WHAT is your take on the fuel subsidy removal?

The good news is that the government is saying that even when subsidy is removed, we are not going to pay more than N86 per litre in 2016. So, if that is the direction, I think for now there is nothing to worry about since we are not going to pay more for fuel. So it is not going to affect the economic decision of Nigerians.

During the fuel subsidy era in the past years, Nigerians in the hinterlands bought petroleum motor spirit (PMS) above the regulated price. Do you not think that removal of subsidy would not encourage marketers to exploit Nigerians by hoarding to raise the price?

That is where the government should come in. Government should not allow Nigerians to be exploited. For all you care, there is a glut in oil price in the international market, and that should reflect in the pump rice at the filling stations. I think that even if there is anything called subsidy, and it is removed, government has a responsibility to protect the citizens. Nigerians have suffered enough. In the spirit of the change Nigerians voted for, there should not be any reason on earth why Nigerians should be paying exorbitant price for fuel.

Do you have confidence in this government to supervise the market to the benefits of Nigerians?

We should give this government the benefit of the doubt. Yes, we know that the transition may not be that seamless. The people heading petroleum supervisory institutions are Nigerians. So, why should they be happy to see their fellow countrymen suffer? It is not the government alone who is going to make life interesting; we also have to do something for ourselves and for one another. This dog-eat-dog mentality of some Nigerians should stop. We claim to be very pious.

This should also translate in the way we relate with one another. Money is not everything.

In case the government is not able to monitor the market and the price gets out of hand, how do you plan to survive this era of subsidy removal?

I am not afraid. We have been through hell, fire and brimstone in this country. So, like the average Nigerian, I am very confident that I will survive whatever happens by God’s will. But the survival tactics are not far fetched. Nigerians should live within their means. Consumption by Nigerians, especially among the elites, is ostentatious and average Nigerians try to force themselves into that ostentatious class. We need to be realistic. I am going to be realistic with myself. With the condition of things, if I have to scale down on certain things, I will do so.

Talking about fueling generator, I do not fuel my generator all the time. I fuel my generator to do the essentials. People put cars on the road for no particular or important mission. I go around in the afternoon and see people cruising around in their cars.

I do not know what business a person would be doing between 11 am and noon without dressing for business. So, it would only mean that such person wants to cruise around. Many people do that, although it sounds silly.

I believe that even the consumption of fuel in Nigeria is excessive. It is said that we consume 40, 000 million litres per day. It is sad that majority of that consumption does not go into production, but into ostentatious living, like owambe. Nigerians over the years have developed unreasonably high propensity to spend because we get cheap money.