Nigeria: Current Fuel Shortage – A Clear Sabotage By The Gov’t

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The Current Fuel Shortage In The Country-A Clear Sabotage By The Government And An Attempt On Full Deregulation Of The Downstream Sector Of The Petroleum Industry

The present fuel shortage across the country in the past weeks, which has seen the Nigerian people buying fuel for as much as N140, and even higher in some places is an orchestrated design by the federal government and its allies (its States counterparts and the Camarilla in the Downstream Sector of the Oil Industry) to move into the second phase of the liberalisation of the Sector, which is to impose full deregulation on the Nigerian people regardless of the basis and the pitfalls. That is what feelers around high level authority tells us and this much is intensely manifest as there is no rationale for the fuel shortage because there is more than sufficient fuel in the country as has been affirmed recently by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and some other key players in the Sector. The real reason for the scarcity is because the government understands that if there is fuel scarcity, Nigerians will be nervy and restless because they rely on fuel for almost their entire daily life endeavours-businesses, transportation, night-rest, you name it. And so, part of the game plan, is to create artificial scarcity because, once the panic is there, the government can now ascribe the scarcity to the lack of full deregulation of the Downstream Sector. The government knows it is clueless; that it has ran out of ideas, and so is now resorting to vicious tactics. This is why the DPR is unwilling to arrest the situation and fish out the perpetrators behind the fuel shortage. How else can the government convince the Nigerian people about the case for complete removal of fuel subsidy if not to produce anxiety and panic in the system? How else would the Jonathan Administration go about this knowing that despite the series of overwhelming probes and indictments in and on the Sector, it has failed to carry out any prosecution or take a concrete action? And why would the Administration prosecute those who stole or mismanaged the subsidy funds when the government itself has its hands in every pie in the Downstream Sector? Just take a good look around! Is there any business endeavour in the Downstream Sector that this government and its apologists do not have their fingers in?

Here is an Administration that promised so much but has failed to deliver on anything! Mr. Jonathan promised us that his government will use the funds saved from its Fuel Subsidy Removal Policy to improve the lives of the Nigerian people, yet his government has done nothing but make life miserable for the Nigerian people. The government has failed to follow through on its false promises with respect to implementing critical infrastructure projects in the power, roads, transportation and downstream petroleum sector, public works and employment schemes, maternal and child health, mass transit programmes (buses are said to have been imported, yet they have not been seen) and vocational training and skill acquisition schemes.

This country does not need more than 355,462bpd (56.5millionlitres; 1Barrel=159Litres) of refined petroleum products for daily consumption based on government own data, and that equally means that if the 4 Refineries in the country (with a total installed capacity of 445,000bpd) are working optimally, they can refine enough petroleum products for local consumption and still have enough left for exportation. So, why hasn?t the Jonathan Administration fixed the Refineries yet? What is the Administration waiting for? It is waiting for nothing because it is confused. Instead of the President to own up to his Administration?s failure on the fuel subsidy issue, he keeps grumbling, whining that he is the most criticised president in the world, when he doesn?t even come close to the list of criticised presidents from Al-Assad, Ahmadinejad, Mugabe and Putin, to? Zuma, Cameron and Obama. Instead of Mr. Jonathan to accept the responsibility for his government shoddy performance so far, he is playing the blame game, alleging that the Anti-Fuel Subsidy or Occupy Nigeria Protests was sponsored by Opposition Politicians. Well, we?ve got news for Mr. President. If the popular Occupy Nigeria Movement was truly sponsored by the Opposition as he alleged, then he also was the sole sponsor of the unpopular Pro-Fuel Subsidy Removal Protests in the wake of the Occupy Nigeria Protests, as implied by some. The President?s utterances is a reflection of that of the naive and one who is not willing to take the lead and accept responsibility for his actions. He fails to understand that by not acquiescing to his government policies, the citizenry is actually according him the highest form of respect; that they truly want his government to do the right thing and succeed. The President doesn?t seem to realise that he is doing himself a great disservice by listening to the voices of sycophants and bootlickers; he really doesn?t know that to listen to evil conversation is the road to wickedness. In organised societies where leaders have a sense of remorse and shame, they recognise, accept and even protect the rights of the people to freely express themselves, dissent, and criticised those entrusted to lead and oversee the nation. Mr. Jonathan and his government have engaged in nothing but to destroy the goodwill the Niger Delta people has built up over the years. If he continues on this self-destructive path, then it will be difficult for the Nigerian people to further trust any Niger Deltan Politician.

This brings us back to the fundamentals. There is nothing wrong with Deregulation as we have said over and over again. Deregulation in the literal sense of the word simply means freeing a trade, business activity, etcetera from certain bureaucratic rules and controls; put succinctly, it is when government reduces its role and allow industries greater freedom in how they operate. But the fact is that the Deregulation Policy of the Petroleum Downstream Sector of the Jonathan Administration has failed terribly as rightly predicted because the basis upon which the Administration?s Fuel Subsidy Removal Policy was anchored is seriously flawed and jaundiced and has revealed a sickening can of worms. How can you deregulate successfully when you have no functional Refineries, basic infrastructures, good roads or efficient maritime system, you cannot effectively police the system, manage disasters and emergencies, patrol and defend your territorial waters and you still rely heavily on importation of fuel and other basic goods? How can you embark on an Import-Driven Deregulation and then expect it to work? Basic economic common sense will even tell you it is not possible. Moreover, Deregulation of the Downstream Sector cannot be implemented successfully as a result of our weak, volatile and disruptive socio-political and economic system. Its stubborn implementation by the Administration has thus only served to compound the woes and sufferings of the Nigerian people. The Nigerian people have never had it so bad. Today, even before the current fuel crisis, petrol or gasoline is sold at disparate prices in major sections of the country, notwithstanding the official pump price of N97 per litre unilaterally fixed by the Administration. In parts of Lagos, notably Mile 12, Owode, Olowora and certain parts of Ikorodu, petrol is sold for N70 per litre, not in Petrol Stations but on the streets by touts. Hid did they get hold of their products? There is even a certain place in Agric Area of Lagos where 50litres of petrol is sold for N3,500. Elsewhere in the country, particularly in the northern part, south-south or southeast, the pump price of PMS equally varies as well. It is now bleeding obvious that this government is the real culprit and sabotage of the Downstream Sector of the Petroleum Industry.

The clock of destiny is ticking out for this government but it is still not too late; the Jonathan Administration should therefore make a u-turn and reverse these anti-people policies, stop the artificial fuel scarcity and concentrate more on the strengthening our socio-political and economic system, revamp, retool and restructure our Refineries, and root out inefficiencies and wastes from the Ports System which gives room for unhealthy manipulation and congestion of the Ports leading to high costs in demurrages and others. With political will, this Administration can cut through the noise and divisive politics to get these things done, and if the Administration can do this, it may yet redeem itself from being confined to the trashcan of history reserved for those who refused to seize the moment for the best.

 

????? ?????????Eneruvie Enakoko

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