W
E welcome Nigerians to 2018, with all the hopes and aspirations that a new year, in its newness, can issue some balms to soothe the afflictions of the past three years. Without hope, there would be nothing to live for, without hope, people would decline to depths that translate to nothingness. THE yearning for a new year finds clear expressions in the resolutions that individuals and organisations make. For indi-
End ‘manipulated hardship’ • THE ORACLE COMMENT viduals, they could be tagged resolutions. Organisations deal more with goals and targets. In either instance, milestones are established for achieving them; otherwise, the year would pass without anything being
The VOX POPULI SACRUM
achieved, and the resources, especially time frames for attaining the marks, missed, because of the absence of the guides. IF President Muhammadu Buhari’s New Year broadcast to
Nigeria was meant to motivate Nigerians in the New Year, it missed the mark widely, by its defined refusal to acknowledge a few public truths about how the government had fared. In 2018, as it had done since 2015, the government continued its trademark blame-sharing over one of the
most depressing periods that Nigerians have ever passed through. CONTRARY to its campaign promises that the government would be in charge and that the President would take responsibility for things happening under his watch,
racle Contd on page 24
www.oraclenews.ng
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 10, 2018
Fuel scarcity stays
ISSN: 2545-5869
Today Today
VOL.3 No. 1 N200
• NNPC’s intervention fails • High debts to depot owners • High cost of product By SOPURUCHI ONWUKA, Lagos
F
UEL scarcity, which appeared to ease in Lagos State in the last week of 2017, has worsened in the New Year as supply gaps in the market continue to widen. Suppressed demand has sustained pressure on retail stations across the South West region. Field survey by The Oracle Today showed that fuel queues have continued to tail into main traffic courses along major roads in Lagos, though crowd control crisis that characterise buyer desperation has reduced. The situation is contrary to claims • Quick intervention of FRSC and Anambra State Fire Service averted disaster on the Niger Bridge when two tankers carrying fuel collided on the bridge Sunday morning
Buharikillsrestructuring Contd on page 2
• Nigerians angry •Groups want autonomy •2019 politics on From THEO RAYS, Onitsha; JONATHAN AWANYAI, Asaba; CHINEDU NWAFOR, Abakaliki; CLEM ONYEMAECHI, Yenagoa; EMMANUEL OGOIGBE, Warri; BONIFACE OKORO, Umuahia
P
RESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari’s new year broadcast has been condemned across the country for not relating to the challenges that the country faces. “The country is changing; the people’s expectations are changing,” said a member of the National Assembly, who did not want to be
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quoted. “It is only the President and a tiny group who have the view that the country can continue the way it. They are living within the realities of the times.” The President in the broadcast had shut down the opportunities that restructuring the country presents. He accused those agitating for restructuring of impatience. “In respect of political developments, I have kept a close watch on the on-going debate about “Restructuring”. No human law or edifice is perfect. Whatever structure we develop must periodically be
perfected according to changing circumstances and the country’s socio-economic developments. We Nigerians can be very impatient and want to improve our conditions faster than may be possible considering our resources and capabilities,” he said in the broadcast that provided no assurances as people had expected. He underlined his determination to kick out restructuring thus, “When all the aggregates of nationwide opinions are considered, my firm view is that our problems are more to do with process than struc-
ture. We tried the parliamentary system: we jettisoned it. Now there are shrill cries for a return to the parliamentary structure. In older democracies these systems took centuries to evolve so we cannot expect a copied system to fit neatly our purposes. We must give a long period of trial and improvement before the system we have adopted is anywhere near fit for purpose,” in his final objection to the demands by many parts of the country for re-alignment of the Constitution to Contd on page 2
Full 2018 Father Mbaka’s predictions
Innoson slams N200b suit on EFCC Page 2