Without doubt, the availability of petroleum, a major by product of crude oil, is crucial to the continuous survival economy of the country. Factories, companies, industries and, indeed, homes hugely rely on the availability of this product, on a daily basis, for optimal performance. In essence,the non availability of petroleum products could disrupt economic activities in the country, especially with the un- reliable state of public electricity. For the first time, in recent years, Nigerians celebrated the last Christmas and New Year festivities without having to experience the agony of yet another spate of fuel scarcity, which is often occasioned by apprehension of increase in the prices of petroleum products. However, this new found euphoria is not to last long as like a thief in the night, fuel scarcity has suddenly returned to major cities and towns in the country.
For some time now, in Lagos, for instance, motorists and commuters are once again groaning under the heavy yoke of fuel serious dearth of fuel supply. As it is always the case, long queues of vehicles have returned to most filling stations in the Lagos with its attendant problems. From all indications, this particular occurrence might take a bit longer before it subsides. Feelers from experts in the sector have revealed that this current shortage might last for another three weeks bearing in mind the fact that fuel marketer only received the import allocation for the first quarter last week.It will be recalled that the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, only recently released the import allocation for the first quarters.
According to experts, this is coming up a little too late, as it came after the product stocked by most marketers had already been exhausted.
Fuel scarcity is one plague, like corruption, that we are yet to find a lasting solution to in the country. Successive governments in the country have had to contend with this problem without achieving much success. At some point, especially when the fuel refineries in the country were no longer functioning at best possible capacity, the crisis became so alarming that Nigerians were spending days at filling stations just to get access to this all important product.
As usual, the few filling stations that are selling the product are ripping off Nigerians by selling at cut-throat prices in spite of the stress that people have to pass through to obtain the product. In Lagos, civil servants, lecturers, students, health workers among others, are presently battling with the adverse effects of the lingering scarcity. As it is customary, transport fares to various locations in the metropolis have sharply increased, with commercial bus drivers readily fingering inability to access the product as justification for the increase. Similarly, security at various homes, in the state, is being threatened as most people could no longer get the fuel to ‘power’ their generating sets. The implication is that Lagosians could no longer sleep with their two eyes closed.
There have been on-going rumours, across the land, that the federal government is planning to increase the pump prices of petroleum products and that the present difficulty being experienced by Nigerians
in accessing the product is only a ploy to achieve this objective. Though government, through PPPRA,has repeatedly stated that it has no plan to review upward the prices of petroleum products, but the current agony being faced by Nigerians as a result of fuel scarcity, could only further add impetus to the rumour of imminent fuel price increase.
Keen watchers of the trend in fuel price increase in the country are beginning to express fears that the present fuel situation might eventually lead to an increase in fuel price. Of course, Nigerians are not new to such developments as succeeding administrations in the country have had to increase fuel prices on various occasions. A chronicle of increase in the prices of petroleum products in Nigeria reveal that every regime since Gowon has, at one time or the other, tampered with fuel prices for one reason or the other. The Gowon regime that administered the oil boom era in the country increased fuel price from six kobo to nine and a half kobo.
Obasanjo, in his first coming as a military leader, jerked the price from nine and a half kobo to fifteen kobo while the General Ibrahim Babangida led military junta moved it up from15 to 70k. The interim government of Chief Earnest Shonekan also increased fuel price from 70k to N5. The Sani Abacha led military regime moved it from N5 to N11 while the General Abdusalam administration took it up to N20. Obasanjo, in his second advent, increased it to N70 while the administration of late President Yaradua reduced it to N65. His successor, President Goodluck Jonathan, moved it to N141 before slashing it to N97 having met with stiff opposition from Nigerians.
In recent time, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has come under heavy criticisms in view of its gross ineptitude and lack of accountability and transparency. It is rather shameful for a country reputed as the sixth oil exporting nation, in the world, to continually subject its citizens to the annual agony of fuel scarcity. The question, of course, is for how long Nigerians would continue to bear the burden of the incompetency of those who rule us? It is bad enough that our lives are being endangered as a result of security challenges. It is bad enough that public electricity supply has remained epileptic, in spite of several reforms and fund committed into the sector. It is, however, undesirable that Nigerians should continue to suffer before they could get access to fuel, a product that providence has blessed the country with.
This is the right time for the federal government to look into the various allegations of incompetence, lack of transparency and accountability being levied against NNPC. Nigerians do not deserve this continuous suffering in the midst of plenty. Government’s main purpose is to protect and defend the interest of the people. According to Mao Tse-tung, the founder of the People’s Republic of China: “Our duty (as leaders of the people) is to hold ourselves responsible to the people. Every word, every act and every policy must conform to the people’s interests, and if mistakes occur, they must be corrected – that is what being responsible to the people means”.
Tayo Ogunbiyi
