Dear Mr. Abati,
THE
CONTROVERSY OF FUEL SUBSIDY REMOVAL
AND NIGERIAN POLITICS
I
thank God for making way for you to be
there as one of the advisers in the
presidency in such a time like this. I
carefully listened to comments, critics
and body language of many stakeholders
in this crucial time in history of our
nation and our continent; this made me
rewind back to those issues since early
1989 when one of the then regime’s
policies was rejected and took people to
the street and there was riot in some
states of the federation. In fact, I
ponder on the post June 12 struggle, the
Abacha era and adventure of PDP into the
soul of this nation. Suddenly, I
realized that the people have not been
well represented. But what lesson have
we learnt?
Again, I recalled all those who were in the forefront of the struggle: the likes of late Gani, Beko (May their souls rest in peace). Also, I decided to ruminate on the contributions from other sectors including the media which I am familiar with. The 1st man I thought of is you, Mr Ruben Abati of the Guardian newspaper. Your fervor, your hatred for politics of the demagogues, means a lot to the oppressed citizens of Nigeria.
Brother Ruben, I appeal to you to
revisit your article in the guardian
entitled: IN SEARCH OF A TRUE
NIGERIAN and many other
utterances during the 2003 /2007
presidential elections on Channels
Television. They were all about
leadership and behavior of the elites,
the gap between the rich and the poor.
Now, in this opportune moment to give
better advice in the presidency, why do
you choose to be the Chukwumerije of
June/August 1993? There are some truths
I was taught which I know, are not
hidden to you as media practioner:
1)
A Public
Relations Manager is not
jack of all trades.
2)
No matter
how well packaged, you shouldn’t
sell a bad product.
3)
Each product or service has a
unique selling point (USP).
4)
Consumers,
mostly watch out for the core
product.
Based on these, we need more
explanations on the controversial Fuel
Subsidy Removal that has caused the loss
of life and dented our economy in a few
days. We expect more intellectual
debates on Channels TV
telling us about this core product
called Fuel Subsidy Removal. Unless you
tell us how good it is in the short term
and long term run, the masses will not
buy the idea. Finally, let us know the
benefits each individual or group stand
to gain and why it’s the best
alternative.
Come,
Brother Ruben come! Come and
tell the remaining eleven children of
Jacob why they should die before their
father can give them their inheritance.
We need to know the etiology of fuel
subsidy so that we will all campaign for
it’s removal. We will continue our
demand for more explanation except you
recant all you said some years back as
mere expression of your opinion.
Daniel Atignon, Lagos.
Published
January 17th, 2012
