By Agala Kennedy
Yesterday, two pieces of news sank my heart. The first is that the FG finally
confirmed our worse fears and declared that the government was broke.
This has been a rumor for sometime now, but hearing it directly
from the government is capable of creating panic and retarding hope. Already
there have been rumors that government might not be able to pay salaries in the
next few months but this admission was callous.
The truth remains that there is something this government is
either doing or not doing that is exacerbating the economic situation.
I’ve often referred to it as a plane flying in a bad weather
with very terrible pilots. It seems they keep touching the wrong gears.
Why is government terribly broke? Of course they’d tell you that
the last administration looted the country dry but I wonder how this dryness
began to show as soon as you stepped in.
Q1: Customs revenue was short by 25%. Q2: And it is set to be
worse. Was that also caused by Goodluck Jonathan?
Q1 FIRS revenue is said to be short by over 50%. Q2 And it will be worse. Is that also Jonathan’s fault?
Who froze tax audits in FIRS for the past six months and why?
Who padded the 2016 budget even when the government is screaming broke?
Q1 FIRS revenue is said to be short by over 50%. Q2 And it will be worse. Is that also Jonathan’s fault?
Who froze tax audits in FIRS for the past six months and why?
Who padded the 2016 budget even when the government is screaming broke?
The second news is the sudden emergence of another militant
group in the Niger Delta known as the Supreme Egbesu Water Lions.
Just four pieces of dynamites and a group called the Avengers
have reduced global oil output and is already dictating global oil price which
OPEC leaders couldn’t achieve.
International analysts are saying that these guys are more
sophisticated then MEND and co.
The are degrading offshore and deep offshore facilities some 8 metres below sea level
and they know the exact spots to create maximum damage.
Today we have a second Niger delta militant group to deal
with.
A budget with a projected oil sale of 2.2 million barrels has
fallen to about 1.2 million and projected to get worse, yet you hear some
hangers on like Joe Igbokwe trying to echo Mr. President’s medieval mindset (
apologies to Prof Pat Utomi) by prancing up and down shouting war in the Niger delta.