It is with awe and wonder that Mr. Sanusi shocked Nigeria and even the whole world with the Interview he granted to the Financial Times where he linked the problem of violence, Boko Haram and low standards of living in the Northern part of Nigeria with the 13% derivation and the Special Development allocation given to the Oil-Producing states. He also hinted that the uneven distribution of resources is responsible for the rising wave of violence.

Given the initial public outburst at his statements, he has since written a clarification, which in my honest opinion is a retraction of what he earlier said. What he earlier called the "structural imbalance of enormous proportions" against the North is now called the “perceived” marginalization of the North. Typical Nigerian actually thinks Sanusi should have apologized and denounced his earlier views. But, since he didn’t do that, We can safely conclude that the Original Article is a mirror of his mindset but had to quickly cover up using the second article because of the backlash and the PR failure resulting from the former.

The following data is data freely available from Nigerian Population Commission and also from the Planning data of the Independent Electoral Commission. For the sake of simplicity and the unavailability of migration data, the population is estimated using a 3.4% annual growth rate responsible for the jump from 140 million in 2006 to the 167 million in 2011 across board for all the states in Nigeria.

 

Classification	North	South	Total
States	20	17	37
LGAs	419	355	774
Wards	4611	4198	8809
Senatorial Districts	58	51	109
Federal Constituencies	191	169	360
Population	89,513,483	77,493,095	167,006,578

 

 

Looking at the Pure statistics from the 2011 state allocations for the Month of June, a month chosen at random from the data available from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) section of the Federal Ministry of Finance website, we can make some deductions from which we can determine whether Sanusi is right or wrong as regards the distribution of resources. The Excess Crude Account allocations were not considered because they are not usually disbursed every month, it fluctuates widely, and the disbursement of the funds is a recent development. Download full excel sheet here.

 

State	Total LGA Allocation	Real State Budget	Sen Dist (Annual)	Fed. Const  (Annual)	LGA PC	State PC	Const PC	Total PerCapita	Diff
ABIA	1,701,145,666	3,108,156,289	1,140,000,000	1,456,000,000	503	919	64	1,485	-17
ADAMAWA	2,190,891,261	2,858,829,449	1,140,000,000	1,456,000,000	580	756	57	1,393	-109
AKWA IBOM	3,012,326,962	14,189,904,432	1,140,000,000	1,820,000,000	649	3,058	53	3,760	2,258
ANAMBRA	2,247,404,596	3,098,392,085	1,140,000,000	2,002,000,000	452	624	53	1,129	-374
BAUCHI	2,473,804,881	3,342,922,092	1,140,000,000	2,184,000,000	447	604	50	1,101	-401
BAYELSA	953,944,978	7,896,717,870	1,140,000,000	910,000,000	471	3,896	84	4,451	2,948
BENUE	2,587,442,396	3,154,011,513	2,360,000,000	2,002,000,000	511	623	72	1,207	-296
BORNO	2,946,024,870	3,658,416,405	1,140,000,000	1,820,000,000	594	738	50	1,381	-121
CROSS RIVER	1,856,617,997	3,295,329,603	1,140,000,000	1,456,000,000	540	958	63	1,560	58
DELTA	2,472,235,713	12,586,349,671	1,140,000,000	1,820,000,000	506	2,574	50	3,129	1,627
EBONYI	1,335,132,434	2,008,871,428	1,140,000,000	1,092,000,000	516	776	72	1,364	-139
EDO	1,864,021,951	3,795,926,083	1,140,000,000	1,638,000,000	485	987	60	1,532	30
EKITI	1,523,177,716	2,592,090,837	1,140,000,000	1,092,000,000	534	909	65	1,508	5
ENUGU	1,814,351,233	2,921,476,394	1,360,000,000	1,456,000,000	467	752	60	1,279	-223
FCT	1,554,650,654	3,730,267,144	380,000,000	364,000,000	930	2,231	37	3,197	1,695
GOMBE	1,284,582,489	2,665,694,155	1,140,000,000	1,092,000,000	457	948	66	1,471	-32
IMO	2,511,617,072	3,010,606,843	1,140,000,000	1,820,000,000	538	645	53	1,235	-267
JIGAWA	2,719,111,486	3,372,943,505	1,140,000,000	2,002,000,000	524	650	50	1,225	-277
KADUNA	2,951,379,176	3,636,316,254	1,140,000,000	2,912,000,000	406	500	46	953	-550
KANO	4,887,823,964	4,912,248,571	1,140,000,000	4,368,000,000	437	439	41	918	-585
KATSINA	3,452,678,037	3,582,903,184	1,140,000,000	2,730,000,000	500	519	47	1,066	-436
KEBBI	2,129,455,088	3,066,756,397	1,140,000,000	1,456,000,000	550	792	56	1,398	-105
KOGI	2,256,535,029	2,872,338,102	1,140,000,000	1,638,000,000	573	729	59	1,360	-142
KWARA	1,717,694,366	2,601,943,710	1,140,000,000	1,092,000,000	611	925	66	1,602	99
LAGOS	4,892,419,911	7,502,140,658	1,140,000,000	4,368,000,000	451	692	42	1,186	-316
NASARAWA	1,366,678,896	1,979,842,261	1,140,000,000	910,000,000	615	891	77	1,582	80
NIGER	2,769,845,219	2,900,000,768	1,140,000,000	1,820,000,000	589	617	52	1,258	-244
OGUN	2,088,068,483	2,985,991,550	1,140,000,000	1,638,000,000	468	669	52	1,189	-313
ONDO	1,936,551,697	4,170,372,623	1,140,000,000	1,638,000,000	471	1,013	56	1,540	38
OSUN	2,615,980,448	2,860,596,563	1,140,000,000	1,638,000,000	644	704	57	1,405	-98
OYO	3,364,317,439	3,474,000,748	1,140,000,000	2,548,000,000	507	523	46	1,077	-426
PLATEAU	1,914,448,387	2,936,908,703	1,140,000,000	1,456,000,000	502	770	57	1,329	-173
RIVERS	2,673,889,213	13,293,137,293	1,140,000,000	2,366,000,000	432	2,150	47	2,630	1,127
SOKOTO	2,400,891,155	3,196,946,675	1,140,000,000	2,170,000,000	545	726	63	1,334	-169
TARABA	1,870,058,529	2,989,583,630	1,140,000,000	1,092,000,000	685	1,095	68	1,849	346
YOBE	1,835,537,964	2,977,152,968	1,140,000,000	1,092,000,000	665	1,078	67	1,811	308
ZAMFARA	1,737,120,605	2,732,075,603	1,140,000,000	1,274,000,000	445	701	52	1,198	-305
TOTAL	85,909,857,964	155,958,162,063	42,860,000,000	65,688,000,000	514	934	54	1,502

 

* Please note that these Figures for the Month of June, 2011 are without the Excess Crude Account Allocation

The Statistics show us some very interesting figures and we will see if we can prove the assertion that Nigerian Oil resources are unevenly distributed and that some regions are being marginalized.

 On a Per Capita basis for Local Governments, the average money shared is 514 naira for the month of June. We can easily see that on the basis of Population, the Federal Capital Territory, states like Taraba, Yobe, Akwa Ibom, Osun, and Borno are better off with figures well above the average while States like Kaduna, Rivers, Kano, Bauchi, Lagos, etc are worse off for it.

On a Per Capita Basis for States, the average money shared is 934 naira. States like Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Rivers, and also Taraba and Yobe are above average whereas states like Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Oyo, Bauchi, Niger, and Benue are at the bottom.

On a Per Capita Basis for Constituencies, the average money shared is 54 naira. States like Bayelsa, Nasarawa, Benue, Ebonyi, Taraba, Yobe, Gombe are above average while Kano, Lagos, Oyo, Kaduna, Katsina, Rivers, and Borno states are at the bottom.

By summing all the monies from State, Lga, and Constituency allowances together for an average month, the average amount that would reach a typical nigerian if evenly shared (i.e. per capita) is 1,502 naira. So, the states that benefit the most are: Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, the Fct, Delta, Rivers, Taraba, Yobe, and Kwara while those that benefit the least include Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Oyo, Bauchi, Anambra, Lagos etc.

Analyzing this statistics make us to confirm in a way Sanusi’s statements about the uneven sharing of resources per capita between Oil Producing states and Northern states. But few things to note include the fact that though the major Oil Producing states (owing from the 13% derivation) enjoy a significantly higher per capita than all the other states; Taraba, Yobe, and Kwara states which are Northern states are the states that enjoy the next highest per capita all over the country. It is also great to note that though Kano, Kaduna, Katsina are one of the worst hit in terms of resource sharing, Oyo, Anambra, and Lagos which are all Southern states are also at bottom of the Ladder.

OK. Let us end all the mathematics here.

The reason why Mr  Sanusi would use the revenue sharing formula from the Federal Government per Capita as a basis for the comparison of the standard of living or poverty levels of  Nigerian states is beyond me. As a seasoned economist or banker that he is, I would love to ask him why He couldn’t have made his comparisons based on the vast array of options in the Standard Human Development Indices. Except for a kid that is born yesterday, everyone knows that money allocated to states via the revenue sharing formula doesn’t have much effect on the livelihoods of the generality of people living in the state. Such monies are usually used to pay politicians, monarchs, salaries of a bogus and bloated civil service, political jobbers, and also give phantom contracts to cronies etc. By the time all this has been done, whatever is left if any is added to Internally Generated Revenue and then used to execute one or two projects here and there. Loans are then taken to undertake more Projects which in turn make the states indebted and then put burdens on successive governments.

