The lingering fuel scarcity, which has created untold hardship for Nigerians, has continued to make headlines on traditional media and online. On Daily Sun social media page, Nigerians expressed anger over it, lamenting government’s inability to end the crisis.
Excerpts:
Dika Asibe: When Trump said countries like Nigeria need to be re-colonised, gullible Nigerian were abusing him. It’s pure madness that Nigeria, a country endowed with near-surfaced crude oil, is complaining of fuel scarcity.
Mark Iszy: A country with oil in their land doesn’t even have fuel to use. This is very strange…. Nigeria is 30 years backward, in terms of management. They should privatise Nigeria for foreign countries to manage.
Adogu Ibrahim: I agree that there are challenges as a result of foreign exchange scarcity, but the corruption in the distribution sector is worsening the situation. As far as I am concerned, fuel is not scarce, as one will always see it available in the villages at exorbitant prices, whereas the fuel pumps in the cities are deprived of the products. From Maiduguri to Lagos and Sokoto to Port Harcourt, PMS abounds in the hinterlands, away from the surveillance eyes of the DPR, which is accomplice in the crime of diversion and hoarding of the products for wicked profiteering. Several phones numbers were given by DPR for state-by-state monitoring and report of any malpractice by members of the public. Several calls to such lines either never go through or where they do the lines are never picked. There is even an instance of DPR monitoring officer line in Lokoja that is constantly on busy mode.
Charles Ingreen: Finally, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) is dead! It was killed in a political crash of 2015.
Taofeek Bolanle: What’s it with the minister of petroleum? He had promised that by January fuel scarcity would end. Now in March, noting has been done. A litre of fuel costs N200. The word ‘change’ is now meant to worsen the economy.
Odeniyi Oluseye Taiwo: The NNPC, stop deceiving yourself.
Princewill Osi: Stop making promises and work. Campaigns are over.
Twitter explodes over hijack of plane by ‘love terrorist’
Seif El Din Mustafa became the most hopelessly romantic man in the world Tuesday when he forced an Egypt Air passenger aircraft flying from Alexandria to Cairo off course to land in Cyprus, demanding that a letter be delivered to his Cypriot ex-wife. Mustafa had been wearing what appeared to be a suicide belt (which was latter determined to be fake by authorities) sending passengers and crew into a panic. The incident initially appeared to be terror-related, right up until the hijacker threw the said letter on the apron of Cyprus’s Larnaca airport. Hostages were freed unharmed after negotiations with security forces, and the 59-year-old Egyptian was eventually arrested.
By the time the scare had subsided, a comment by a Foreign Ministry official captured the entire mood on social media: “He’s not a terrorist, he’s an idiot.”
@jamietarabay: Egyptians turn hijacking into Internet hilarity.
@Garfield_Kart: If only he learned how to hijack her love!
@WajahatAli: You gotta take a selfie with the hijacker or else it didn’t happen.
@Mr_Shakur13: #EgyptAir hijacker shows how deep love is. But does it really worth it considering the trauma caused to those on board?
@HorluGod: What a show of boldness.
@vinijha: You should have hijacked her heart not the plane. You just justified the reason behind separation from your ex.
@SirJadeja: He hijacked plane to get her ex back. Maybe that’s why she left him.
@im_sathesh: “Hijacking a plane is easier than keeping a relationship together”
@opondo_erick: Hijacking a plane to talk to an estranged wife?
@DeenTutors; “There’s always a woman involved.”
@massiveboy90: So, just chasing after your ex at the airport to declare your feelings doesn’t go far enough then.
@dammypc: This isn’t about love. It’s about someone becoming too dangerous to be living with humans. Can’t do such a thing for the love of an ex.
@adeniyijayeola: At least, the selfie guy will have a fascinating story to tell his wife and kids.
@AnjiFaugoo: Hijacking an airplane is now an act of love.
@Antrilover5: “#EgyptAir thing is the funniest thing ever.
APOLOGY
Yesterday, on this page, we inadvertently published some unsavoury comments from Twitter about our former Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief and now Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, in reaction to his position on the electricity situation in the country.
We want to state categorically that these comments copied from Twitter, do not represent our view of Mr. Adesina, who we hold in high esteem.
We hereby tender our unreserved apology to Mr. Adesina for the embarrassment this publication could have caused him.
– Editor