FG’s failed promises driving Nigerians ‘mad’

The Buhari government’s penchant to delay the redemption of the pre-election pledges, which amounts to shifting the goal post, is driving many citizens to the point of insanity.

Since he came to power in May last year, Buhari has concentrated all effort on prosecuting his war against corruption in total neglect of real governance.

Although government says that a huge amount of money has been turned in by those who were indicted in the alleged dollar-sharing extravaganza that featured in the last administration, Nigerians are still at a loss regarding why the government has not thought it wise to carry out some projects that could have direct impact on people’s lives and by implication reduce the level of tension in the land.

Again, in what seems a dangerous pattern of governance being adopted by the present government, inconsistency may have become its way of life.

Reports say that the current government is fast losing credibility and chances are that it would soon face civil disobedience in the event that the “suffocation” persists.

“The people will soon go desperate when they find out that the Federal Government really has no agenda for them. What is happening now creates an impression that the party did not prepare for the job,” said Mike Ndulue, a retired civil servant.

Last Wednesday, after the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, some actors in government were at it again, rationalising the current chaotic situation in the country.

Ibe Kachikwu, minister of state for Petroleum Resources, was once more apologetic, promising yet again that the petrol scarcity would be a thing of the past this week (starting from today).

It would be recalled that after he was roundly criticised a few weeks ago for saying he was not a magician to end the fuel crisis situation Nigeria is grappling with, the minister had in the midst of profuse apology announced that fuel lines would end by April 7th. The minister cited “old and dilapidated” refineries in Nigeria as the major cause of fuel scarcity. He maintained that they would be “revived to full capacity” with appropriate funding.

“We expect that between now and about the 6th or 7th of April, the fuel queues will disappear, the Direct Sale-Direct Purchase system will begin and the foreign exchange allocation [of petrol] will see us smoothly through the track,” he said.

Close to two weeks after the promise, the situation remains the same, necessitating yet a fresh round of promises and unnecessary arousal of hope.

Speaking to journalists after the NEC meeting last Wednesday, Kachikwu extended the time for implementing the existing plans to end the lingering fuel scarcity in the country. The minister said that the queues would completely disappear by the end of this week.

Rehashing the usual chorus by government, Kachikwu did not disappoint as he blamed sabotage for being the cause of the current situation and thanked Nigerians for their patience.

“The queues are as a result of sabotage. Some people rather than sell products send them into hinterlands where they can sell at ridiculous prices and so you are having these price distortions where people are making a lot of money, some are internal and some are external but a lot of it is marketers trying to make quick returns on their investments wrongly,” he rationalised.

“We have asked DPR to deploy officials to ensure products are sold at the right price because it is only through price stabilisation that these queues will disappear. As at today (Wednesday) we are delivering about 1,200 trucks, by weekend we should be delivering same number of trucks, it will take a bit of days to even out but you can see improvement already. I hope by the end of next week with the refineries helping us to stay on course, every part of the country will get fuels,” he further said.

On the way out of the persistent darkness all over the country, Nigerians were once again fed with same line of excuses. It was all blamed on system failure, which was responsible for the plunging of generation from 5,000 megawatts to 3,100 or 3,200 megawatts. The long-suffering Nigerians were once again urged to show understanding.

Apart from the economic consequences of the energy crisis, health and social implications are huge. With the excruciating heat, many Nigerians now suffer various degrees of insanity. They are very irritable and now transfer aggression to one another at a slight provocation. Cases of neighbourhood fights are on the increase as people pick on one another on flimsy reasons and excuses. The other day in Lagos State, a landlady set ablaze a tenant’s apartment for alleged refusal to discontinue the use of a generating set.

The tenant explained that he could not understand why he would not use a power-generating set when the weather is hot and there’s no electricity.

Analysts say that government appears insensitive to the plight of Nigerians who go through excruciating pain of the hot weather without electricity or petrol to power their generators.

“I don’t really know the essence of this present government. For many years, Nigerians have not seen this type of suffering; it appears that the system is totally shutting down. A government that appears deaf and insensitive cannot claim to be working in the interest of the people. That is what we have been getting from the Buhari government,” Collins Adun, a public affairs commentator, said.

“Look at how Nigerians are suffering. Children can’t sleep at night; they have heat rashes all over their body. And because those government officials have their residential houses and offices powered every day, they do not know what the majority of us are going through and they are being nonchalant over a serious issue that demands urgent attention. A lot of people have developed some illnesses as a result of what I can term government negligence,” Adun further said.

Joy Ofolue, a retiree, shared the experience of her family with BDSUNDAY.

“For close to two months now, my husband has been sleeping outside our room. Every night he sleeps in the sitting room. When he started it, we thought it would be just for few days as we hoped that electricity supply would be restored. But now, we don’t see electricity; we don’t see fuel to power our generator. Whenever we manage to buy small quantity, we are mindful of how we use it because of the high cost. It is also impacting negatively on our health. The excessive heat is now giving me migraine,” Ofolue said.

Tony Onche, a psychologist, said although Nigerians appear to be okay with the situation, many have mental challenges as a result of the long years of deprivation by government.

“When I read and hear about increasing domestic violence, killings and other unbelievable nature of crimes going on in society, I tie it to the negative response to the activities of politicians over the years. Think about the excessive pressure being exerted on a man with a family but without a job in this prevailing situation in the country. It is madness! If you look at many Nigerians, they are mentally sick. You will only appreciate the level of madness in the country by visiting the psychiatric hospitals. I hope we will not have to continue in this pattern for too long,” Onche said.

Ade Ogundare, a self-employed Lagos resident, said the sickly nature of Nigeria is evidenced in the level of labour crisis across the country.

“We do not need a mirror to see the wrist watch on our hands. The signs of a sick country are all over the place. Every day you tune in your television set, you are greeted with protest by workers agitating for payment of their salaries and entitlements. All this stress puts pressure on people’s health. Do we need to search deeply before finding the reason people are dropping dead like chicken nowadays? People are being pushed to the wall and government is behaving like the ostrich which buries its head in the sand rather than face the danger threatening its life,” Ogundare said.

An observer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “The lingering fuel scarcity has exposed the level of poverty and unemployment in the country. Look at the number of people that are now in the black market business. It mirrors a nation that is sick. An oil-producing country that has such a number of people hawking petrol on the byways and highways as if it were groundnut is a failed nation. It is so sad to see even pregnant women carrying petrol about. In some cases, some men have since drafted their wives and children into the business. Shame of a nation! It is saddening,” the observer said.