Let us even be objective about these figures, using the best case which is Bayelsa which implies that a Typical Bayelsan has access to 4,451 naira per month from the total incomes. Now, let us put this in perspective, poverty in Nigeria is usually defined by living under a dollar a day. If a man lives has 4,451  naira to spend per month, it means he has 4,451/30 i.e. 148 naira to spend per day. Now, at an exchange rate of 165 naira to a dollar, 98/165 is 0.89 dollars or 89 cents. So, per Capita income based on all FG allocations is 89 cents. This is still less than 1 dollar a day and the 89 cents in for the “richest” state in Nigeria. All Animals are Equal, but some Animals are more Equal than others. Using Sanusi’s words, all Nigerians are Poor, but some are poorer than others, therefore Sanusi validated the need for Boko haram to fight to make Northern states the richest of the Poor. LWKMD. LWSMTML. LMAO. Sanusi you can do better than this.

 

I agree entirely and completely with Mallam Sanusi and Madam Okonjo on the assertion that Nigeria is an Oil-Producing Country, not an Oil-Rich country which is very true. If you are in doubt, let us do the calculation:

If Nigeria exports 2.4 million barrels per day, and a barrel of Oil sells for $100, and an exchange rate of 165 naira to a dollar.

In a period of 1 year, Nigeria will have sold Crude Oil worth 2.4 million * $100 * 365 days which is $87.6 billion USD.

Assuming that all the Oil is sold using JVC contract agreements i.e. 60% to Nigeria, 40% to the Oil Companies, Nigeria will have 60% of $87.6 billion which is $52.56 billion and in Naira becomes 8.67 trillion naira. Wow. That’s a lot of money but let us put it in perspective. There are 167 million people in Nigeria. If the money was to be shared equally among Nigerians, Typical Nigerian will go home with 52,000 naira. Wow. But wait, what can I do with 52,000 naira in a year?

52,000 naira per Year is the equivalent of 142 naira per day, which on conversion to dollars becomes 0.86 USD or 86 cents which in turn means that based on dependence on Oil money alone, no Nigerian can live up to a dollar a day. Wow.

Agreed, it is proven according to Sanusi that Nigeria is not an Oil rich country; we are merely just an Oil producing country. The only question Sanusi should answer Typical Nigerian is that since Nigeria is an oil producing country, which implies the citizens cannot have the benefit of local oil production by the virtue of cheap fuel, why do our Politicians and Public Office holders including you Mallam Sanusi and Madam Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, and your Boss, Pres Goodluck Jonathan live OIL RICH lives? Sincerely, if you cannot answer this question, you and your team do not have the MORAL AUTHORITY to have removed the Fuel Subsidy and that Typical Nigerians should sacrifice anything.

Mr. Sanusi, as a result of the analysis that the per capita share of oil revenue is 86 cents per day for each Nigerian, and that the Oil revenues contribute almost 70% of Nigerian Revenue, I throw these to you Sir:

·         Nigeria CANNOT afford to pay the salary and benefits you are being paid as CBN governor.

·         Nigeria CANNOT afford your Official Car(s) and Residence(s).

·         Infact, Nigeria CANNOT afford to build any new 3billion naira houses for Principal Officers of the NASS.

·         Nigeria CANNOT afford any new Government Construction in FCT, Abuja given the fact that hardly is there any production in Abuja. Why will the rest of the Country subsidize wastages in the Capital at such a high cost to the development in other areas of the Country.

·         Nigeria cannot afford any Construction whatsoever that is not Capital Projects directly related to development i.e. infrastructure projects, schools, or hospitals. EFCC already has good structures in Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos and also in Ademola Adetokunbo, Wuse 2, what do they need N18billion for a new headquarters for?

·         Nigeria CANNOT afford all the Myriads of Special Advisers, Senior Special Assistants, Personal Assistants, Reuben Abati, @renoomokri and all the bloated bureaucratic and civil service structures created.

·         Nigeria CANNOT afford to even pay for the meals of the presidency. Let the President tell Dame Patience to go and cook food and bring to his office. At least, the position of the First Lady is unconstitutional.

·         Nigeria CANNOT afford to buy newspapers for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency. SaharaReporters, Vanguard, Punch, and a host of other dailies are online and also mobile. The president should avail himself of the free content and also the free comments afterward so that he can get feedback from the country through comments.

·         Nigeria CANNOT afford to water Aso Rock for that amount. Tell GEJ ten Nigerians will volunteer to come and water the trees every day.

·         Nigeria CANNOT afford all the myriads of Research and Development including the one budgeted for in Aso Rock. What are we doing Research and Development for when we have not even implemented already known world-wide knowledge? Who are we deceiving? Ensure that tomatoes and other vegetables produced in the North can be preserved for a month without getting spoilt, and fill the death-potholes in our roads before you start spending billions researching on things that have not gotten Nigeria a Nobel prize in the past donkey years. Mscheeew. You people spend so much on what we do not need and we end up needing so much of what you do not spend on.

 

Mr. Sanusi, I will put it to you Sir, it is you Sir, all of you people, the present and past Leaders of Nigeria whether in a Political role or technocratic role that have put us in all this mess. How dare you blame derivation? It is you guys that do EVIL, try to cover it up, when it can’t be covered up, you try to rewrite history to favor you, bring up falsehoods, propaganda, and manipulations thereby trying to insult our collective intelligence and also turn modest hard-working Typical Nigerians into survivalists in their own promised land.

·         How does the difference between 4,451 in Bayelsa and 908 naira in Kano which is 3,500 make a Boko Haram insurgent spend 70,000 to buy an AK47. Despite the difference in the money anyway, Kano is a more economically viable state than Bayelsa. Where did the Insurgents find the money to buy Guns?

·         We know it is not the average northerner on the streets that spends shared revenue; it is the Government and Politicians. Who misinformed them that the reason why they are poor is because the Federal Government has diverted all the money into the Niger Delta via Derivation and NDDC?

·         Who manipulated and ensured that the majority of Northerners don’t have access to Formal Western Education? Why were they not allowed to learn both Arabic and Western Education?

·         Who instigated them to take up arms? Who gave them Money to buy Guns, Bombs, and Explosives? A man earning 908 naira in a month definitely can’t buy enough food let alone Bombs and Explosives.

·         Sanusi suddenly claimed that the North all of a sudden has being marginalized and needs rapid development which has been absent because of diversion of derivation funds since 1999, so what happened before 1999?

·         Who marginalized the North pre 1999? The Niger Deltans, or is it among Ahmadu Bello, Tafawa Balewa, Gowon, Murtala Muhammed, Shagari, Buhari, IBB, Abacha (a Kanuri from Borno State), and the rest of the Northern ruling class?

·         Mr. Sanusi, if Oil were being produced in your home state, will you not demand for derivation as compensation for the loss of the environment and alternatives sources of livelihood also?

·         Even with the Derivation and the Amnesty, have you asked whether the livelihoods of the masses in the Niger Delta have improved?

·         Just the same way you wanted to insult our collective intelligence with your earlier statement linking derivation with boko haram, South South leaders have also sold Niger-Deltans a similar lie saying the reason why they are under-developed is because the derivation is too small.

·         Why are the Ibori’s, Igbinedions, Alameseigha, Peter Odili, even Uduaghan, and our own Goodluck Jonathan who have milked Niger Deltans dry walking around like saints and heroes? I am so sure Ken Saro Wiwa of blessed memory will not have rest in his grave because of the actions of this people.

·         Who will for once tell Nigerians the truth, walk the talk, and save this Country?

All we just want to say to you Sanusi is that we expected more from you. We thought you were the light at the end of the tunnel, alas; you are just like all others. You can see what is wrong but you can’t say it or act as it is because of the fear of “POLITICAL SUICIDE”? Alas you have metamorphosed from the dearly loved Nigerian by the masses to a GEJ voltron out to defend any policy of your paymaster with high-sounding economic rhetoric, finally now to a tribal or ethnic warlord. Or is this who you truly are but you have just being covering it up as seen here? Time will tell. Typical Nigerian rests his case for now.

 

Signed

Typical Nigerian

Follow @TypicalNaijaMan on twitter

 

 

 

Dear Reader,

This is not a post originally from me but underscores some things that have been our agitations over the past few months on the issue of trust. The article of course talks about the American Reality which in many ways is similar with the Nigerian experience also.

Trust is an essential ingredient for the growth and sustenance of any economy either in the developing or in the developed world. That is to say that our demands from the Nigerian Government on Trust, Accountability, Transparency, and the enforcement of the Rule of Law are not out of place. Systemic issues like this can not be swept under the carpet just because we are in a rush to remove Fuel Subsidy and do economic reforms. It is not lack of Economic reforms that brought to us where we are, also it is not Economic reforms that will take us out of it.

The way the Goodluck Administration, and the cohorts of Ministers try to force their policies on Citizens underscore the fact that they don't even understand this fundamental issue. They say we should trust them, but trust is not demanded, TRUST IS EARNED.

The issues need to be addressed, the present administration seems to shy away from this by oversimplifying the Nigerian problem as just a case of an Economic reform and monetary policies.

We must sustain these demands through #OccupyNigeria and ensure that the Nigerian Government comes to an agreement with specific timelines and milestones with the Nigerian citizens on Policies and steps to take to address the issues and take the country forward.

God Forbid that in another 10 years, we are looking for another Fuel Subsidy to be removed.

Enjoy the read.

 

 

 

Top Economists: Trust is Necessary for a Stable Economy ... But Trust Won't Be Restored Until We Prosecute Wall Street Fraud

 

Most policy makers still don't understand the urgent need to restore trust in our financial system, or the need to prosecute Wall Street executives for fraud and other criminal wrongdoing.

But top economists have been saying for well over a decade that trust is necessary for a stable economy, and that prosecuting the criminals Is necessary to restore trust.

Trust is Necessary for a Stable Economy

In his influential 1993 book Making Democracy Work, Robert Putnam showed how civic attitudes and trust could account for differences in the economic and government performance between northern and southern Italy.

