Nigeria, June 23 -- You perch on my overburdened back while assuring me that you would do anything to lighten my distress - except getting off my back! That is the assurance that Nigeria's petroleum middlemen keep giving Nigerians in their bid to cement their parasitic perch between petroleum products and the consumers.

For decades they have played the vile game in cahoots with corrupt government regulators. In the era of total dependence on imported petrol, everything was decidedly wooly. So, the public could not hold them down to specifics on quality, volume, value of subsidy, etc. They smiled to the bank while the public cursed their stars.

Street Wisdom

One would have thought that they would come to their senses and temper their gr...