Fuel scarcity: Stop buying time and passing blame, Soyinka tells FG
Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka , has called on the Federal Government to end the current fuel scarcity in the country rather than buying time and passing blame.
Soyinka stated this on Saturday in a statement titled , “Blame passing : The New Year Gift to a Nation. ’’
He also cited the clipping of the 1977 edition of the Daily Times when President Muhammadu Buhari , then a minister of petroleum and natural resources , was quoted as saying , “ Fuel crisis may be over next year . ”
Soyinka said , “ I recently ran the gauntlet of petroleum queues through three conveniently situated cities – Lagos , Abeokuta and Ibadan – deliberately , this Friday. Even with ‘ unorthodox ’ aids of passage, this was no task for the faint - hearted . Just getting past fueling stations was traumatising, an obstacle race through seething , frustrated masses of humanity , only to find ourselves on vast stretches of emptied roads pleading for occupation . As for obtaining the petroleum in the first place – the less said the better .
“ I suspect that this government has permitted itself to be fooled by the peace of those empty streets , but also by the orderly , patient, long - suffering queues that are admittedly prevalent in the city centres. It is time the reporting monitors of government moved to city peripheries and sometimes even some other inner urban sectors , such as Ikeja and Maryland from time to time to see , and listen !
“ Pronouncements – such as the 1977 above – again re - echoing by rote in 2017– are a delusion at best , a formula that derides public intelligence. Buying time . Passing blame. Yes , of course , the current affliction must be remedied, and fast , but is there a dimension to it that must be brought to the fore, simultaneously and forcefully ? This had better be the framework for solving even a shortage that virtually paralysed the nation . ”
According to Soyinka , the 40-year - old 1977 news clipping came into his hands quite fortuitously and it captures the unenviable enigma that is the Nigerian nation .
He added , “ It is however a masterful end - of - year image to take into the coming year , not only for the individual now at the helm of government , General Buhari , but for a people surely credited with the most astounding degree of patience and forbearance on the African continent – except of course among themselves , when they turn into predatory fiends .
“ When many of us are blissfully departed , an updated rendition of this same clipping – with a change of cast here and there – will undoubtedly be reproduced in the media , with the same alibis, the same in- built panacea of blame passing . ”
The playwright recalled that before the current fuel crisis , other challenges , requiring an immediate fix , had begun to monopolise national attention , relegating to the sidelines the outcry for a fundamental and holistic approach to the wearisome cycle of citizen trauma .
Noting that there were several other symptoms but not intending to make it be a catalogue of woes, the critic said it was sufficient to draw attention to the Yoruba saying ,
“ Won ni , Amukun , eru e wo. Ounni , at ’ isaleni . Translation : Some voices alerted the K - Legged porter to the dangerous tilt of the load on his head. His response was – Thank you , but the problem actually resides in the legs. ”
According to Soyinka , the providential image above sums up a defining moment for both individual and collective self -assessment and places in question the ability of a nation to profit from past experience .
Soyinka added , “As the tussle for the next round of power gets hotter in the coming year , the electorate will again be manipulated into losing sight of the base issue… Sooner than later , but not as soon as pledged, the fuel crisis will pass . And then , of course , we shall await the next round of shortages, then a recommencement of blame passing .
“ What will be the commodity this time – food perhaps ? Maybe even potable water? In a nation of plenty, nothing is beyond eventual shortage – except , of course , the commonplace endowment of pre - emptive planning and methodical execution . ”
Source_PUNCH NEWS
Soyinka stated this on Saturday in a statement titled , “Blame passing : The New Year Gift to a Nation. ’’
He also cited the clipping of the 1977 edition of the Daily Times when President Muhammadu Buhari , then a minister of petroleum and natural resources , was quoted as saying , “ Fuel crisis may be over next year . ”
Soyinka said , “ I recently ran the gauntlet of petroleum queues through three conveniently situated cities – Lagos , Abeokuta and Ibadan – deliberately , this Friday. Even with ‘ unorthodox ’ aids of passage, this was no task for the faint - hearted . Just getting past fueling stations was traumatising, an obstacle race through seething , frustrated masses of humanity , only to find ourselves on vast stretches of emptied roads pleading for occupation . As for obtaining the petroleum in the first place – the less said the better .
“ I suspect that this government has permitted itself to be fooled by the peace of those empty streets , but also by the orderly , patient, long - suffering queues that are admittedly prevalent in the city centres. It is time the reporting monitors of government moved to city peripheries and sometimes even some other inner urban sectors , such as Ikeja and Maryland from time to time to see , and listen !
“ Pronouncements – such as the 1977 above – again re - echoing by rote in 2017– are a delusion at best , a formula that derides public intelligence. Buying time . Passing blame. Yes , of course , the current affliction must be remedied, and fast , but is there a dimension to it that must be brought to the fore, simultaneously and forcefully ? This had better be the framework for solving even a shortage that virtually paralysed the nation . ”
According to Soyinka , the 40-year - old 1977 news clipping came into his hands quite fortuitously and it captures the unenviable enigma that is the Nigerian nation .
He added , “ It is however a masterful end - of - year image to take into the coming year , not only for the individual now at the helm of government , General Buhari , but for a people surely credited with the most astounding degree of patience and forbearance on the African continent – except of course among themselves , when they turn into predatory fiends .
“ When many of us are blissfully departed , an updated rendition of this same clipping – with a change of cast here and there – will undoubtedly be reproduced in the media , with the same alibis, the same in- built panacea of blame passing . ”
The playwright recalled that before the current fuel crisis , other challenges , requiring an immediate fix , had begun to monopolise national attention , relegating to the sidelines the outcry for a fundamental and holistic approach to the wearisome cycle of citizen trauma .
Noting that there were several other symptoms but not intending to make it be a catalogue of woes, the critic said it was sufficient to draw attention to the Yoruba saying ,
“ Won ni , Amukun , eru e wo. Ounni , at ’ isaleni . Translation : Some voices alerted the K - Legged porter to the dangerous tilt of the load on his head. His response was – Thank you , but the problem actually resides in the legs. ”
According to Soyinka , the providential image above sums up a defining moment for both individual and collective self -assessment and places in question the ability of a nation to profit from past experience .
Soyinka added , “As the tussle for the next round of power gets hotter in the coming year , the electorate will again be manipulated into losing sight of the base issue… Sooner than later , but not as soon as pledged, the fuel crisis will pass . And then , of course , we shall await the next round of shortages, then a recommencement of blame passing .
“ What will be the commodity this time – food perhaps ? Maybe even potable water? In a nation of plenty, nothing is beyond eventual shortage – except , of course , the commonplace endowment of pre - emptive planning and methodical execution . ”
Source_PUNCH NEWS
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