Political economist Francis Fukiyama wrote a book called Trust in 1995, arguing that the most pervasive cultural characteristic influencing a nation's prosperity and ability to compete is the level of trust or cooperative behavior based upon shared norms. He stated that the United States, like Japan and Germany, has been a high-trust society historically but that this status has eroded in recent years.

In 1998, Paul Zak (Professor of Economics and Department Chair, as well as the founding Director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University, Professor of Neurology at Loma Linda University Medical Center, and a senior researcher at UCLA) and Stephen Knack (a Lead Economist in the World Bank's Research Department and Public Sector Governance Department) wrote a paper called Trust and Growth, arguing:

 

Adam Smith ... observed notable differences across nations in the 'probity' and 'punctuality' of their populations. For example, the Dutch 'are the most faithful to their word.'John Stuart Mill wrote: 'There are countries in Europe . . . where the most serious impediment to conducting business concerns on a large scale, is the rarity of persons who are supposed fit to be trusted with the receipt and expenditure of large sums of money' (Mill, 1848, p. 132).

Enormous differences across countries in the propensity to trust others survive
today.

***

Trust is higher in 'fair' societies.

***

High trust societies produce more output than low trust societies. A fortiori, a sufficient amount of trust may be crucial to successful development. Douglass North (1990, p. 54) writes,

The inability of societies to develop effective, lowcost enforcement of contracts is the most important source of both historical stagnation and contemporary underdevelopment in the Third World.

***

If trust is too low in a society, savings will be insufficient to sustain
positive output growth. Such a poverty trap is more likely when institutions -
both formal and informal - which punish cheaters are weak.

 

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CEAQFjAF&..." style="color: #6c82b5; text-decoration: none;">Heap, Tan and Zizzo and others have come to similar conclusions.

In 2001, Zak and Knack showed that "strengthening the rule of law, reducing inequality, and by facilitating interpersonal understanding" all increase trust. They conclude:

 

Our analysis shows that trust can be raised directly by increasing communication and education, and indirectly by strengthening formal institutions that enforce contracts and by reducing income inequality. Among the policies that impact these factors, only education, ... and freedom satisfy the efficiency criterion which compares the cost of policies with the benefits citizens receive in terms of higher living standards. Further, our analysis suggests that good policy initiates a virtuous circle: policies that raise trust efficiently, improve living standards, raise civil liberties, enhance institutions, and reduce corruption, further raising trust. Trust, democracy, and the rule of law are thus the foundation of abiding prosperity.

A 2005 letter in premier scientific journal Nature reviewed the research on trust and economics:

Trust ... plays a key role in economic exchange and politics. In the absence of trust among trading partners, market transactions break down. In the absence of trust in a country's institutions and leaders, political legitimacy breaks down. Much recent evidence indicates that trust contributes to economic, political and social success.

Forbes wrote an article in 2006 entitled "The Economics of Trust". The article summarizes the importance of trust in creating a healthy economy:

Imagine going to the corner store to buy a carton of milk, only to find that the refrigerator is locked. When you've persuaded the shopkeeper to retrieve the milk, you then end up arguing over whether you're going to hand the money over first, or whether he is going to hand over the milk. Finally you manage to arrange an elaborate simultaneous exchange. A little taste of life in a world without trust--now imagine trying to arrange a mortgage.

Being able to trust people might seem like a pleasant luxury, but economists are starting to believe that it's rather more important than that. Trust is about more than whether you can leave your house unlocked; it is responsible for the difference between the richest countries and the poorest.

"If you take a broad enough definition of trust, then it would explain basically all the difference between the per capita income of the United States and Somalia," ventures Steve Knack, a senior economist at the World Bank who has been studying the economics of trust for over a decade. That suggests that trust is worth $12.4 trillion dollars a year to the U.S., which, in case you are wondering, is 99.5% of this country's income. 

***

Above all, trust enables people to do business with each other. Doing business is what creates wealth. 

***

Economists distinguish between the personal, informal trust that comes from being friendly with your neighbors and the impersonal, institutionalized trust that lets you give your credit card number out over the Internet.

In 2007, Yann Algan (Professor of Economics at Paris School of Economics and University Paris East) and Pierre Cahuc (Professor of Economics at the Ecole Polytechnique (Paris)) reported:

We find a significant impact of trust on income per capita for 30 countries over the period 1949-2003.

Similarly, market psychologists Richard L. Peterson M.D. and Frank Murtha, PhDnoted in 2008

Trust is the oil in the engine of capitalism, without it, the engine seizes up.

Confidence is like the gasoline, without it the machine won't move.

Trust is gone: there is no longer trust between counterparties in the financial system. Furthermore, confidence is at a low. Investors have lost their confidence in the ability of shares to provide decent returns (since they haven't).

In 2009, Paola Sapienza (associate professor of finance and the Zell Center Faculty Fellow at Northwestern University) and Luigi Zingales (Robert C. McCormack Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business) pointed out:

The drop in trust, we believe, is a major factor behind the deteriorating economic conditions. To demonstrate its importance, we launched the Chicago Booth/Kellogg School Financial Trust Index. Our first set of data—based on interviews conducted at the end of December 2008—shows that between September and December, 52 percent of Americans lost trust in the banks. Similarly, 65 percent lost trust in the stock market. A BBB/Gallup poll that surveyed a similar sample of Americans last April confirms this dramatic drop. At that time, 42 percent of Americans trusted financial institutions, versus 34 percent in our survey today, while 53 percent said they trusted U.S. companies, versus just 12 percent today.

As trust declines, so does Americans’ willingness to invest their money in the financial system. Our data show that trust in the stock market affects people’s intention to buy stocks, even after accounting for expectations of future stock-market performance. Similarly, a person’s trust in banks predicts the likelihood that he will make a run on his bank in a moment of crisis: 25 percent of those who don’t trust banks withdrew their deposits and stored them as cash last fall, compared with only 3 percent of those who said they still trusted the banks. Thus, trust in financial institutions is a key factor for the smooth functioning of capital markets and, by extension, the economy. Changes in trust matter.

They quote a Nobel laureate economist on the subject:

“Virtually every commercial transaction has within itself an element of trust,” writes economist Kenneth Arrow, a Nobel laureate. When we deposit money in a bank, we trust that it’s safe. When a company orders goods, it trusts its counterpart to deliver them in good faith. Trust facilitates transactions because it saves the costs of monitoring and screening; it is an essential lubricant that greases the wheels of the economic system.

In 2009, Time Magazine pointed out:

Traditionally, gold has been a store of value when citizens do not trust their government politically or economically.

In other words, the government's political actions affect investments, such as gold, and thus the broader economy.

In 2010, a distinguished international group of economists (Giancarlo Corsetti, Michael P. Devereux, Luigi Guiso, John Hassler, Gilles Saint-Paul, Hans-Werner Sinn, Jan-Egbert Sturm and Xavier Vives) wrote:

Public distrust of bankers and financial markets has risen dramatically with the financial crisis. This column argues that this loss of trust in the financial system played a critical role in the collapse of economic activity that followed. To undo the damage, financial regulation needs to focus on restoring that trust.

They noted:

Trust is crucial in many transactions and certainly in those involving financial exchanges. The massive drop in trust associated with this crisis will therefore have important implications for the future of financial markets. Data show that in the late 1970s, the percentage of people who reported having full trust in banks, brokers, mutual funds or the stock market was around 40%; it had sunk to around 30% just before the crisis hit, and collapsed to barely 5% afterwards. It is now even lower than the trust people have in other people (randomly selected of course).

Prosecuting the Criminals Is Necessary to Restore Trust

Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz says that we have to prosecute fraud or else the economy won't recover:

The legal system is supposed to be the codification of our norms and beliefs, things that we need to make our system work. If the legal system is seen as exploitative, then confidence in our whole system starts eroding. And that's really the problem that's going on.

***

I think we ought to go do what we did in the S&L [crisis] and actually put many of these guys in prison. Absolutely. These are not just white-collar crimes or little accidents. There were victims. That's the point. There were victims all over the world.

***

Economists focus on the whole notion of incentives. People have an incentive sometimes to behave badly, because they can make more money if they can cheat. If our economic system is going to work then we have to make sure that what they gain when they cheat is offset by a system of penalties.

Robert Shiller said recently that failing to address the legal issues will cause Americans to lose faith in business and the government:

Shiller said the danger of foreclosuregate -- the scandal in which it has come to light that the biggest banks have routinely mishandled homeownership documents, putting the legality of foreclosures and related sales in doubt -- is a replay of the 1930s, when Americans lost faith that institutions such as business and government were dealing fairly.

Economists such as William Black and James Galbraith agree. Galbraith says:

There will have to be full-scale investigation and cleaning up of the residue of that, before you can have, I think, a return of confidence in the financial sector. And that's a process which needs to get underway.

Galbraith also says that economists should move into the background, and "criminologists to the forefront".

Government regulators know this - or at least pay lip service to it - as well. For example, as the Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement division told Congress:

Recovery from the fallout of the financial crisis requires important efforts on various fronts, and vigorous enforcement is an essential component, as aggressive and even-handed enforcement will meet the public's fair expectation that those whose violations of the law caused severe loss and hardship will be held accountable. And vigorous law enforcement efforts will help vindicate the principles that are fundamental to the fair and proper functioning of our markets: that no one should have an unjust advantage in our markets; that investors have a right to disclosure that complies with the federal securities laws; and that there is a level playing field for all investors.

Nobel prize winning economist George Akerlof has demonstrated that failure to punish white collar criminals - and instead bailing them out- creates incentives for more economic crimes and further destruction of the economy in the future. Indeed, William Black notes that we've known of this dynamic for "hundreds of years". And see this, this, this and this.

