Posted on: 10:06 Sun, 27 Mar 2016



National Leader of the ruling All
Progressives Congress (APC),
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday
ruled the Minister of State for
Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe
Kachikwu, out of order for saying
he should not be expected to
conjure magic in resolving the
current fuel crisis in the country.

He said the minister strayed from
the progressive calling required of
the Buhari administration by
making the statement attributed to
him.

Kachikwu who doubles as Group
Managing Director of the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC) had said, in reaction to
public criticism of his handling of
the fuel scarcity, that Nigerians
should count themselves fortunate
that the NNPC under his
stewardship has been able to bring
in the amount of fuel it is currently
doing.

Tinubu, in a statement, threw in his
lot with Nigerians who, according
to him, were “as right to feel
insulted as the minister was wrong
to have said such a thing.”

He said those charged with the
responsibility of running the
affairs of the country should learn
to do things creatively and away
from past practices.

His words: “The art of governance
is difficult and complex, especially
during trying times. The steep
reduction in global oil prices from
over 100 dollars per barrel to
roughly 40 presents a hard
challenge. “We can no longer
afford past practices.

Nigeria now requires creative
reform, materially changing the
substance of national economic
policy as well as the objectives of
that policy and how the policy is
presented to the people.

Therein lies the essence of
progressive democratic governance.

“The Buhari administration
represents the last best hope we
have to install such governance in
Nigeria and avert the catastrophe
that would have befallen us had the
prior government remained in
place. Had the nation continued
with the spendthrift corruption and
vagabond economic policies of that
administration, we would have
soon experienced such a collision
with the harsh consequences of that
government’s malign ways that our
very institutions of government
may have been distorted beyond
fixture and repair.”

Asiwaju Tinubu added, “In this
effort, there may be no economic
matter more difficult to unravel
and more sensitive to the purse of
the average person than the
current fuel scarcity. Even here I
am confident of progress because I
know the commitment of the
president to resolving this matter. I
make no attempt to hide it. I am an
avid and partisan supporter of this
government and of the progressive
policies of the party,the APC, upon
which this government is based.

“With that I do reserve the right
and the duty as a Nigerian to voice
my opinion when I believe a
member of this government has
strayed from the progressive calling
required of this administration. I
do this because my greater devotion
and love are for this nation and its
people. Party and politics fall
secondary.

“Much public ire has been drawn
to the statement made by Minister
of State (Ibe Kachikwu) that he was
not trained as a magician and that
basically Nigerians should count
themselves fortunate that the NNPC
under his stewardship has been
able to bring in the amount of
petrol fuel it is currently doing.

“Perhaps the statement by
Kachikwu was made in a moment
of unguarded frustration or was an
awkward attempt at a joke.

Whatever the motive, it was
untimely and off-putting. The
remark did not sit well with the
Nigerian people; they were as right
to feel insulted as the minister was
wrong to have said such a thing.

“The fuel shortage is severely biting
for the average person. They are
forced to remain in lines far too
long, for too much time, to pay too
much money for too little fuel. This
is no joking matter. Livelihoods
and people’s welfare are at stake.

With so much on the line,
Kachikwu’s flippancy was out-of-
line.

He was basically telling Nigerians
that they should be lucky that they
are getting the inadequate supply
they now suffer and that they
should just be quiet, and endure the
shortage for several weeks more.

“Kachikwu’s intervention was
unhelpful. It panicked and
disappointed the public as to the
duration of the crisis. It insulted
the people by its tonality. He spoke
with the imperious nature of a
member of the elitist government
the people voted out last year and
not the progressive one they voted
in.”

He reminded the minister “that he
was not coerced to take this job. He
accepted the job and its
responsibilities knowingly. He also
must remember that he does not
own NNPC. This also is not a
private company that owes nothing
to the public except the duty of fair
dealing. He is a public servant. The
seat he sits upon is owned by
Nigerians not by him. The company
he runs is owned by Nigerians not
by him. They are his boss. He is not
theirs. Power is vested in the
people. He is a mere custodian or
agent of their will. In talking to us
in such a manner, he committed an
act of insubordination.

“If he had talked so cavalierly to
his boss in the private sector, he
would have been reprimanded or
worse. If wise, the man should
refrain from such interjections in
the future.”

Source: The Nation