SO FAR ON FUEL SUBSIDY PROBE...

For the benefit of those not following the ongoing fuel subsidy probe by the adhoc committee of the house of representatives, here is an excerpt:

Fuel subsidy Probe:

Farouk Lawan: what is Nigeria’s daily fuel consumption?
Diezieni: 52million Liters
NNPC: 35m liters
DPR: 43m liters
PPPRA: 24M liters
Okonjo: 40M liters

Farouk Lawan: What was the subsidy for 2011?
Diezieni: 1.4Trillion
Okonjo: 1.3Trillion
CBN: 1.7Trillion

Farouk Lawan: Can we have the KPMG REPORT?
Okonjo: I have to go through the report first
Diezieni: I have not seen the report

Farouk Lawan: What is the production capacity of our local refineries?’
NNPC: 30%
PPPRA: 20%
DPR: 13%
Diezieni: 15%

Farouk Lawan: Does Nigeria pay subsidy on locally refined Products?
Diezaini: it depends
NNPC: The lay man cannot understand how it’s done
PPPRA: yes
DPR: No

Farouk Lawan: Why is Kerosene still scarce?
Diezieni: Because its use by the aviation industry as aviation fuel
NNPC: Because there is no subsidy so NNPC overstretched its resources
PPPRA: it’s not properly deregulated

Farouk Lawan: what is the balance in the subsidy accounts?
Diezieni: it’s a virtual account
NNPC: There is no account in existence as the lay man will look at it
PPPRA: The account is a technical one
CBN: There is no account with us for subsidy
Okonjo: The account exists but not with a bank

With my background as an engineer, I do know that having a supposedly "great" idea isn't as important as how that idea is implemented. A proper understanding of the problem which the idea seeks to solve is a prerequisite to a lasting solution; and then a good strategy that will put into consideration all factors pertaining to this idea based must then be developed. Looking at the excerpt I posted above, it is glaring that the FG has acted like the warrior who chose to release his missile from a canoe, or the hunter who waited to service his gun while the lion is already in front of him. It is embarrassing that those who want to build a "great" economy are seeking to do so based on differing data and information - beginning of failure!

Mayple.