EditorialTHEWILL EDITORIAL: The Lingering Fuel Crisis

THEWILL EDITORIAL: The Lingering Fuel Crisis

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It is something of an irony for an oil producing country such as Nigeria to always experience fuel shortages every end of the year. The trend has become an annual problem, especially around Christmas and New Year, when most Nigerians take to the road for the mandatory trips to their villages for reunion with their kith and kin. It is not the first time and, sadly, may not be the last time Nigerians will have to compulsorily queue up at filling stations, looking for what is under their feet in abundant supply.

Fuel shortages have become as perennial a problem as those in leadership positions have misruled the country for ages. Successive Nigerian governments have grappled with it for as long as anyone can remember. Yet, they have failed to address the issue adequately which is why the long-suffering citizens have been subjected to fuel shortages.

It is important to ask why there are fuel shortages in the first place. One of the reasons is that Nigerian refineries have stopped refining crude for local consumption. Nigeria sells its crude to foreign countries who refine it and then we buy the same refined product from them. It is disheartening and it has not always been so.

Another factor is the planned removal of fuel subsidies by the Federal Government. Indeed, the recent fuel crisis was engendered by President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s resolve to finally hands off subsidising the product. It raised hackles across a broad spectrum of Nigerians, from politicians to labour unions, student associations and stakeholders in the oil sector who insist, collectively, that, with the current downturn in the economy, Nigerians will be the worse for it if the Federal Government goes ahead with plans of removal.

Evidently, what triggered the current crisis may not be unconnected with the PMB’s Administration in November 2021 that it may have to stop subsidising fuel in phases. The immediate consequence is the price of the product skyrocketing. That is exactly the situation on the ground at the moment.

Worse still, the Federal Government doesn’t seem to have any control over the prices at which PMS is sold in filling stations. A drive through the ever busy Lagos/ Abeokuta road, for instance, shows a difference in prices of PMS. Some filling stations sell at different prices and not the fixed price of N187 it was sometime back. Some government-owned filling stations like the NNPC sell at the government rate in the daytime when inspectors come to nose around to make sure that they don’t sell above the recommended price. But once they are gone in the evening, they jack up their prices.

Fearful that complete removal may result in public demonstration and public unrest in 2012 during the Goodluck Jonathan presidency, Buhari’s government is somewhat cautious, although some experts think the removal may have begun in installments. That, possibly, accounts for the recent increase in the pump price of PMS across the country.

For instance, the government pegged the pump price at N187 sometime ago. But there is nowhere in the country where PMS is selling now for less than N250 – N300. It even sells for more in some outlets.

Concerned over the recent shortages that began around last December, the Federal Government has set up a 14-member petroleum committee for petrol supply and distribution. The objective is to look into the lingering fuel crisis and find possible workable solutions. PMB himself is the head of the committee. Thankfully, he is also the Minister of Petroleum. Will there be a solution to the lingering crisis?

It is hard to say. Even in the early days of the crisis, the Directorate of State Security weighed in giving petroleum marketers 48 hours to do the needful. Nothing came out of it.

Though lampooned by critics for the imminent removal of subsidy, the Federal Government has pleaded its own case, insisting that the removal is “due to the increasing cost of oil across the globe.”

Add the economic consequences of COVID-19 and you begin to understand the Federal Government’s position. Throw in the Russian/ Ukrainian crisis and you understand better why PMB’s Administration strongly favours removal.

Still, it hurts that the average Nigerian has to be subjected to serpentine queues every now and then even though Nigeria is the largest producer of crude oil in Africa.

So, what are possible workable solutions to the lingering fuel crisis Nigerians have to contend with? Revamping and making the existing refineries work at optimum capacity is one sure solution. Of course, there is much to be excited about with the Dangote Refinery already in the pipeline and ready to dispense the product anytime soon.

Until Dangote’s refineries begin to dispense PMS, the snake-like queues may not disappear from filling stations in Nigeria anytime soon.

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