By Babatunde Ayedoju

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Nigerians have endured an unpredictable supply of fuel for a while, with filling stations operating at reduced capacity. The crisis started in 2021 after the government announced its plan to remove fuel subsidies. Marketers, who have been accused by market regulators of hoarding petroleum, have refused to resume normal operations even after the suspension of the subsidy removal plan.

In February, the federal government said methanol found in recently imported fuel exceeded Nigeria’s specification. The development resulted in a shortage of petrol and queues reappeared in major cities. It has since spread to all parts of the country.

Traffic gridlocks appeared in many major cities, including Akure, the Ondo State capital, as many service lanes were closed to traffic due to queues from petrol stations.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation last month told Nigerians that the company had placed significant orders of over 2.1 billion litres of methanol-free petroleum to ensure that the long queues ended in a few days.

Last week, NNPC again assured Nigerians that it had distributed petroleum products nationwide to resolve the fuel scarcity that had lingered for weeks. Rather than improving, the situation has become worse.

In response to the hike in the price of petrol and scarcity of the product, several measures were taken to address the situation. Early this month, the federal government assured that it was containing the 90 million litres bad petroleum imported into the country, as the steering committee  confirmed that over 50 percent or 45 million litres of the product had been successfully blended.

The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, had on Saturday, February 26, 2022, issued a 24-hour ultimatum with effect from midnight on February 27, 2022, to marketers to revert to the official rate of N148.77 or face unpleasant consequences.

President of the Union, Prince Williams Akporeha, said the union had also set up a taskforce for daily monitoring and enforcement of the official depot rate across the country to ease the suffering of Nigerians.

Here in Ondo State, the government also set up a task force that went round filling stations to ensure that no marketer hoarded petrol and that the product was sold at the normal price. Speaking with The Hope in an interview, the State Commandant of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Dr Hammed Abodunrin, also stated that his command had set up a task force to check the excesses of fraudulent marketers.

Many motorists and commercial motorcyclists, also known as Okada riders, have relied on far more costly black market supplies for their fuel needs, and have faced the risks of damaged engines from adulterated products.

On the other hand, cost of transportation has gone up astronomically. For example, in Akure, the price of cab per drop now ranges between N100 to N200. Meanwhile, in the past, taxi drivers charged N50 for short and even some fairly long distances. Okada riders are not left out of the situation, as they have also jerked up their prices. Bike riders now charge between N150 to N200 for short distances.

The Hope spoke with some transporters to find out how the fuel crisis had affected their income. A commercial motorcyclist who gave his name as Yellow said: “Yesterday, I bought a litre of petrol for N240 in a filling station along Oba-Ile Road. It was around 10:00 pm that I got information and rushed to the filling station.”

Yellow, who said he spent close to N3,000 to fill the tank of his motorcycle, said the hike in transport cost did not affect patronage from passengers. He said: “It has not affected the number of passengers I get because people have no choice. Anybody who can’t patronise transporters because of the hike in transport cost will trek. So, it has not affected the number of passengers or income. Instead, it has even increased it.”

Talking about the amount of money some transporters have to deliver to the cab or motorcycle owners at the end of the day’s work, Yellow said that the delivery amount remained the same, even with the increase in the income of bike men and drivers.

A taxi driver, Afolabi Aderemi, described this period as the best of times for taxi drivers, as drivers made more profit. His words: “This is the best of times for a taxi driver, provided the taxi driver can join the queue at the filling station and pass the night there, if necessary. I wish my vehicle were in good condition at this time, I would have made more money. I won’t even bother myself about passing the night in my house.”

Aderemi added: “A taxi driver makes more profit now. For instance, if in the past a driver bought N5,000 fuel and realised N12,000 with it, now the driver will buy N5,000 fuel and make up to N20,000 with it.

He, however, stated that if the transport cost does not come down before the commencement of the rainy season, it may not be able to return to normal again. His words: “The transport cost is not likely to come down again unless it does before the rainy season starts, because by then everywhere will be marshy and passengers will accept whatever price they are given.”

Another commercial motorcyclist, Sunday Adedayo, said that the current fuel crisis had helped to increase income for transporters but not without additional expenses. He said: “It is affecting everyone of us. Filling stations that sell at the normal price have very long queues, while the ones without long queues sell at inflated prices.”

Talking about the income of bike men and drivers, Adedayo said: “Some may make a lot of money but will not deliver the complete amount to the motorcycle owner. They will claim that they had to queue at the filling station for a very long time.”

He added: “Now, I have to give my wife and children some money for transport in the morning, because we were going in different directions. When we got home in the evening, we will feed, and it’s all from the money I am earning.”

Francis Ajayi, also a taxi driver, said that everybody was feeling the heat of the fuel crisis. He said: “We are all feeling the heat. One will queue for a whole day to be able to get fuel that will be used the following day.”

Ajayi said that the crisis affected the amount he took home daily. “It sometimes affects our income and the delivery amount to be given to the car owner at the end of the day. It’s just that the car owner will have to be considerate.”