He said, “I wish to correct a wrong
impression carried in the Vanguard of April
14 page 25 about me which was titled,
“Buhari’ll reduce petrol to N40
-David
West”. I did not make such categorical
statement and I’m sure that Gen. Buhari
will agree with me that I could not have
made such categorical statement”.
According to him, Gen. Buhari and I have
said it times without number that the
phenomenon called subsidy is fraudulent.
N40 per litre is my own figure which I have
repeatedly used in all my write-ups and
interviews on petroleum subsidy.
However, while alluding to a comment
made by a Texas professor who said petrol
should sell for N35 per litre, he said it was
possible for the price of fuel to be reduced
drastically if all our four refineries were
serviced to produce at maximum capacity
adding that for now the refineries were
performing at minimum capacity.
One of the antidotes he said could make
life more comfortable for Nigerians was the
complete removal of middlemen who
import fuel noting that fuel importation
must stop.
“Nigeria can go directly to refinery owners.
We have done it before during Buhari’s
time”. When asked if he could serve in the
petroleum sector if invited or recommend
anyone who could be of service to
Nigerians, the erudite professor said it was
God who directs him and leads him on
what to do next.
In 1990, I wrote on sabotage theory of
Nigeria’s refineries and was published by
Vanguard. Our refineries can work, but
some people sabotage the refineries. It is
not because we don’t have Nigerians who
can repair it and turn things around. If that
fails, the people who built refineries can
repair it. If people in government do it,
there will be no more importation of fuel”.
“I respect Gen. Buhari because he has
much integrity and I believe that he would
be a good leader. It is true that
expectations of Nigerians are very high. No
new leader can perform miracles. People
should give him time and conducive
atmosphere to perform.
I don’t believe in 100 days in office, it is
nonsense. If you are packing from one
house to a new one, will 100 days be
enough to settle down. How do you expect
a sudden turn around within 100 days
when so much damage has been done for
years. But,
It will not take too long before Nigeria
would experience that change they crave
for. Between the first six months and one
year, people would feel that positive
change”, he said.
On the defeat of President Goodluck
Jonathan at the polls, he said he felt so
happy that he lost adding “I have never
supported him and I will not support him
because I am an Ijaw man. His policies are
very bad”, he maintained.y