And when Zak and Knack - quoted above - discuss "enforcing contracts", "raising civil liberties", and "reducing corruption", they are talking about enforcing the rule of law, which means prosecuting violations of the law. Likewise, when they refer to "enhancing institutions", they mean regulatory and justice systems which enforce contracts and prosecute cheaters.

And when Zak and Knack promote reduction of inequality, that means prosecuting fraud as well. Specifically, as I recently pointed out, prosecuting fraud is the best way to reduce inequality:

Robert Shiller [one of the top housing economists in the United States] said in 2009:

And it's not like we want to level income. I'm not saying spread the wealth around, which got Obama in trouble. But I think, I would hope that this would be a time for a national consideration about policies that would focus on restraining any possible further increases in inequality.

***

If we stop bailing out the fraudsters and financial gamblers, the big banks would focus more on traditional lending and less on speculative plays which only make the rich richer and the poor poorer, and which guarantee future economic crises (which hurt the poor more than the rich).

***

Moreover, both conservatives and liberals agree that we need to prosecute financial fraud. As I've previously noted, fraud disproportionally benefits the big players, makes boom-bust cycles more severe, and otherwise harms the economy - all of which increase inequality and warp the market.

Of course, it's not just economists saying this.

One of the leading business schools in America - the Wharton School of Business -published an essay by a psychologist on the causes and solutions to the economic crisis. Wharton points out that restoring trust is the key to recovery, and that trust cannot be restored until wrongdoers are held accountable:

According to David M. Sachs, a training and supervision analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia, the crisis today is not one of confidence, but one of trust. "Abusive financial practices were unchecked by personal moral controls that prohibit individual criminal behavior, as in the case of [Bernard] Madoff, and by complex financial manipulations, as in the case of AIG." The public, expecting to be protected from such abuse, has suffered a trauma of loss similar to that after 9/11. "Normal expectations of what is safe and dependable were abruptly shattered," Sachs noted. "As is typical of post-traumatic states, planning for the future could not be based on old assumptions about what is safe and what is dangerous. A radical reversal of how to be gratified occurred."

People now feel more gratified saving money than spending it, Sachs suggested. They have trouble trusting promises from the government because they feel the government has let them down.

He framed his argument with a fictional patient named Betty Q. Public, a librarian with two teenage children and a husband, John, who had recently lost his job. "She felt betrayed because she and her husband had invested conservatively and were double-crossed by dishonest, greedy businessmen, and now she distrusted the government that had failed to protect them from corporate dishonesty. Not only that, but she had little trust in things turning around soon enough to enable her and her husband to accomplish their previous goals.

"By no means a sophisticated economist, she knew ... that some people had become fantastically wealthy by misusing other people's money -- hers included," Sachs said. "In short, John and Betty had done everything right and were being punished, while the dishonest people were going unpunished."

Helping an individual recover from a traumatic experience provides a useful analogy for understanding how to help the economy recover from its own traumatic experience, Sachs pointed out. The public will need to "hold the perpetrators of the economic disaster responsible and take what actions they can to prevent them from harming the economy again." In addition, the public will have to see proof that government and business leaders can behave responsibly before they will trust them again, he argued.

Note that Sachs urges "hold[ing] the perpetrators of the economic disaster responsible." In other words, just "looking forward" and promising to do things differently isn't enough.

As Wall Street insider and New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin writes:

“They will pick on minor misdemeanors by individual market participants,” said David Einhorn, the hedge fund manager who was among the Cassandras before the financial crisis. To Mr. Einhorn, the government is “not willing to take on significant misbehavior by sizable” firms. “But since there have been almost no big prosecutions, there’s very little evidence that it has stopped bad actors from behaving badly.”

***

Fraud at big corporations surely dwarfs by orders of magnitude the shareholders’ losses of $8 billion that Mr. Holder highlighted. If the government spent half the time trying to ferret out fraud at major companies that it does tracking pump-and-dump schemes, we might have been able to stop the financial crisis, or at least we’d have a fighting chance at stopping the next one.

 

And as a former congressional aide recently said in some of the most colorful language to date:

"You put Lloyd Blankfein in pound-me-in-the-ass prison for one six-month term, and all this bullshit would stop, all over Wall Street," says a former congressional aide. "That's all it would take. Just once."

 

 

P.S.

Maybe at the end of the day, all that is needed to restore trust in a government like this is to put a Babangida, or an Obasanjo behind bars with long sentences and hard-labor. 

 

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Original Article

I still remember when we were much younger, that phrase “wuru wuru to the answer”. I can’t really remember who coined it but it describes someone who probably knows an answer to a mathematics question or probably copied the answer to the question but cannot necessarily remember or reproduce the workings and the calculations. He then creates an impression of knowing the answer by creating some bogus calculations in the hope of fooling the Mathematics teacher who more often than not doesn’t end up getting fooled.

Sometimes recently in our election history, 2007 in particular, we remember Dr. Maurice Iwu, who was later christened “Iwuruwuru” because he showed Nigerians an answer i.e. the results of the Presidential election but could not show the workings i.e. the state by state result that summed up to the total. Till date, that Election Result breakdown has not being released into the Public. We should also remember that it is that particular Iwuruwuru that brought in Late President Yaradua who Goodluck deputized and thereby also ushering in the present Goodluck Administration. Yaradua confessed also to the malpractices in the election that brought him into power but that is not even the point for today. Just History.

 

Fast forward to 2012, Nigerians are now faced with many wuruwuru’s again as a result of the so-called Fuel Subsidy removal. Typical Nigerian maintains that we do not have a Fuel Subsidy in place in Nigeria, what we have is a Fuel Scam. You can find that article here.

Also, people have an opinion that Government shouldn’t remove the Subsidy because we don’t trust you with what you’ll do with it. Some have another opinion that Government should cut the waste in Government and then they can have the moral authority to remove Fuel Subsidy.

So, let’s assume that it is even a Fuel Subsidy, not a Fuel Scam. Let’s assume that the Government is trustworthy and they will do what they say, at least they say they will be more trustworthy now and transparent. Also, let’s assume that the Government has cut waste and in-fact Goodluck and the Senators are not earning a dime. As mathematics teachers, let’s just look at the claims as regards Fuel Subsidy that have been made by our students Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Mrs. Diezani Allison Maduekwe, and our dear president Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

MARKING THE SCRIPT

The SURE document on Page 4 says:

2) The FGN is therefore desirous to remove subsidies on prices of petroleum products because this poses a high financial burden on the government, disproportionately benefits the wealthy, is inefficient and diverts resources away from potential investments in critical infrastructure. 

3) The total projected subsidy reinvestible funds per annum is N1.134 trillion based on average crude oil price of US$90 per barrel, out of this N478.49 billion accrues to Fed Govt, N411 billion to State Govts, N203.3 billion to LGAs, N9.86 billion to the FCT, and N31.37 billion as Transfers to Derivation and Ecology, development of natural resources and stabilization funds.

4) This programme is focused on utilization of Federal Government’s share of the subsidy. Every State and Local Government is expected to design its own programmes utilizing the portion of the subsidy reinvestment funds from the discontinuation of the fuel subsidy will be used for the implementation of the programme and to reduce our borrowing needs.

Wuruwuru 1: How did Government come about the 1.134 trillion re-investible subsidy funds?

A simple calculation shows that if 1.134 trillion is re-investible and N75 is the cost of subsidy per litre, Nigerians are projected to consume 15.12 billion litres of Petrol annually and dividing by 365 days, 41.42 million litres of Petrol per day.

Here is the Problem: Sanusi, Diezani, and others claim that Nigerians should be using averagely 30 million litres per day, that the rest 10 million litres of it is smuggled and a few cabal are getting rich based on that. You claim that removing the subsidy ensures that the smuggling cartel will be stopped. So, if you believe that is true, then why do you base the money to be re-invested on an extra 10 million litres. Is this money now being extracted for another cabal to spend? Typical Nigerian is confused. It seems that someone is just eager to spend down on the money. Those 10 million litres per day accumulates to 274 billion naira at the end of the Year. Typical Nigerian won’t say any more.

Wuruwuru 2: They say that the 1.134 trillion is based on average crude oil price of US$90 per barrel.

Now, Typical Nigerian is confused again. What has the subsidy funds got to do with the price of a barrel of Oil? The Nigerian government, Sanusi and Okonjo in particular has always claimed that Nigeria borrows money to fund the Subsidy and one of the reasons why they want to discontinue subsidies is to reduce our borrowings. Yes, we know Nigeria’s budget is heavily dependent on the price of a barrel of Oil but what has the Subsidy funds got to do with that or are they really connected? More on this later!

Wuruwuru 3: The amount has been shared among the 3 tiers of government i.e. at the Federal, State, and LGA level. The question is how did Government come about the sharing formula when according to the document the States and the Local Government has not designed their programmes for utilizing it? Even the Government’s so-called programmes for utilizing the funds neither contains timelines or specific budgets to each project.

Scrolling to the 18 and 19 of the SURE document even raises more alarm. Not only has the funds been allocated to states in bulk earlier, then we find out that they have been allocated individually to states and their local governments without the Government even asking what is to be done in such states yet. What then are the criteria for allocating the funds? Is it allocated per population of the people living in each state? Is it targeted towards the poor people as insinuated? Is it just a sharing of resources? Let’s see.

 

The Four Major oil-producing states Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Delta, and Bayelsa tops the chart with 50.75, 50.59, 46.96, 36.14 billion naira allocations each. The states Ekiti, Gombe, Nassarawa, Ebonyi are at the bottom with 9.62, 9.48, 9.46, 9.11 billion naira allocations each.

Typical Nigerian raises an eyebrow on these numbers, but then Typical Nigerian remembers that the Subsidy is supposed to target the masses, so Typical Nigerian goes on a quest to see whether the money goes into the states where the population i.e. the masses are.

