By Kate Henshaw
“THIS IS UTTER RUBBISH! IS THERE ANY SENSE IN THIS? THE OLD PLATE NUMBER READS, XA100KJA WHILE THE NEWLY INTRODUCED PLATE READS, KJA100XA!”…
It read and it continued “Are you ready to pay between N35k-N70k to re-register your already registered car? Are you ready to be ripped off by an executive cartel who seeks only to line their pockets with proceeds of the new scam? Remember the Red Reflector sticker scam that the FRSC illegally enforced till it was scrapped?
Now is the time to resist unreasonable policies of an insensitive executive. Say NO to a newlpolicy for registered cars!!! Please re-broadcast.”
That was the message being sent round on blackberry for the past week. Why the need for re-registering? Already registered cars are in the system and plates would have been produced with these in mind. All one needed would be proof of registration to pick up the new plate.
At a time when the yuletide spirit should fill the air amidst the tinsel and lights round the Christmas trees in the shops and the splendid street decorations. People are hardly taking note, rather their minds are filled with how to cope with the back breaking and mind boggling policies that will have an effect on all but the powers that be.
How can you think of rice and turkey at a time like this? Christmas for me is a time to unwind with family and friends, remember the birth of Jesus who came to save the world from destruction, be merry and contemplate on how the year has been so far but even that solitude is taken away, and there seems to be no respite. I always look forward to Christmas time as everyone shouts out ”Merry Christmas” to you, the markets are making brisk business from the sale of hampers, cards, Christmas decor fill the supermarket shelves to overflowing and Christmas songs are played on the radio and wherever you go.
It is with dread I look forward to this Christmas as in exactly eight days time, the Lekki Concession Company will begin to collect toll on the Lekki- Epe Expressway despite the whole project not being completed, a Lagos based lawyer saying that the matter with regards to the toll was in court and that though he respected the Governor of Lagos as an individual, he did not see him as someone who could flout the constituted authority of the court, lack of an alternative route should you decide not to pay the toll which is what is obtainable the world over. I shudder to think of the traffic that will ensue when drivers start looking for change to go through the toll or drive into the E-tag lane without the presence of a tag on their cars!
I see some cars have already started sporting the new number plates. How easy we give into things in this country, we just cannot be bothered to ask questions. “Abeg I no fit shout” someone said to me when I struck up a conversation about it the other day, “if dem arrest me nko? You know say you be celeb so you no get problem?” What has that got to do with the price of fish? I am not exempted from these rules; I feel like a blind follower who has no choice as to which way to go and I wish our leaders would be more humane and thoughtful when they just roll out new policies that govern our everyday lives.
The basic salary approved by the Federal Government is yet to be implemented and some state governors are saying they cannot even pay 18,000naira but 10,000naira per month! How far will 10,000 Naira, or even the “approved” 18,000 Naira go with all these unsolicited expenditure?
Let us not forget the fuel subsidy removal that will hit us in January ( I mean those of us who are not in government). The so called nameless and faceless cabal that will be stopped in their tracks once the subsidy is removed must be shaking in their boots but I doubt that very much. What a happy new year indeed to look forward to. The Federal roads that have claimed the lives of countless Nigerians will have the introduction of tolls next year.
What happened to billions of naira that have been allocated, approved and probably “spent” on the repair of the roads? Need we continue to weep over the matter? I have no more tears to cry for my country, just a++* disillusioned and numb state of mind. Do we need to have a Syrian/Libyan/Egyptian uprising? How bad does it have to get before we say we cannot carry the load any longer? The Bible says that weeping may endure for a season but joy comes in the morning. I see no joy in sight.
All I see is doom and gloom. Conversation is going round endlessly on all of the above but it seems to fall on deaf ears. We seem to be led by the nose to a dark room where we will be for a very long time. Murmuring is not enough but that seems to be the only way we as Nigerians show our discontent. We argue among ourselves about the state of the nation and shake our fists at our leaders for not leading us aright, aptly put by the great Fela who called it “suffering and smiling”.
I have mentioned in this column before that the change we seek starts from each of us. If we do not intend to do anything about the harrowing situations we face, then by all means let us keep mute
Comments are moderated. Please keep them clean and brief.
