Of whips, and scorpions and the oscillating oil prices in Nigeria

I live in Nigeria...and I know the biggest challenge that Nigerians now face besides hunger - escalating oil pump prices. Many of us who use petroleum products know what I'm talking about. The question on many people's lips is "How much did you buy your petrol?"


Petrol which takes you and me everywhere we go, whether on land or in the air is a highly coveted commodity. Include the use of petrol to power gasoline generators and now understand what I mean - we can't do much in Naija without fuel. That includes kerosine, which is the mainstay of many Nigerian homes in cooking meals and providing light. A litre of petrol has been sold for N200 in Aba. And we hear tales of it going as high as N300 in places like Lagos, Port Harcourt, Benin etc.

This trend is worrisome because we have become a nation of strike action. When petrol tanker drivers embark on strike action we get into trouble with petroleum supply. When teachers strike, we don't know what to do with our children who are left at home. When doctors strike our public hospitals are shut down...the list is endless. But petroleum is the one commodity that appears to affect all and sundry, rich and poor, slim or fat. Every Dick and Theresa needs petrol to power a car or cook a meal. So, we starve and walk to our destinations or in the case of a national shutdown, pack our cars in the garages.

We are not really liking it as we are soon embracing a new administration. What gives? Are these the telltale signs of what will soon become commonplace? The whips or the scorpions? When Solomon's son, Rehoboam proudly told his subjects, "And now, whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke: I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions" he certainly was spoiling for trouble. Did he figure what that would portend?

I don't know which is better or whether they are actually comparable - the virtues of the outgoing administration and the hopes of the soon to be inaugurated Nigerian presidency. Do you want whips or scorpions? Neither whips nor scorpions would leave us wanting to remain in a country that sees nothing but how to enrich the bourgeoisie (and the elite). What about the poor masses? The proletariat? It's enough, we underpay for petrol - we know. Pitted together with the plight of the unemployed or underemployed youth who needs to go around town in search of a job - we definitely are paying too much. Biko, let's welcome the new administration and hope that someone hides the whips and carries the scorpions to their own habitats. Don't go building a zoo for them either: that's wasteful expenditure. Mmadu na akpi anaghi ebinu.

Ijeoma Njoku writes from Umungasi, Aba.