Taking a quick trip to the Nigerian Population commission and applying the average annual growth rate of 3.41% for Nigeria, we can estimate the population of Nigeria presently without putting into consideration Urban-Rural and Rural-Urban migration. The 3.41% is the calculated average annual growth rate since Nigeria grew from a population of 140 million to 167 million over 5 years.

What Typical Nigerian finds out next is amazing and mind-boggling. If the money allocated to each state is to be divided equally to the masses and handed out to each individual, if you are in Bayelsa, you will get N17,829, in Akwa Ibom, N10,904, and in Delta, N9,603. But, if you are in Kaduna, N2,212, in Kano, N2,050, and in Lagos, N1,591.

It is left to you, the Reader to answer whether this money actually reaches the masses proportionately or not but my advice to you will be that over the next 3 years of the non-subsidy regime it will be of benefit to you to live in Bayelsa or Akwa Ibom than live in Lagos.

If you are still wondering where you should live in the next 3 years, this final analysis will help you a lot.

From the breakdown of how much Petrol is consumed per state available from the PPPRA website. The record for the month of April 2010 is the most similar public record that one can compare with the Subsidy re-investment calculation because it shows that in that month we had an average consumption of 41,032,299 litres.

So, using the amount of litres consumed per state and multiplying it by N75 which is the amount paid on unsubsidized petrol, we find out that Lagos might be a no-no place to stay or do business. Infact, the Lagos state Government might have to devise a way to start subsidizing fuel for its own people while the Bayelsan State Government will also have to devise innovative means to spend some sweet extra billions on its masses.

With the removal of the subsidy, Lagosian people and businesses will spend N291 billion EXTRA on unsubsidized Petrol while getting an allocation of N17.2 billion. Delta will spend N8.6 billion EXTRA while receiving 46.9 billion. All in all, Lagosians might have to start budgeting on how to find N274 billion extra to spend on Fuel this Year, while Deltans, Bayelsans, and Akwa Ibom people would have to start looking for ways to spend N34 billion of excess cash this year.

 

This mathematics is enough for a day, we have not finished marking the script, and I am having a headache. There is still more to be dug out, so, please stay tuned. To be continued tomorrow when we dissect the PPPRA and PPMC under Mrs Diezani.

 

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Appendix

 

How States Benefit from Fuel Subsidy compared to how much they spent on Unsubsidized Fuel.

 

STATE	AMT-STATE '000	AMT-LGA '000	TOTAL  '000	POPUL-ATION	PER CAPITA	PMS  '000 Lts	Removed Subsidy (N75)	Difference
ABIA	7,460,062	4,238,037	11,698,100	3,383,829	3,457	252,107	18,908,053	-7,209,954
ADAMAWA	7,093,217	5,453,941	12,547,159	3,780,523	3,319	340,742	25,555,617	-13,008,459
AKWA IBOM	43,406,732	7,192,652	50,599,383	4,640,461	10,904	220,924	16,569,305	34,030,079
ANAMBRA	7,164,697	5,406,502	12,571,199	4,968,425	2,530	199,422	14,956,642	-2,385,442
BAUCHI	8,309,773	6,252,968	14,562,741	5,533,595	2,632	309,589	23,219,140	-8,656,399
BAYELSA	33,839,652	2,300,560	36,140,212	2,027,071	17,829	50,796	3,809,669	32,330,543
BENUE	7,659,631	6,357,999	14,017,630	5,058,584	2,771	135,942	10,195,686	3,821,944
BORNO	8,451,350	7,307,087	15,758,437	4,960,428	3,177	483,327	36,249,488	-20,491,051
CROSS RIVER	7,718,686	4,540,847	12,259,533	3,440,446	3,563	232,637	17,447,745	-5,188,211
DELTA	40,965,477	6,001,812	46,967,289	4,890,669	9,603	114,859	8,614,402	38,352,888
EBONYI	5,880,552	3,235,045	9,115,597	2,588,904	3,521	95,263	7,144,730	1,970,867
EDO	9,432,709	4,544,887	13,977,596	3,845,236	3,635	291,966	21,897,441	-7,919,845
EKITI	5,931,761	3,697,048	9,628,809	2,852,927	3,375	36,841	2,763,052	6,865,757
ENUGU	6,692,450	4,380,299	11,072,749	3,886,230	2,849	153,577	11,518,289	-445,539
GOMBE	6,291,166	3,196,301	9,487,467	2,812,591	3,373	122,397	9,179,805	307,663
IMO	8,729,127	6,342,353	15,071,479	4,670,800	3,227	198,273	14,870,442	201,037
JIGAWA	7,848,087	6,654,100	14,502,186	5,186,262	2,796	137,976	10,348,227	4,153,959
KADUNA	8,944,553	7,136,962	16,081,515	7,270,400	2,212	562,982	42,223,614	-26,142,100
KANO	11,210,304	11,712,751	22,923,055	11,180,353	2,050	727,560	54,566,987	-31,643,933
KATSINA	8,525,403	8,563,273	17,088,675	6,899,454	2,477	288,284	21,621,292	-4,532,617
KEBBI	7,131,001	5,319,282	12,450,282	3,872,797	3,215	308,117	23,108,793	-10,658,511
KOGI	7,113,202	5,513,261	12,626,463	3,941,180	3,204	231,050	17,328,737	-4,702,274
KWARA	6,482,038	4,234,045	10,716,082	2,812,964	3,810	250,266	18,769,933	-8,053,851
LAGOS	10,126,514	7,114,677	17,241,191	10,838,230	1,591	3,881,917	291,143,794	-273,902,603
NASSARAWA	6,073,343	3,388,144	9,461,487	2,223,131	4,256	177,224	13,291,780	-3,830,293
NIGER	8,294,895	6,865,935	15,160,830	4,703,158	3,224	355,866	26,689,953	-11,529,123
OGUN	6,932,554	5,080,656	12,013,211	4,460,992	2,693	526,212	39,465,888	-27,452,677
ONDO	12,554,345	4,689,711	17,244,057	4,115,800	4,190	287,475	21,560,609	-4,316,553
OSUN	6,575,163	6,391,233	12,966,396	4,063,572	3,191	289,745	21,730,907	-8,764,511
OYO	8,283,911	8,172,705	16,456,616	6,637,002	2,480	704,307	52,822,988	-36,366,372
PLATEAU	6,956,828	4,678,164	11,634,992	3,813,323	3,051	241,556	18,116,723	-6,481,731
RIVERS	44,628,273	6,125,835	50,754,108	6,182,502	8,209	900,188	67,514,076	-16,759,969
SOKOTO	7,395,671	5,872,227	13,267,898	4,403,357	3,013	171,876	12,890,690	377,208
TARABA	7,005,146	4,674,398	11,679,544	2,729,059	4,280	63,532	4,764,892	6,914,652
YOBE	6,952,383	4,533,027	11,485,409	2,760,621	4,160	199,106	14,932,928	-3,447,519
ZAMFARA	6,973,520	4,255,704	11,229,225	3,899,355	2,880	125,559	9,416,901	1,812,324
FCT	9,860,000	1,811,053	11,671,053	1,672,350	6,979	1,307,333	98,049,966	-86,378,912

 

 

A RESPONSE TO MR. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi – THE BANKER

If you have not, please read My e-interview with Mal. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi! before you read this article.

So, Sir, Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, I have listened to you many times, I have read also your e-interview with @inabmahmoud. I have a lot of things to say and I’ll make sure I say everything. I feel like ranting but I’ll try to put my feelings under check.

I come from a school of thought that Nigerian Fuel is not being subsidized presently. It might have been subsidized many years ago but No Sir, not presently. Here is my reasoning: There are only two ways you can subsidize things. Either you subsidize the Production of a Product or the Consumption of a Product. Any other thing apart from those things cannot be called a Subsidy but monumental Fraud within a System.

For example if the cost of Production of a litre of Fuel in Nigeria (which has already been paid for by building four refineries, not importing Crude Oil, paying for invisible turn-around maintenance and employing paid staff) is approximately N40 and Nigerians pay N35, then the Nigerian Government is subsidizing consumption. If the cost of producing a litre of Fuel by a PRIVATE REFINERY is N50 and the Federal Government injects N10 to bring it down to N40 so as to be affordable to Nigerians or so that the REFINERY can sell Petroleum Products at competitive prices in the International market, then that is Subsidy on Production. Unfortunately, there are no active private refineries in Nigeria yet.

Most of the other countries that we compare ourselves to in terms of “subsidy” removal were subsidizing for their citizens below the cost of producing while Nigeria “subsidizes” for her citizens the cost of NOT producing.

Let us call a spade a spade, the Nigerian case doesn’t fall in within those two sectors. What the Nigerian Government calls a subsidy is actually a SCAM, a cover-up within the system to hide the massive corruption, covered-up irregularities, deliberate treachery, and very wicked evils in hijacking the Public Works in Nigeria and milking the economy dry. You can not subsidize inefficiency, neither can you subsidize corruption. Infact, every time nothing works as it is supposed to work in Nigeria, and a Nigerian has to pay higher for any service than is due, the Nigerian is actually the one subsidizing the Government. To put it better, suffering and smiling.

·         When a Nigerian pays N65 for fuel rather than N40, he is subsidizing the incompetence of Government by N25.

·         When a Nigerian has to buy a Generator and buy Petrol and Diesel because Electricity generation is worse off, he is subsidizing the incompetence in Government.

·         When a Nigerian has to drill a borehole, buy pure water or Bottled water rather than get public potable Tap water, he is subsidizing the inefficiency of Government.

·         When a Nigerian has to maintain 3 phone-lines or 3 different internet subscriptions just because of call-quality or crippled bandwidth, he is subsidizing the failures of Government regulation.

