BY REV FR GERALD NWAFOR
My friend told me a long time ago that I should be not take him for granted. That was our first day in the secondary school, or high school. I asked him what was the meaning of the statement? He did not reply because he told me many years later that it was a statement he overheard his father making to one of his uncles. As a small boy of 10 years, I kept the words in mind so I could ask my brothers or parents. When I put the question across to my mother, she did not give the meaning to me but was interested to know who said it to me (Onye kwulu dat tin?). I told her it was my classmate, and she went on asking me why he said it. I told her that he just said it without any provocation but when I asked him what is the meaning, the silence was deafening, he did not say even a word. I could not remember very well what my mother said it was, but the only thing I remembered she said was “Be careful of that person.” Many years later in the final year of our high school class, I reminded my friend about the early years of our high school when he told me not to take him for granted. He could not stop laughing and he revealed to me that he did not even know the meaning then. I told him how I tried to get the meaning from my mother but was not successful. The government of Nigeria has been taking the people of Nigeria for granted since the discovery of crude oil in Nigeria. Nobody can say for sure the number of crude oil barrels we export daily; nobody can say how much we can make from crude oil. Everything about crude oil in Nigeria is shrouded in secrecy. The opaqueness within the crude oil business in Nigeria is nothing but evil. Nigeria has crude oil, but Nigeria has no petrol for cars. Nigeria has crude oil, but Nigeria has no diesel for their engines. Nigeria has crude oil but no gasoline for trucks. Water, water everywhere but there is none to drink. The whole of southern Nigeria is full of crude oil and natural gas, but the citizens have none for their own consumption. I heard that there is another protest coming up on the 1st of October 2024. I have one request to make, all the protesters should just march down to NNPC and grab the group managing director to account for the crude oil for the past 6 years. The protesters should be on offense and defense at the same time because if the Dangote refinery could get all our crude oil for refining, we would make more money than exporting it to unknown Oyibo people who would not pay in Naira or dollars. The Nigerian politicians have taken the public for granted for so long. I watched the flood in Maiduguri where the dam broke down and one million people were rendered homeless, over 40 persons lost their lives, more than 3,000 homes were submerged under water and more than seven local government areas were badly damaged. The government wanted to use the global chorus to escape responsibility by saying that it was climate change. Thanks to the people who did not want to take the lives of the people for granted by reporting immediately that for the past five years, the dam has been marked dangerous and the government has been allocating money for the repair fictitiously. Even five days before the collapse of the dam, the governor sent people to assess the situation of the dam. They went back to the governor and told him that there was no need to worry about the dam and the money allocated to the tune of 800 million Naira went into different pockets without anything done to the dam. The protesters of October 1st shall go to the governor of Borno state and demand for the people who took money to repair the dam and came back with the no-wahala-statement. I hope this time we can get a little accountability since the governor is a professor like Soludo. The protesters should be on offense and defense because of all the money allocated to the dam nothing tangible happened around repairs and upgrades.We have tried our best to tighten up our belt, but the government is loosening its belt. The person we are fasting for should not be seen eating lunch with chicken. Look at what NNPC is doing with us in the area of fuel supply. Imported fuel is cheaper than local fuel from Dangote. Is there something you can tell a wife and mandate her not to tell the husband (Onwelu ife aga agwa nwanyi sia agwana di ya?) Imported fuel will be transported. Imported fuel will have taxes and duties paid on it. Imported fuel will be transloaded into another container for distribution. Imported fuel would pay for depot storage. And it was sold at 890 Naira per liter. Dangote’s fuel is in our backyard, NNPC just sent trucks to go and take it to the fuel station directly without any bottleneck and they said that we should pay 960 Naira per liter (Odinma?). This is wickedness to the highest degree. This is taking your friend for granted which my high school classmate cannot explain to me. This is living in affluence but dying of starvation (water, water everywhere but none to drink). The situation in our country today may not last because I have read somewhere that diamonds are created out of pressure. The Nigerian government is creating diamonds. Diamonds are very strong, and they were said to last forever. I remember Dangote saying that the cabals in the oil business are stronger than the drug cartels. The Nigerian people will dismantle the oil cabal and their mafia friends within and outside the country. We must drink our God-given water; we must use our God-given crude oil, and we must not allow our fellow Nigerians to take us for granted simply because we gave them political power. Someone should send the message to the ruling class (Zigara ha ozi).
