BY REV. FR. GERALD NWAFOR
I beckoned on my friend to represent me on an occasion that I would have attended given time and space. His message came back in the negative. I was surprised, because I have known him for over 40 years, and he has not said no to me on matters of representation. I was worried so I made a call though to find out why. His reply was simple and straight “I do not have fuel (PMS) to travel.” Haba, this is a relatively rich person, or I should say above middle class. He told me how he bought 50 liters of fuel at the rate of 1,200 Naira per liter. The main worry was not only the fuel price, but the fuel station metering was faulty or fraudulent. But there was no way to prove it because the fuel was pumped into his tank and the gauge in the dashboard did not even move up to half the tank. It was in this quagmire that my message came to him. He battled with the poor salesgirl at the fuel station who was helpless and confused. Although he has reported to the task force in charge of the fuel station pumps, this is Nigeria where the thieves are right, and the informant goes to jail. I tried to plead with him that he needed to represent me on that occasion, because I was a stakeholder in that event. He agreed but told me that he would use public transport because a friend of his who bought petrol from another station along Onitsha-Owerri Road is still in the mechanic’s workshop. What the friend bought from the fuel station is neither fuel nor fuel’s brother. His car has not moved in the last two days now. I remember the days of going to the mechanic workshop to service the injector/carburetor (Oga fushalum carburetor). I watched Dangote present his refined premium motor spirit (PMS) and diesel, both looked like clean water, and he made the case that Nigeria has been the dumping ground for bad fuel and diesel since the 1970s till date. I cannot fault him because growing up we distinguished fuel from diesel with color. Diesel is light blue or in some cases peach black while petrol is reddish-pink or yellowish-white. I have never seen a clean product of the type of diesel and fuel Mr. Dangote presented. I hope NNPC will not mix something with Dangote supply this last time (Na nke ipkeazua).I have lived in other climes, and I have a car that I have used for over ten years, but I have not visited a mechanic to discuss any engine problems. Cars are built to last, but not in Nigeria with bad fuel. I cannot see anyone driving from Enugu to Onitsha daily for a job. Even going from Nnewi to Onitsha would be a problem for the vehicle because of the bad fuel. I do not want to discuss bad roads and kidnappers because the space for the discussion is limited. If the problem ends with the high cost of the PMS and stops there, we can survive it in one year because I know the Igbos have gone through many travails but come out stronger. The main issues are convoluted to the point that we are not sure of the price tomorrow since Emiloko is determining the price in his head as the minister of petroleum. We are not sure of what we are getting, it is not fuel, it is not fuel’s brother but something that would destroy the engines of our cars and finally, the value for our money. When you pay for 50 liters, and you have 20 liters pumped into your tank, that is blue murder. How can we navigate all these wahala and stay alive in this list time? The message here would be what the bed bug said to her children, “Keep calm. Whatever that is hot will eventually be cooled” (Nwenu ndidi na ife di oku ga aju oyi). It is a worry to the whole nation how we can survive, and forge ahead this time, but he should assume the duck-posture. The dock posture is not simple but very helpful. On the surface, the duck or swan looks calmly drifting on the water but if you look beneath the water, you can see that the legs are peddling steadily to keep the duck afloat. It is a very difficult time now and we need to survive it. If you have fuel to use, go ahead but if you do not have the luxury to buy fuel (Na nke ikpeazua) please use the transport system. It is only those who survived the war that would tell the story of the battle and how fierce it was, even when they did not come close to the war front. It is a challenging time the chicken said to his companions during Christmas, everyone should be very careful.I saw in passing where a northern cleric was accusing the Igbo people as the architect of the fuel scarcity and many people were saying that he was not serious. I would ask you a simple question that you can choose to answer or ignore. In our intelligence and wisdom, how long did it take you to know that all the people living in Northern Nigeria are not Hausas and Muslims? How long did it take you to know that it was not the Hausa people who have been in power in Nigeria since 1960? How long did it take you to know that the Hausa people are also marginalized like the Igbos in the North? You can go on and on and on. That Northern cleric does not know that the Niger Delta people are not Igbos. He may be one of those who still sees Nigeria in the wake of the 1960s where the old Eastern Nigeria belongs to the Igbos, western Nigeria belongs to the Yorubas, and the North belongs to the Hausas. Therefore, the fact that there is a problem in the south-south about the militants, and the crude supply is “the Igbos.” The majority of our brothers in the north did not have the same privilege as we when it comes to education, so when a less informed cleric of Islamic extraction says something they would accept it hook, line, and sinker. You may ask what is our contribution to the fuel scarcity in this last time? I do not know but the said cleric may have a point because if you assume a ducking posture where you are supposed to be crying or complaining, your enemies may think that you are the perpetrator. This last time is challenging, but until the lion learns how to write, the victory of hunting would belong to the hunter who penned down the story.
