The Honorable Minister for Petroleum Resources, Mr Ibe Kachikwu, recently, announced a new petrol price of N145/litre; the NNPC GMD, was however, clearly cautious to avoid a definite declaration that the petroleum downstream sector has now become fully deregulated with the almost 60% increase in petrol price; nonetheless, this seeming dictatorship of a price cap, is clearly inconsistent with a deregulated market.

ONE year after General Muhammadu Buhari assumed office as an elected President of Nigeria, majority of Nigerians (especially those who voted for him in hopes of better life than what obtained during the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan presidency) are bitterly disappointed because of the worsening condition of things on almost all fronts.

Heineken premium beer is the great beer brand that has made its way around the world. The Dutch lager was first brewed by the Heineken family in 1864 when Adriaan Heineken convinced his mother that there would be fewer problems with alcoholism in Holland if the Dutch could be induced to drink beer instead of gin.

The vague promise by the Minister of Information, of 600,000 jobs which will be created by the fuel price increase which was received with skepticism on these pages last week, provides an appropriate point of departure for today’s discussion. We have had seventeen fuel price increases since General Gowon became Head of State and moved it from six kobo (6k) to eight kobo and a half (8.45k). Then, as now, mounting subsidy payments was said to be responsible for the increase.

In 1998, some Nigerian political leaders who described themselves as likeminded decided to set up political parties as channels for taking-over government from the departing military administration. The most formidable of such parties was known as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It was so powerful that at a point its leaders boasted openly that they would govern Nigeria for at least 50 years.