DRUCKER, the management guru of those of us enrolled in MBA programmes in the USA in the 1970s and early 1980s left many deep insights for students of Management Studies worldwide. It was almost a crime to be enrolled for MBA and be seen around Harvard Square or Boston Garden without a copy of one of his books tucked under your arm.

THAT was in the first paragraph of a report titled “Nigeria’s crude oil sales slow as competition grows”. Asu went on to quote one of the largest stakeholders in global crude sales, S&P Global Platts saying “Buyers have pulled back quite a bit and we may be in for a bit of a waiting game on the Nigerian front.”

Unlike the great French philosopher, I strongly believe that truth must be shown with equal candour to all generations. There should be no dichotomy in placing facts before the public – especially for those privileged to be in the media. It has always been our sacred duty to inform, educate and entertain (also sometimes infuriate) the public on every matter of great importance. In about thirty years on these pages, that has been the principle. It will never change.  Right now there is an issue which has suddenly crept on all of us while the election campaigns were going on. None of the two major candidates mentioned it; and it is doubtful if any of the fringe political parties candidates alluded to it. That is strange.

The report went on to disclose that Nigeria, which produced 1.792 million barrels per day in January, went down to 1.685 million in February in compliance with the agreement by members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC to reduce supply and raise crude prices. Unfortunately, OPEC and Nigeria are caught in a no-win situation. Each time they reduce production to push crude prices up, they make it more profitable for American shale oil producers to increase their own supply and grab more of the global market share. Already, the Us has overtaken Nigeria as a supplier of crude to the United Kingdom. Our cutback will certainly open more of that market to the Yankees.

Those living in extreme poverty anywhere in the world constitute the living dead. Nigerians caught in the poverty trap exist in a hell on earth of their own. There are safety nets in some countries, regular subventions of resources to help the destitute cushion the impact of poverty. Not Nigeria; here, the poor are on their own. Instead of helping them government uses them as smoke screen to fleece the country through fraudulent Social Intervention Programmes, SIPs, and “Tradermoni” given to “party stalwarts”. Despite all the attempts by the Buhari administration to bury the truth, it just keeps popping up all the time.