched yesterday in Abuja to cushioning the effect of subsidy removal to 150 million Nigerians?. Do you think Abuja represents the people of Nigeria?. I am disappointed to hear that when you are previlaged to be in Govt, other Nigerians don't matter. As a gud Christian or Muslim, you owe this country a duty to say the truth irrespective of who you work for. I will not be a Labaran Maku who as SUG president at Unijos in 1988 led a protest against the military govt of Gen IBB on this same subsidy removal and now he is singing a different tune just because he is part of govt. As for the budget for security, I can tell you that the money will simply go into the pockets of a few people and still there will be no security. This Govt has always lied to Nigerians that they are on top of the situation regarding Boko Haram but I tell you that they don't have a clue as per what is happening. They don't even know when Boko Haram will strike again. The Nigerian Police have never been properly taken care of, they are poor and hungry wit no uniforms to wear talk less of arms to combat crime. Okonjo-Iweala on AlJazeera English says NURTW agreed to subsidy remove because public transport dont run on petrol but diesel, so no need for transport hike she says. Wow. She thinks this is USA or Europe? She does not even know what Public Transport is in Nigeria. Here for her info Public Transport (Okada bikes, tuk tuk, Hiace, Urvan E20, Lite Ace C20, saloon cars: peogeot, golf, starlet, volvo, their SUVs, all their own official cars run on petrol etc). @ All, These guys have really lost it! this is my opinion, I am glad to hear the opinion of anyone who thinks otherwise . But if you believe that we are now (or will soon be) part of govt and so should no longer care or bother about what happens to other less privileged Nigerians, I am sorry we do not have anything in common and I am willing to withdraw my comments and my humble self from this forum/thread. God Bless Nigeria!