·         When a Nigerian has to pay heavily to secure his life and property through personnel and gadgets, he is subsidizing the failure of Government to protect him constitutionally.

·         For Bad roads, we subsidize by having to visit the mechanic more often than usual or sometimes with our lives.

I can go and on about the Educational system, Health sector, the Environment, Maritime, etc. but my goal is not to rant. Out of every problem Nigerians find themselves in, because Nigerians are inherently survivalist (some say entrepreneurial), Nigerians have always being able to found a way out but it is always just to postpone the evil day.

My Goal is to let you know that $9 billion generated per Year from the so-called subsidy savings is not the magic bullet that is going to transform Nigeria. In-fact, Capital Projects is not what is going to turn Nigeria into an Eldorado. We have had many Capital Projects since 1930, where are they now? Where is Kainji dam, Ajaokuta Steel, Delta Steel, Shiroro, Osogbo Steel Rolling, Egbin Thermal stations, where are the Refineries, where is NITEL, where are the Water works, where is OAU, where is UI? Just to go back in time, between 1988-1989 (just around a Year), Babangida constructed a 150,000bpd EXPORT refinery in Port Harcourt. In March and April 2010, according to the PPPRA website, the refinery produced nothing, absolutely nothing. Now we are talking about building new refineries whereas the Abadan Refinery in Iran completed in 1912 with a capacity of 635,000bpd is still functional till date. 90 good years and survived an 8-year war. Just as an aside, the Port-Harcourt refinery staffs definitely got paid in those two months for doing nothing.

When we think of the Nigerian problem particularly in the Service sector, the Government mantra is always Privatisation and Deregulation and we are always quick to point to the telecommunication sector. But, let me announce to you Sir, the deregulation of the telecommunication is not a honey-cake as they claim to be. I presently maintain an MTN, GLO, and ETISALAT line for my phones, and an MTN, GLO, and ETISALAT also with daily/monthly subscriptions for my Modems just to make up for the failures of Networks. I am so sure if the Telcos do a customer experience survey, people will have a lot to say. The steel sector is almost privatized and what do we still have to show for it. Now, we are talking about the Power Sector, then deregulation of refineries. Does deregulation and privatization only solve the Problems, or there are still many other factors to look into.

 

Nigerians want a change, Young Nigerians which constitute 70% of the Population of Nigeria wants a change, but we don’t want an idea of change shoved down our throats. We don’t want theories and concepts shoved down our throats because as it seems, someone is hell-bent on forcing SUBSIDY REMOVAL and SURE PROGRAMME on Nigerians. The Nigerian Youths want to be talked to, we want to be dialogued with, we want to be involved, we want our country back. If the Goodluck government claim there is a transformation it wants to perform, we want to be part of it. We don’t want Propaganda, we don’t want to be in committees, we don’t want to be Special Advisers or Special Assistants to Special Advisers, we don’t even want to be paid, we just want our Country back.

 

Your Government stands at a tipping point in history. Patriotism is lost, everyman for his own, which is why people bribe, kill, rig, and manipulate just to get into Government or into power. We have built loyalty and individualism, at the expense of the Society, at the expense of the common good. It is very hard for you people in Government to see this no matter how hard you try, because the structure of government keeps you blind. You can ask Mr. Abati. But the foundations of the entity called Nigeria is shaking, shaking vigorously and we are dancing on the proverbial brink but you and your colleagues do not know because your heads are in the clouds. But, this is the opportunity also for you to tap into change.

 

You call it SUBSIDY, You and Mrs. NOI don’t want it, you want to remove it. We call it a SCAM and we also don’t want it and we want to stop it, but not only don’t we want the SUBSIDY SCAM, We don’t want all SCAMS that we have been scammed with in this Country since 1960. #EnoughIsEnough.

You and Mrs. NOI think if you don’t remove the so-called SUBSIDY, the economy will collapse, We say whether you remove it or you don’t remove it, if the system runs the way it has been running for the past 50 years, The Entity called Nigeria is at the verge of disappearing and if we don’t take it back, there might be no more Nigeria. #OccupyNigeria.

The body language of some of our Leaders is just like everybody wants to grab their share of the cake before everything finally collapses, and it is very glaring. If you or Mrs. NOI or Mrs. DAM, or even GEJ thinks the protests in the Country is all about returning the pump price of Fuel to the Status quo, you are VERY WRONG!

The Nigerian Youth is now very enlightened, even though we are different in many ways, we are united against Evil, and at this crucial moment, you can either be for us or against us. Anybody or anything that stands in our way we will #occupy out of the way, and please do not give us palliative measures, we will palliate ourselves as we stand up for our demands and convictions and sacrifice for our fatherland.

 

These are fundamental questions that we need to ask ourselves:

1.       Who are we? Where are we?

2.       What brought us where we are? We need to learn from the past.

3.       Where do we need to be generally?

4.       Where do we need to be in definitive chunks of time and measurable goals i.e. by end of 2012, 2013, 2014, 2020, 2025?

5.       What do we need to do to get there? Measurable activities that will be performed.

6.       What do we need to get there? Is it skill? Is it money? Is it sacrifice? Is it improved Governance and Transparency? It is responsible followership? Is it dedication? Is it information? Is it Cultural change or Sincerity? Can we gradually and systematically break that bad Loyalty culture?
I know you are a finance person but I’ll love to assure you that money is not the solution to all human development problems, we need wisdom.

7.       As regards Money, How much do we need to get there in specific timelines and also over the long haul?

8.       Where do we get Money?

a.        Where do we get Money from Presently? i.e. all our present sources of revenue?

b.       Where else can we get more Money that we have not been paying attention to?

c.        How can we boost internally generated revenue?

d.       How and where can we be more prudent and frugal? Cut waste and block excesses.

e.       What does Government own and how much does Government owe?

f.         What can the Citizens contribute? Can we do free public services on Wednesdays? Can we give cheap or free labour when they are building the refineries and the power plants? Can each Nigerian Citizen contribute N5 on every litre of fuel to the Nigerian Dream by allowing the Fuel price to go from N65 to N70 for 3 years?

g.        What are all the things that are “subsidized” in this Country? Particularly the imports. Can we consume less of those and shift more to locally available products? Can we do a #LocalFriday as it is being done in Egypt. Can we buy and sell from each other? Can we emulate China? Can we depend less on Oil? Can we cut our coat according to our cloth?

h.       What can the President and the Ministers contribute? Will he set an example? Will the President agree to a zero-pay, or a pay-cut? Will he reduce his trips per Year? Will he fly in a commercial Jet? Will he feed himself and family by himself? Rather than buying so many newspapers, will he check punchng.com, or vanguardngr.com? At least He updates his facebook regularly. It is not about how much impact it has in macro-level analysis but in a pattern being set. Will the Federal Executive Council follow suit? Will they drive less cars? You, Mr. Sanusi, will you agree to a pay-cut?

i.         Can the Budget proposal for 2012 be rewritten?

9.       Are we going to uphold Justice and the Rule of law? Are the Leaders going to uphold the rule of law? Are the followers going to be disciplined? Will the Senate sit up and do their Job of legislation rather than having recess and doing imaginary constituency projects? Will they rapidly bring the Nigerian constitution up-to-speed with the recent developments in the world?

10.    Are we going to start appreciating merit? Are we going to start using merit to assign people to positions and authority? Are we going to begin to appreciate people that actually do things rather than people that occupy posts? Motivation is key! The National Honours List is enough to dampen a patriotic spirit. When will the leaders and followers start to strive for excellence in the spirit of patriotism?

 

Remember, Mr. SLS, it is not SUBSIDY savings that Nigeria needs, It is a new Nigeria that Nigeria needs. If these questions are not asked, and that the sense of community is not restored, we will end up where we are now in another 10 years time. We want to build a Great nation of Good People, and it is not a 3 year programme. It will be a gradual process. It will take time. It is only renovation not transformation that can happen in 3 years. Let’s grind slowly but steady. Tell Dr. GEJ and Mrs. NOI to forget about SUBSIDY-REMOVAL, IMF-LOANS, and the acceptance of the west. Let us solve our debt profile. Let us be true to ourselves. Africa is watching. The black race is watching. We won’t falter this time. We are Nigerians, we have brains and we can think for ourselves.

Hmmm, Talking about thinking, that reminds me of something, that Migraine. Sorry. I know people usually have migraine from either too much thinking or too much drinking. I trust you have been doing the former, while some are doing the latter. It doesn’t matter; just ensure you keep doing what is right. I have been awake all night too, trying to compose this response and I hope you have the time to read it. Sorry about the Migraine, I know it’s for the sake of our dear Country. Get Well Soon.

 

Signed

Typical Nigerian

Follow @TypicalNaijaMan on twitter

P.S.

When next you see Mr. Labaran Maku, please help me tell him there is something important the Nigerian Youth need to tell him.

 

 

Please note, this is Fiction, Enjoy the Read

At an Emergency Meeting of the Evil Ones, the International community of witches have raised a petition, and hinted that there will be a revolution in the Evil kingdom. They complained that Nigerian Witches are the most subsidized witches in the world.

One of them, representing the UK constituency, said there is a Man’s Family that they have been trying to kill for the past 5 years but they could not. They tried making their House Collapse but the Builder of the house used the right amount of cement, and Iron. They tried to cause an accident but unfortunately, there were no Potholes on the road and traffic lights were at every intersection. One of the children had a bad fall, but an emergency call brought the paramedics under 3 minutes. They tried if they could burn down the house, but, the smoke detector, and the efficient Fire Service will not allow. Many things they attempted all to no avail, until the Family decided to come visit their home-country Nigeria. Just in one trip, an accident on the road between Ekiti and Ilesa and they were all gone.

