Nelson A.Osuala
[12 April 2016] 11:04am
Laying credence to my earlier post of 3rd April 2016 in which the Federal Government of Nigeria was quoted as saying that "Fuel Scarcity was going to end soon" as it was in their opinion, gradually becoming a thing of the past!
The above statement made by those in the corridors of power, to wit, Federal Government who is ably represented by the Minister of Information (Lai Muhammed) and the Honorable Minister for petroleum seems to contradict the present situation Nigerians are facing at the moment.
It is as though, the issues of fuel scarcity tripled tremendously as soon as FG came to make such public promise .
However, In a bid to measure up and not to be described as being weak and passively illconcerned about the plight of the Masses, the Federal Government through her mouth piece (Lai Muhammad), did employ what I am inclined to call ' the politics of Hypocritical Sympathy' to cajole Nigerians into believing that She (FG) understands her pain and thus empathises with her uncomfortable existential experience of Hardship in Nigeria.
Before I may be dubbed as a victim of such fallacy as 'Hasty prejudiced conclusion' and a supposed 'unrepentant' critic of Government, let me bring to fore an excerpt from a recent argument which Mr Lai Muhammad made in an interview with Channels Television on their Sunday Politics Corner.
In the words of the Honorable Minister of Information:
“I have said it on many fora that the government is keenly aware of the hardship and difficulties Nigerians have gone through in the last couple of weeks and we do empathize with them.
“Not only do we empathize with them but we appreciate their perseverance and we have also been working round the clock to ensure that we are able to bring the situation back to normal,”
We can only wonder what the phrase ' ..back to normal' actually means.
He added that efforts is being made by the federal government to ensure that the fuel situation is gradually being normalized with cargoes of refined product being discharged in major cities across the country.
He further avers that,
“As from tomorrow we are going to deploy 1,300 trucks of all over Nigeria to ensure that the fuel situation gets much better,”
He seems to be optimistic that this quantity thus distributed daily , would help put an end to the fuel scarcity situation.
He continues:
“We empathize with Nigerians, we salute their courage and perseverance and I want to assure them that the change they voted for is real, that change will come and that all the challenges we are facing today are very temporary…"
My Critical Reactions:
At this point, we are skeptical on whether to put our faith in this administration.
We are reminded of the counsel by the French philosopher, Rene Descartes who is paraphrased as saying that, 'we should never Trust anyone who had at one time or the other, told us a Lie'.
In addition, we can not stop asking.. when this scarcity will end exactly?
It seems as though, this change mantra is unrealistic, an euphoria and possibly a falsehood.
In conclusion, I wish to say unequivocally to those of them in the seat of power who care to listen, that Nigerians (I believe) voted for CHANGE., Not any kind but a positive, constructive, pragmatic and transformational CHANGE and it is this CHANGE that we are clamouring for.
Therefore, we are no Fools that would be cajoled into accepting anything on false labels in the guise of CHANGE.!
Nelson A.Osuala is a Blogger & an Associate Editor in Negroidhaven.
