To subsidise is to sell a product below the cost of production. Since the Federal Government has been secretive about the state of our refineries and their production capacity, we will focus on importation rather than production. So, in essence, within the Nigerian Fuel Subsidy context, to subsidise is to sell petrol below the cost of importation.

THE Nigerian government claims that Nigerians consume 34million litres of petrol per day. Most experts disagree and give a figure between 20ml and 25ml per day. For this write up, I will use the government figure.

Members of the House of Representatives last Sunday lived up to expectations as the true representatives of the Nigerian people when they reconvened from their Christmas and new year holidays, to sit in an emergency session to urgently address the impending strike announced by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and its allied bodies, to protest the sudden removal of the subsidy on fuel by the federal government.

That the removal of subsidy on petrol by the Federal Government on New Year Day has brought a lot of hardship on Nigerians hardly needs restating. What with tales of woe, especially by those who travelled for the festivities and got stranded because they could no longer pay their way back to their destinations among other problems?

Most residents of Rivers state were taken aback shortly after the nationwide strike commenced in Port Harcourt . The news said the state government had struck a deal with the state branch of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria , IPMAN to offset part of the cost of ensuring petrol sold for N137 per litre in the state.

I LOVE trains. I grew up using them. Every men tion of them floods me with memories, among them a speck of coal (coal powered the trains then) which fell into my eyes and left me with an uncomfortable red eye for days.

The massive protests this week show that Nigerians can do whatever they want if they really want to do it. The streets were deserted, offices, shops and markets shut while agitated crowd gathered at major points across the country to express their grivances.

In the last one week, it’s has been tales of pains, sorrow and despair for most families in Benue State, no thanks to the mass actions and street processions called by state chapter of the NLC to protest against the increase in the pump price of fuel by the Federal Government.

It was a pitiable sight last Tuesday, January 10,2012, seeing Mr Saturday Osobor, a motor mechanic, at the Edo State Police Command with his deceased 21 year-old son, Evans who was allegedly shot dead by a yet to be identified soldier at Esigie junction, first East Circular road Benin City.

Lamidi, a-9 year old boy was part of the millions of Nigerians who came out to register their pain and agony at the on-going nationwide strike taking place throughout the country.