Another Witch, representing the Developed World constituency complained about how much planning and stress they go through just to even wound a Person, or to even get someone to take a bribe, whereas their Nigerian counterparts have easily everything going for them.  They were angry that while they only have a couple of natural disasters to work, and occasionally human error, the Nigerian group had been highly subsidized with Weapons in Natural disasters, man-made disasters, and Human disasters. They said some weapons they have are but not limited to: Bad Roads causing Road Accidents, Fake Drugs and Quack Doctors, Trigger happy Policemen and Soldiers, Terrorism and Extremism, Kidnapping and Militancy, Sectarian Violence, Substandard and Adulterated Products, Toxic and Adulterated Fuel, Human Trafficking, Lead Poisoning, Boat Mishaps, High infant Mortality rate, High maternal mortality rate, High HIV prevalence, Malaria, Fires, High Unemployment Rate, Low Literacy Levels, Low Life Expectancy, Low Minimum Wage, Armed Robbery and Low Security/Safety Levels, Human Trafficking, Child Labour, Disrespect for Law and Order, Lack of Enforcement of Rule of Law, Graft and Fraud with Impunity, Bribery and Corruption, Low Minimum Wage, and General Low Standards of Living. They also complained that their Nigerian Counterparts have in their Arsenal also Human Disasters in some of their Politicians, Leaders, Ministers, Advisers, Public Officials, and the Civil Service.

Generally, the complaint was that it is bad enough that they have not been meeting their own quota of Bad things to do, but from 1999 till 2011, their Nigerian counterparts have always exceeded their own quota exponentially. It is now insult, that on the New Year of 2012, precisely, the first day of the Year, they were given an extra weapon to wreck more havoc on Nigerians by REMOVING SUBSIDY.

In their words, they say: we are unhappy with this Action and we are going to occupy till that Subsidy is restored.

In their defence, the Nigerian contingents said, Performance should not be determined by the amount of tools or activities performed but by the Impact. They claim that no matter the havoc they wreck, Nigerians are still the happiest people in the World. Whatever happens, they will say, ‘E GO BETA ONE DAY’ or ‘E NO FIT HAPPEN TO ME’, and some of them take solace in ‘I BETA PASS MY NEBO’, or ‘ME SEF GO ENTA GOVERNMENT’. This mindset claimed the Nigerian Witches is the reason why they have been continuously subsidized. They also said, other witches should also be happy that they don’t get slapped, as they remembered the slapsgiving of one of their members

 

Other issues discussed by the witches include how easy it was to get @ondlaw, @reubenabati, @labaranmaku, and @renoomokri to turn their backs on Nigerians, and also the efforts that they have been making to get @ogundamisi, @omojuwa, @elrufai,@gbengasesan, @toluogunlesi, @seunfakze and @eggheader to keep their mouth shut. In their own words, they said since it seems the SSS intimidation method is not working, they have to consider alternatives as the #OccupyNigeria movement is really getting out of hand.

 

 

Please Watch out for Part 2 (The Nigerian Sacrifice).

Please Follow @TypicalNaijaMan and please read other articles.

 

AN OPEN LETTER TO Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala and Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

I would have wanted to also address in this letter, Mrs. Diezani Allison Maduekwe and Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, but, since Nigerians don’t really know who you people are, except that Mrs. DAM was one of the top-staff in Shell, and is the First Minister of Petroleum Resources in Nigeria at least according to her twitter page (@diezanimadueke). And for Dr. GEJ, the only thing we know about you is that you are the incumbent and “SERVING” President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Oh, and also, that you had no shoes. Apart from that, for the two of you, we really don’t know who you are, and we are yet to know what you stand for or against. We are still looking, so, we can’t talk much.

As for Mrs NOI, and Mr. SLS, Nigerians don’t really know who you are anymore. Who are you people really? And are you truly for us or against us? Are you black or white? Please let us know. In this letter we will only address Mrs. NOI.

Ma, on the 7^th of February, 2010, at the 5th Annual the Future Awards, Nigerian youths were gathered and you revealed to us something we didn’t know about ourselves. The Nigerian youth comprises 70 percent of the Nigerian population. Our mouths opened and could not close and we listened with rapt attention as if we are sharing some earth-shattering discovery. You automatically became our Hero, and we almost worshipped you. You became the father, the mother, and the much-needed mentor we never had. You gave us identity; you told us that Nigerians belongs to us, and not just to the 30percent. You said that we should demand good governance and accountability and we should fight for our rights even if it means peaceful protests. We believed you wholeheartedly and @EiENigeria (Enough is Enough Nigeria) was formed. @GbengaSesan, @Chude, @Bubusn, @AbangMercy, and others ran with the vision. You said we should fight for Truth and Justice. In case you don’t know Mum, we listened to you. We have braced ourselves up against corruption; we have armed ourselves with truth. We now demand transparency.

Fast-forward to 2011. We have heard so-many of your arguments for the removal of the subsidy. We too don’t support the subsidy of inefficiency and corruption but because you have taught us to read, question, and demand transparency, we have dug up facts, we have dusted Nigerian history, we have read about other Countries, we have given counter-arguments, we have proposed alternatives, we have made our case known. Mum, we have done everything you told us to do on that fateful day, 7^th of February, 2010, but Mum, you became our Enemy. You betrayed us.

Firstly, when you were presented with the KPMG independent Audit, you studied it, we all studied it. With all the massive irregularities, monumental fraud, and leakages in the Nigerian Oil Sector as highlighted, we expected a strong statement and reaction from you, yet you turned a blind eye to this, instead blaming an unidentifiable cabal. Now, that report is dead. No one sacked, no one jailed, no one resigned. Mummy, why?

Secondly, Mummy, you are quick to compare Nigeria with other countries, saying Indonesia, Malaysia, and Iran removed subsidy, so, Nigerians too can remove subsidy with appropriate safety nets. What you refused to tell Nigerians is that before Indonesia removed subsidy, the price was N29 per litre and after staggered and step-by-step removals over Years it became N87 per litre. Also, you intentionally didn’t tell Nigerians that it was because their Oil reserves were dwindling and they have become a net importer of oil (i.e. they needed to import Crude at international prices) is why they considered removing subsidy. Nigeria produces enough Crude Oil to cater for its domestic needs. Iran, also was selling Fuel to its Citizens for N15 per Litre which increased to N60 per Liter after subsidy removal. Also, you didn’t tell us that Malaysia spends $14 billion US dollars and Iran spends $45 billion US dollars yearly on Fuel Subsidy as compared to Nigeria’s spending of $9 billion US dollars as at the time they removed their Subsidy. Ma, you also didn’t tell us that Iran, Malaysia, and Indonesia were subsidizing for their citizens below the cost of refining, while Nigeria was subsidizing for her own citizens the cost of not refining.

Thirdly, Ma, you told us that the cost of Fuel in Nigeria is one of the lowest in the World. Ma, what you tried to hide from us is that you were comparing us with non-Oil producing countries. At N65, we have the 14^th cheapest Petrol in the world but the 3^rd most expensive in OPEC. Angola is a Country just out of war, same as Iraq. We are not just out of a War! After the removal of the Subsidy, Nigeria will be 42^nd place in the world around Countries like Russia, China, Peru, Jordan, Taiwan, and the United States. In OPEC, we will probably the most expensive or competing with POST-WAR Iraq and Angola. Also, you refused to tell us about the standard of living in these other countries you are comparing us with. Nigeria is struggling to pay N18,000 minimum wage while average monthly salary of Kuwaiti employees is around ($3,650) i.e N551,150.

Fourthly, you told us Ma that the cost of Fuel will be N120 after the removal of Subsidy but a quick visit to the PPPRA shows that the Landing cost of Fuel without the Distributor’s margin is N131, and the Distributors margin around N9.34. What magic in the world did you want to perform to bring it down to N120? Will the refining company or shipping company run at a Loss?

Ma, you have taught us to ask questions, so we will do some simple Mathematics.

You claimed around 1.4 trillion was paid in Subsidies in 2011 and according to the SURE document N1.134 trillion is re-investible from PMS subsidy removal. Simple mathematics shows that since 75 naira is the amount paid on PMS subsidy, that means Nigerians consumed N1.134 trillion / N75 = 15,120 million litres in the year. More mathematics says daily consumption averages 41.42 million litres i.e. by dividing the annual consumption by 365.

Now, you and Mrs. DAM have not been able to explain to us how Nigerians started consuming 41.42 million litres by day, when even a cursory look at the past NNPC records for the past  13 years (1997 – 2010) shows that the highest we have ever gone is 27 million litres? Did Nigerians suddenly start buying Cars and Generators? Another quick look at the statements by Senator Bukola Saraki that roused the whole subsidy brouhaha showed that probably Nigerians started drinking fuel around June, meaning that consumption was stable at around 27 million litres for the first 6 months, then in the last 6 months, consumption became around 55.8 million liters per day. It is still a mystery unsolved what Nigerians started doing starting from June, after the Inauguration of the present Government that would gulp 55.8 million litres. Mummy, you are in power to be our voice in Government, but you turned your back on us when we needed you the most.

In 2010, 2.8 million litres of PMS were refined averagely per day in NNPC (Local Refining). Are we paying subsidies on that also? Yes, it must be because if not, then Mrs DAM still has more explanations to make on how 1.134 trillion was spent on subsidy when 2.8 million litres per day is domestic refining. Doing a quick calculation reveals that 76 billion naira is the amount of subsidy paid on UNSUBSIDIZED domestically refined fuel.

