The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has called on the Federal Government (FG) to tighten its seat belt as yuletide approaches. The organization alerted FG to the annual phenomenom of artificial fuel scarcity which usually reared its ugly head at the approach of the end of the year.
Sounding the alarm in a press release issued on Monday 29th October, 2018, was Professor Ishaq Akintola, director of the human rights organization.
“November is fast approaching. This is the time enemies of the people usually start their nefarious activities. Although past regimes failed to stop them, the Buhari administration has been able to curtail their criminal manouvers. Long queues began appearing at fuel stations a long time ago. More than three successive regimes tried to tackle it but they failed. It is to the credit of the Buhari administration that the ugly phenomenon was halted. But it reappeared briefly towards the end of last year.
“November is just three days away today and these agents of darkness must be somewhere now plotting to disrupt the smooth flow of supply and distribution. Their main objective is to discredit the government of the day particularly now that the 2019 election is just a stone’s throw away.
This was the same way their powerful but corrupt godfathers in politics used the National Assembly (NASS) to ambush Buhari’s government for fear of being probed by an anti-corruption regime. They sponsored fifth columnists to take over the leadership of the NASS from the very beginning of this administration. In an effort to retard the progress of this administration and smear its image, they delayed approval of ministerial nominees and later claimed that Buhari was not prepared. They delayed approval of budgets for up to seven months and even got so close that President Buhari was only lucky to have been alive today.
“It is only in Nigeria that opposition will go as far as infiltrating government’s ranks to cause havoc and make the citizens suffer. In other climes, different political parties map out strategies to tackle different problems facing the country. In Britain, if conservative Tories face juvenile delinquency, Labour will address the issue of unemployment when it comes to power. In America, if Democrats tackle health insurance, Republicans will take up illegal migrants.
“But in Nigeria, what opposition knows how to do best is to constitute clogs in the wheel of progress. The current opposition in particular has thrown fairplay, honour and patriotism to the winds from the very beginning of the Buhari administration. The body language has been loud and clear.
“It is therefore necessary for FG to watch out from now on. Another attempt may be made to cause artificial fuel scarcity. Those behind the move do not care about the common man. They do not care about hundreds of citizens who will be stranded on the roads as a result of fuel scarcity or the average Nigerian car owner who will be compelled to spend hours at fuel stations”.
MURIC also called on FG to do everything within its power to avert the looming total strike bythe Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
“Unlike the fifth columnists who are behind artificial fuel scarcity, NLC’s demand for higher pay for Nigerian workers is genuine. A strike around this time is most likely to affect both the supply and distribution of petroleum products.This is why FG must do everything to avert a total strike. But we appeal to labour leaders to also consider the timing. A strike that runs into the yuletide period will touch the citizens’ soft spots.
“The concern of the Muslim Rights Concern is Nigeria’s majority Muslim population and the totality of the Nigerian citizenry. It is not any political party.
Wise people say, ‘Fool me once, shame on you, but fool me a second time, shame on me’. Those sixteen years of aimlessness, planlessness and visionlessness must not be allowed to return. Once bitten, twice shy. Those wasted years must compel us to recoil and to shun those whose cardinal dogma is ‘stealing is not corruption’.
“Finally, we implore FG to marshal all necessary state apparatus to ensure that saboteurs are not allowed to cause artificial scarcity. We call on Nigerians to be watchful. This government cares for ordinary citizens. All the roads and rail lines that are being built are for us and our children. We have a duty to expose saboteurs. We have a duty to support a government whose officials are not eating up our common wealth. We must support an administration which is using scarce resources to build a prosperous future for all of us.