Fuel Scarcity: Tinubu Blasts Kachikwu

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.”

The Nation