Again, we don’t understand the distraction methods created by the Senate Probe committee and Mrs. DAM by criminalizing the Petroleum Marketers in Nigeria by calling them the Cabal that have been eating the N1.134 trillion meant for the Subsidy. A quick look again at the PPPRA pricing template clearly states that the N122.51 is the cost of a litre of Fuel i.e. the cost of a litre of Fuel coming from the foreign refinery and shipping costs for it to land at our own Ports. The Logic is N122.51 – N65 = N57.51 on every litre paid as SUBSIDY to the Refining and Shipping companies. It means N861 billion out of the so-called SUBSIDY money is the cost of us having to refine outside the country and then ship it back to our own country and it is paid to foreign refining firms and shipping firms not to the Marketers. Is it the fault of the Marketers that Nigeria can’t refine? At least according to the PPPRA template, the real money entering the hands of the Marketers is N6.5 which is essentially the dealers and retailers margin. The annual sum then gets to N98.28 billion. The cost of transportation and bridging is N8.85 naira per Litre, and that is just because the pipelines are either bad or vandalized. Then we ask again, is it the Marketer’s fault. NNPC doesn’t have adequate or has unutilized storage depots and the private hands store Fuel at N3 per Litre and then you ask again? Is it the Marketer’s fault? Who is in business that doesn’t want to make Profit? Instead of looking at the real problems, they told us it was a Cabal that was stealing all of our money, are they dipping hands into the Federation account? Are they not being paid by PPMC?

Mummy, you sold Nigerians the story that you are trying to take Money from a powerful few and redistribute it to the Poor. How much are you taking from these “Cabal”? N98.2 billion of legitimately earned money. Nigerians believed you because they thought they were fighting the Cabal. We are not deceived, they are not the real Cabal. Identify them in NNPC. Identify them in our Past and Present Leaders and Politicians.

Mummy, we are really tired of explaining mathematics because we know you know better than us at these things, at least that is why you were the Vice-President at the World Bank. Our only question is why did you sell us out?

There is still one more thing that confuses us, and this we are not sure anybody has asked you before. We will paint a scenario.

If Nigeria were to refine all the Crude Oil necessary to meet Local Demand, we might have to refine like 400,000 barrels more than we currently do per day. So, since, we don’t refine that Crude which is meant for Nigerians internal consumption, the Nigerian Government sells that Crude on the International market as part of its export. For example, if Nigeria exports approximately 2 million barrels per day. If the refineries were working, Nigeria will only be able to sell 1.6million barrels per day. So, we can safely assume that extra 400,000 barrels of Crude Oil is being sold on behalf of the Nigerian people daily. Bringing out our Calculator again: 400,000 * $106 * 365days = $15.48 billion, but as Mrs DAM has successfully hidden from us what percentage exactly the Nigerian Government profits from Crude Sales, let us assume only half (50%) of it is remitted back to the Nigerian government. That gives us $7.73billion which is approximately N1.2 trillion. This amount alone covers for the subsidy of PMS. Where does that Money go to?

 

Ma, We really want to stop disturbing you right now but We also remembered you told us you were still consulting widely with stakeholders and that a probable date is fixed for April 1^st, All of a sudden, you gamed Nigerians on the First day of the new year. This is not how you raised us up in truthfulness and integrity.

Presently, the Nigerian Youth has the feeling of being raped, that eerie and awful feeling of being raped by a close Friend and Confidant. We discussed and discussed and had Press releases but the Government would not listen and then @renoomokri was “sent” to come insult our intelligence and teach us how to read the constitution.

 

 

Typical Nigerian is confused. Typical Nigerian asks: Is a Human Life just a Number?

 

In 2001, exactly 10 years ago, September 7 to 17, Riots started in Jos, Plateau State (The Home of Peace and Tourism), when the dust cleared over a thousand people were dead.

According to International Crisis Watch, between 1999 and 2009, an estimated 14,000 people were killed in sectarian violence, the majority of which took place in Nigeria’s multi-ethnic, multi-religious middle belt region. An estimated 3,000 of these deaths occurred in the city of Jos, Plateau State, where approximately 500 were killed in 2008 and an additional 1,000 in 2010. A government sponsored-report in 2004 estimated the total fatalities to be greater than 50,000. A 2004 study commissioned by Royal Dutch Shell estimated that 1,000, mostly young, people, die each year as a result of violence between rival militia groups in the Niger Delta. More than 200,000 people have been displaced since 1999.

In 3 weeks time from now, the same time last year, Jan 17, 2010, Nigeria awoke to the news of massacres in Jos. By the time the deeds were all done, approximately 992 people are dead.

 

Typical Nigerian is confused and asks again: is a Human Life just a statistic?

 

In 2011

• On Jan.28, Seven people were killed in Borno including the Gubernatorial candidate ANPP for the April 2011 gubernatorial elections was assassinated, along with his brother, four police officers and a 12-year old boy.
• On Apr. 8, Around 21 people were killed and another 20 injured many of them still in hospital till date at the INEC office in Suleja, including a lot of Youth Corpers and people basically serving their country.
• Mid-April, Post-Election violence started up-north in Kaduna, Kafanchan, Bauchi, Borno and other parts, when the dust settled down, at least 800 people were dead, hundreds of houses burnt, with tens of thousands displaced and made homeless.
• June 17, the Police Force headquarters was bombed, killing many people, police officers, and passer-bys.
• August 2, about 50 Nigerians were run over by a bus during a robbery incidence on the Okene-Lokoja road, Kogi State, which left 14 people dead, and others critically injured.
• August 26, UN building was bombed, leaving at least 21 dead and many more injured.
• August 29, thirty-four persons perished in a road accident that occurred in Ondo State. Of the number, 16 were burnt beyond recognition.
• November 5, attacks in Borno and Yobe states targeted at Churches, Mosques, and Police Officers, killed at least 100 people, leaving a new police headquarters in ruins, and government offices burned.
• December 7, NO fewer than 14 passengers, including the driver of a Lagos commercial bus, danfo, lost their lives in a motor accident that occurred yesterday around Isolo/Okota flyover bridge in Lagos.
• December 13, Some 30 people perished in a boat mishap, which happened in Rivers state in South Nigeria, a local official said on Wednesday afternoon.
• December 25, Nigerians and even the whole world were given a rude shock when the news of the bomb blasts in Madalla, Niger State, Jos, Yola, and Damaturu started filtering in. In its wake, it left over 40 people dead, and many more gone. Entire households vanished into thin air. Their bodies mangled, and burnt beyond recognition.

 

Is a Human Life just another number? Again, Typical Nigerian asks but gets no answer.

“If a Human Life in Death is just a statistic, in Life, maybe it is even less than a statistic.”

Typical Nigerian is confused even about his own life but no one to help clarify.

 

Typical Nigerian while doing his own wakabout overheard Moji say: “We are gradually losing our humanity, news of violence, destruction & loss of lives, no longer means much to us. We are getting used to the news, and just content, thanking God that, "at least, we & ours are safe". Remember, God said; "If only my pple would pray and humble themselves and seek my face, then I will forgive their sins and heal their land" Let us pray for our nation; for good Governance and for Peace.”

 

Typical Nigerian ponders. Hmmmm

 

Typical Nigerian also heard Franklin say: “Government can do a lot, and in fact ought to, to stem the orgy of violence just like corruption eating deep into the fabric of our Nation. So Government cannot be absolved of the highest estimation of incompetence and placid verbosity. However, there's what we can do for ourselves too, after all in the strict sense of it, we are the ultimate authority who create the government and populate it with people like ourselves and from our communities not aliens from space. We can engage ourselves at our community levels to curb the insurgency by talking to ourselves and if need be, where most expedient, fishing and flushing out the dissidents. So as we hold government to account, we too must rise to the task of regenerating our Nation with proactive steps rather than the convenient relapse to blaming government which we also are, especially the few of us who claim to be progressives.”

 

Typical Nigerian interviewed a Police Commissioner, Simeon, in Damaturu who confessed after the killing of one of their Inspectors: “Even our men who live in the midst of the Boko Haram are not safe”

 

Typical Nigerian met a concerned individual at one of the newspaper stands who said: “Someone's Sister and Daughter was hacked down by the Husband earlier in the Year. A family's breadwinner (A Danfo Driver) shot dead for refusing to give bribe. A Keke Napep driver (The husband of someone and the father to so many) shot and burnt in his Keke Napep by MOPOL for refusing to Stop, Search and Bribe around Apo in Abuja. A neighbour with some of his body parts blown to smithereens in the Dec. 31st Abacha barracks bombing is still in Hospital till date. A beloved Doctor in the East kidnapped and then released but still died with Gunshot wounds. A Politician was killed by Police officers in the South-South throwing the entire family into mourning.”

The individual contended: “No matter the ideological inclinations, religious biases, ethnic/tribal differences, class separation, political affiliations and all whatsoever divides the society, no one and I repeat no one deserves to die an avoidable or extra-judicial death. It doesn't even matter what the offence of a man is and even if it is punishable by death, a man must not die extra-judicially, because such actions erode the worth of the life of a Man in a particular community or society. Before it was hustle for Food, money, or just a better life, now, it is just a struggle to survive one day.”

 

Typical Nigerian listens attentively, retires to his own house and then ponders on the words: “No one deserves to die an avoidable or unlawful death”. For every death, it will either be a Father, a Mother, a Son, a Brother, a Daughter, a Friend, a Colleague, a Breadwinner, a Vision, an Husband, a Wife, a Grandson, a Cousin, an Invention, an Innovation, a Leader, a Spouse, a Fiancee, etc. It is not just a Number.

Typical Nigerian says for you the reader to say these words: “A HUMAN, WHETHER IN LIFE OR DEATH IS NOT JUST A NUMBER!”

A New Year is about beginning in 2012. Typical Nigerian says if you have lost someone to death in 2011, or you know someone who has, share this. If you wish to share the story of a lost loved one, please do in the comment box.

A HUMAN LIFE IS NOT JUST A NUMBER!

To be continued!