By Afolabi Aribigbola

|

One of the most important challenges that seems to defy all logic and actions in Nigeria in recent times is the protracted fuel crisis in the entire landscape of the country. For a long time, motorists and others that require fuel to power their vehicles and other machines have suffered series of untold hardships particularly since the early 1990s when many motorists have to sleep overnight in petrol filling stations to access the essential commodity.

From then onward, the country has been facing one form of crisis or another linked to the supply and distribution and pricing of the product. Indeed, the marketers of the product have capitalised on the deficiencies and instability in the fuel supply chain to continue to exploit the situation by charging arbitrary pump prices, sometimes creating artificial scarcity and often under dispensing the product to cheat and rip the captive innocent motorists and others that rely wholly on the products for their businesses and daily activities.

I could recollect that in the 1990s when fuel scarcity became very common and pronounced, many motorists besides staying overnight in fuel stations to access the precious and very essential product, also wasted several productive hours of many on queues across the country. The Federal Government response has been in different ways including to increase the pump price of fuel to reduce growing consumption rate and smuggling of the products to neigbouring countries where its prices are higher. The government has tried to fix and repair the four existing refineries in the country in their never-ending turn around maintenance that have gulped several billions of dollars without success. Also to solve the crisis in the oil industry, the government deregulated the downstream sector of the industry to encourage more private sector participation. In order to stabilize the price of petroleum and ensure its regular supply and affordability, the government evolved a regime of subsidising the product which was finally removed in May 2023 by the present Federal Government.

The sudden removal of petroleum subsidy has engendered a new wave of crisis in the industry beginning with unprecedented hike in price beyond the reach of ordinary Nigerians and persistent scarcity of the product. Beyond the fact that the price of fuel has risen astronomically from about N180 to about N850 per little, the product is no longer readily available as people need to queue for some hours to procure it in the major marketers’ stations. The crisis was made worse by non-functioning of the four oil refineries built in the country.

The four refineries to the dismay of many have for a long time stopped refining oil. Consequently, for a long time, the country has had to rely on imported refined fuel that are far more expensive, especially now with the rapid fall in the value of the national currency, the Naira. Thus, all efforts introduced to ensure steady supply of fuel in the country have failed woefully to improve the situation and make the products that have been found to control and influence virtually all activities and sectors of the country adequately available. Therefore, in the last 30 years, Nigeria have been experiencing crisis in the oil sector that got to its crescendo aftermath of the sudden removal of subsidies mid-2023.

Unfortunately, despite the efforts and promises of governments that the product will be easily available across the country as motivation for fuel prices increases over the year and the final removal of its subsidy in May 2023, the reverse has been the case as the price of petroleum has not only been going up but the associated crisis of scarcity has not abated or eliminated as on many promised by government altogether. At the moment and particularly in Ondo State, only a few fuel stations are dispensing the product at the official rate of N580 per litre. Sadly, in those stations, there are always long queues. Also most of the majority of independent stations are often without fuel and peradventure they have, they divert it to other stations it to at inflated rate of between N750 and N850 per litre. In the remote areas, the pump price is higher than these rates.

The question that has been of concern to me was why the several promises of adequate fuel supply to justify increases in its pump price only for the scarcity of the product to persist shortly after. Also, why has it become impossible to find lasting solution to the seeming intractable fuel supply problem in the last 30 years knowing its indispensability to the running of the country’s economy and activities. Surprisingly, instead for the government to face reality and how to fix the problems of the four moribund refineries in the country, they have turned to less important issue of Dangote not licensing his new refinery and producing substandard products.

This position has once again demonstrated the deep nuisance and challenge of engaging incompetent and unconcerned individuals to manage sensitive critical sectors of the national economy of the country and the fact that such private initiative will prevent them from importation of fuel into the country that has become the bastion or bane of corruption in the country. Of course, the crisis in the oil sector, the scarcity persists over the years because many people in position of responsibility prefer importation of refined products to be able to corruptly enrich themselves, their cohorts and families.

This was the reasons for the inability of government and NNPC to fix the existing four refineries despite expending huge sums on the turn around maintenance over the years. Corruption that is one of the greatest challenges confronting Nigeria also manifest heavily in the industry thereby preventing those in charge to take sincere, proactive nationally beneficial position and decisions. Their decisions are often influenced by personal interest or group enrichment rather than national interest that should be paramount to promote sustainable development of Nigeria 

It is indeed detestable, an irony and a serious national embarrassment that Africa’s largest oil producer and a major player in global oil market cannot reliably provide fuel for its citizens and industries and have to depend on imported fuel from other countries. This is not good enough for the image and prosperity of the country. The country cannot prosper as well as function optimally in the midst of fuel crisis because most of the critical sectors of the country that depend on imported fuel to function are groaning under the weight of high prices and perennial scarcity. There is therefore the need for a new approach and strategies to resolve the challenge.

The country’s four refineries that have been in a state of disrepair for years must be quickly fixed and made to begin to refine fuel while the new Dangote refinery must be supported and encourage to function to support the needs of Nigerians. The issue of subsidy needs to be revisited and possibly return for a programmed removal when all the country’s refineries would have been working fully. The local economy of the country cannot support the present very high fuel pump price in the country. It will only continue to create more hardships for the citizens of the country. The present leadership of the country must realise that fuel crisis will be a major issue of measuring their performance and therefore must do everything possible to ameliorate the crisis situation in the country. The petroleum monitoring and controlling agencies at all levels must be alive to their responsibilities to ensure that shylock marketers don’t continue to exploit the people. The crisis in the oil industry must not be allowed to continue if the country aspire for development and end to the sufferings of her citizens.