By Kassim Afegbua
I am yet to understand the rationale for the numerous committees that are springing up every day at a time the Jonathan-led government is thinking about running a slim government and save for the country.

The number of committees from the respective sectors of the economy; security, education, petroleum, agriculture, national planning, finance and a host of others, calls to question the preparedness of government to  genuinely confront the challenges facing the country.

Rather than save for the country and plug all the leaking holes in the system, the government is opening up more leakages that are bound to be subject of abuse.

There is no basis in my honest view to create new platforms to address our developmental problems when there are already existing bureaucracies to handle such challenges. Granted that the bureaucracies have become red tape, what we need to do is carry out holistic reforms that would provoke new ideas to confront such persistent problems. These committees are to me unnecessary.

Too Many Committee will spoil the cook

I have sincerely lost count of the several Committees that this present administration has set up in its bid to address our prevailing challenges. In the wake of the subsidy discourse and the removal of same, Belgore and Kolade Committees were set up to handle the fallout of the subsidy brouhaha.

Before they settled down for business, the Honourable Minister for Petroleum, Mrs. Deziani Allison-Madueke came up with her own version of Committees ostensibly to create an impression that the Ministry was ready to address the problems in the sector. Two committees were set up; one headed by Nuhu Ribadu and the other by former Finance Minister, Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu. Each Committee was given separate terms of reference almost similar but with a tinge of difference peopled with distinguished Nigerians who have fair knowledge of the operational content of the sector.

But the real problem of the sector is the Minister herself; Mrs. Dezieani Allison-Madueke. When she appeared at the Senate screening, she was eloquent in her presentation and appeared to be in charge of the challenges. Having resumed and with her appearance at the House of Representatives probe into the subsidy scam, all that braggadocio had been deflated. She simply did not impress yours sincerely. She was saving a lot for another day without letting the public know the details of the dealings in the petroleum sector.

I am yet to know how the Ribadu and Kalu Committees would operate as extra-ministerial bodies that would be reporting to the Minister of Petroleum. The Committees are in clear terms creating unnecessary bureaucracies at a time the President is talking about pruning down government and helping the country to save money for other infra structural development.

With over forty hefty men in just two committees amongst several other committees being set up in other sectors of the economy, it does appear that the government is at sea with respect to finding permanent solutions to economic wastages in the system.

These committees will set up their own offices or operational bases and recruit ad-hoc staff that will also draw some remunerations. They will procure vehicles for mobility and also enjoy some sitting allowances amongst other financial considerations, yet government Spokespersons would have us believe that the government is truly transforming governance.

How?

We can do without Ministers

We can run the country without appointing Ministers since it has become obvious that the cabinet members have ran out of  ideas. Although it will amount to unconstitutionality, but speaking seriously, if we are made to believe that only Committees can work, why then do we need the services of  Ministers who have shown marked incompetence? Just imagine the scenario which the over forty members of the two Petroleum Committees would present before the Honourable Minister? Over forty men that would be required by their terms of reference to think for the entire bureaucracy of the petroleum sector!

What then is the responsibility of the civil servants in that Ministry? If we are so sure that the civil servants are no longer competent enough to serve the terms of their responsibilities, why not do a clinical reform, purge the Ministry of those excess luggages and recruit new hands that could manage the herculean tasks in that sector? If the country is already gnashing its teeth on the over-burdened impact of huge recurrent expenditure, it has no business to commence another exercise that would further compound the problem.

How do you run a slim government when your pre-occupation has been the appointment of one committee or the other? If any of the Ministers is found wanting especially on account of incompetence, there is nothing wrong in showing such a Minister the exit door from the corridors of power. That should be the beauty of transformational leadership and the spirit of doing things in a new way. The present cabinet members appear to be confused about the destination of the government.

That is why Nigerians watched with helpless awe, as they presented different uncoordinated viewpoints during the subsidy crisis. For lack of cohesion, each of the Ministers was presenting issues from his own parochial perspective instead of explaining to Nigerians what the thinking of government was.

Still Waiting For President Jonathan’s Palliatives.

It appears somewhat strange that after the subsidy debate and the concomitant effect of the avoidable crisis, we are still thinking aloud about the promised palliatives to cushion the negative effect of this anti-people policy. From the evidences so far presented before the National Assembly, it is crystal clear that corruption has been at the forefront of the under-development in that sector.

We are being treated to several dimensions of the subsidy discourse and each one with its theme carefully scripted, has been a pot pourri of very bizarre exposures of Nigerians who have deliberately undermined our collective sufferance for selfish reasons. Like shrewd business men that they are, they have succeeded in plundering the political economy of the country, frustrated all clear-cut effort at running a transparent system and making the nation suffer certain deprivations by their inactions. What we now have at hand is a system that is weak and lacking capacity to checkmate the excesses in the system.

Where are the palliatives of the subsidy crisis as promised by the President? Where are those mouth-watering promises of milk and honey that would come our way as end result of the subsidy debacle? The 1,600 buses that were initially rolled out to complete the drama series have suddenly been emptied into a system that has no culture for mass transit system. The buses neither bear plate numbers nor any identification to hold the drivers accountable in the event that they break traffic rules. Already emitting carbon-dioxide to pollute the environment, one is bound to question if truly the vehicles were bought brand new.

Beyond those buses, I am yet to see government’s readiness to inject palliatives into other aspects of life for improved well being. From a proposal to borrow about USD8billion, the country is surely on its way to a difficult future. From zero foreign debt and now to about USD14billion if the proposal sails through, coupled with the trillions of naira of domestic debts, Nigeria’s economy presents a gloomy picture and would simply require more than tact and pluck to get us to a reasonable level. Government must be seen to be doing its utmost best in its determination to rescue the economy.

All the politics of abuse of due process and holier than thou attitude that is freely on display will not take us beyond the shores of  Murtala Bridge. We need ideas that can take us beyond the limits of the oceans, such ideas that have taken America to register its presence in the moon.

Subsidy Probe plus Palliatives equal to Corruption.

The way people call billions of naira in Nigeria often makes me to wonder if heaven is actually bought with money. Listening to the subsidy probe in the Federal House of Representatives easily exposes the rotten underbelly of a system that is run by a few individuals who are richer than Nigeria as a country.

When they call billions of dollars with coordinated ease, one is bound to wonder if these guys truly know that God exists. Corruption is known to be the “fifth estate” of the realm, but I never knew it has become so endemic and deeply rooted in the system.

The question on the lips of most Nigerians is whether the House of Representatives under the able leadership of Hon. Aminu Tambuwal will muster the moral courage to push the probe to a historical point of success to the extent that those economic saboteurs would be brought to book? We are yet to see a different body language in this respect because the probes that preceded this one ended up in the snake’s bowel.

They got swallowed up by the python and nothing was heard again. That was the end of the narrative. The Elumelu-led power probe ended up in frustrating tempers. For some time now, fuel queues have returned to Abuja and its adjoining cities. The presence of queues is an indication that government is still pursuing its N140 per litre plot.

The explanation would be simplified by the impatience of the members of the public to wait for hours at filling stations to get fuel. If government introduces its usual decoy of saying, look Nigerians, let us increase once and for all, there will be fuel for life, Nigerians might not bother so much.

But that will be a temporary success because government has not shown enough sincerity about the last subsidy engagement. NLC and TUC leadership have gone asleep and it will take another round of persuasion for Nigerians to come out for strike called by NLC or TUC. We are still reaping the “rewards” of the last strike and one of the rewards is the present long queues on Abuja filling stations. Too bad for a country that sells oil blocks every day. Too bad. Too bad. Too bad, the queues are here.