“THIS IS UTTER RUBBISH! IS THERE ANY SENSE IN THIS? THE OLD PLATE NUMBER READS, XA100KJA WHILE THE NEWLY INTRODUCED PLATE READS, KJA100XA!”…
It read and it continued “Are you ready to pay between N35k-N70k to re-register your already registered car? Are you ready to be ripped off by an executive cartel who seeks only to line their pockets with proceeds of the new scam? Remember the Red Reflector sticker scam that the FRSC illegally enforced till it was scrapped?
Now is the time to resist unreasonable policies of an insensitive executive. Say NO to a newlpolicy for registered cars!!! Please re-broadcast.”
That was the message being sent round on blackberry for the past week. Why the need for re-registering? Already registered cars are in the system and plates would have been produced with these in mind. All one needed would be proof of registration to pick up the new plate.
At a time when the yuletide spirit should fill the air amidst the tinsel and lights round the Christmas trees in the shops and the splendid street decorations. People are hardly taking note, rather their minds are filled with how to cope with the back breaking and mind boggling policies that will have an effect on all but the powers that be.
How can you think of rice and turkey at a time like this? Christmas for me is a time to unwind with family and friends, remember the birth of Jesus who came to save the world from destruction, be merry and contemplate on how the year has been so far but even that solitude is taken away, and there seems to be no respite. I always look forward to Christmas time as everyone shouts out ”Merry Christmas” to you, the markets are making brisk business from the sale of hampers, cards, Christmas decor fill the supermarket shelves to overflowing and Christmas songs are played on the radio and wherever you go.
It is with dread I look forward to this Christmas as in exactly eight days time, the Lekki Concession Company will begin to collect toll on the Lekki- Epe Expressway despite the whole project not being completed, a Lagos based lawyer saying that the matter with regards to the toll was in court and that though he respected the Governor of Lagos as an individual, he did not see him as someone who could flout the constituted authority of the court, lack of an alternative route should you decide not to pay the toll which is what is obtainable the world over. I shudder to think of the traffic that will ensue when drivers start looking for change to go through the toll or drive into the E-tag lane without the presence of a tag on their cars!
I see some cars have already started sporting the new number plates. How easy we give into things in this country, we just cannot be bothered to ask questions. “Abeg I no fit shout” someone said to me when I struck up a conversation about it the other day, “if dem arrest me nko? You know say you be celeb so you no get problem?” What has that got to do with the price of fish? I am not exempted from these rules; I feel like a blind follower who has no choice as to which way to go and I wish our leaders would be more humane and thoughtful when they just roll out new policies that govern our everyday lives.
The basic salary approved by the Federal Government is yet to be implemented and some state governors are saying they cannot even pay 18,000naira but 10,000naira per month! How far will 10,000 Naira, or even the “approved” 18,000 Naira go with all these unsolicited expenditure?
Let us not forget the fuel subsidy removal that will hit us in January ( I mean those of us who are not in government). The so called nameless and faceless cabal that will be stopped in their tracks once the subsidy is removed must be shaking in their boots but I doubt that very much. What a happy new year indeed to look forward to. The Federal roads that have claimed the lives of countless Nigerians will have the introduction of tolls next year.
What happened to billions of naira that have been allocated, approved and probably “spent” on the repair of the roads? Need we continue to weep over the matter? I have no more tears to cry for my country, just a++* disillusioned and numb state of mind. Do we need to have a Syrian/Libyan/Egyptian uprising? How bad does it have to get before we say we cannot carry the load any longer? The Bible says that weeping may endure for a season but joy comes in the morning. I see no joy in sight.
All I see is doom and gloom. Conversation is going round endlessly on all of the above but it seems to fall on deaf ears. We seem to be led by the nose to a dark room where we will be for a very long time. Murmuring is not enough but that seems to be the only way we as Nigerians show our discontent. We argue among ourselves about the state of the nation and shake our fists at our leaders for not leading us aright, aptly put by the great Fela who called it “suffering and smiling”.
I have mentioned in this column before that the change we seek starts from each of us. If we do not intend to do anything about the harrowing situations we face, then by all means let us keep mute
Comments are moderated. Please keep them clean and brief.
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