Fuel crisis: Killing to make a killing

Again, Nigeria is in the throes of a fuel crisis. For the past eight weeks, Nigerian motorists have been going through hell to get Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) for their vehicles. Apart from having to spend endless hours queuing for fuel, they also pay through their noses to get the product. Only a handful of filling stations such as the NNPCL retail outlets and some major marketers sell at N180 per litre, others sell between N250 and N300 per litre. Although NNPCL keeps telling whoever cares to listen that it has more than enough fuel stock, many Nigerians are back to the era of looking up to black market operators to keep their vehicles moving.

The current fuel scarcity has all the trappings of a badly-scripted drama. When it first surfaced in October in some parts of the country, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) blamed it on flooding in Lokoja, which it claimed hindered the movement of fuel trucks across the country. But after the flood receded and the queues did not thin out, the NNPCL said the queues were a consequence of ongoing road construction around Apapa in Lagos.

While addressing journalists at a press conference in Abuja recently, NNPCL’s Executive Vice President, Downstream, Adeyemi Adetunji, said: “The recent queues in Lagos are largely due to ongoing road infrastructure projects around Apapa and access road challenges in some parts of Lagos depots. Abuja is impacted by the challenges recorded in Lagos. NNPC Retail and key marketers have intensified dedicated loading into Abuja to restore normalcy as soon as possible.

“We want to reassure all Nigerians that NNPC has sufficient products, and we significantly increased product loading including 24-hour operations in selected depots and extended hours at strategic stations to ensure products sufficiency nationwide.

“We are also working with the NMDPRA, MOMAN, DAPPMAN, IPMAN, NARTO, PTD, and other industry stakeholders to ensure normalcy is returned.”

But while contradicting NNPC’s claim during a television interview, the president of Independent Petroleum Marketers of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chinedu Okoronkwo, said the fuel crisis was caused by vandalism of NNPC depots.

Okoronkwo stated that “It is very important to know where we (IPMAN) belong within the chain. This product, PMS, is the product the government is still paying subsidy for, that is, the government brings it to the NNPC.

“Remember that nearly all the NNPC depots are not working, over 80 per cent of them, because of vandalism. There are at least 21 NNPC depots that I can count. When they bring this product in, they now begin to put it in private depots and pay them triple charges.

“When this product is pumped into those depots, the owners of depots claim to have ownership. Our members cannot easily access this product. They are now made to buy from tank farm owners, that is the third party.

“When this product is gotten from the mother vessel, those tank farm owners will go and bring it. They will now put their cost. You don’t expect them not to break even. These are the people who will now in turn sell to us.

“Those who get from NNPC directly, it is N148.19 per litre. These private tank farm owners, by the time they begin to put their own charges, which involve hiring vessels, NIMASA, NPA, and a lot of things associated, from their depots, you can get it for either N185 or N210.

“Their excuse will be they hire vessels to take the product from the mother vessel and some of these things are dollarised so you have no choice.”

But some questions arise from the contradictions in the NNPCL and IPMAN’s positions. One, if other vehicles daily move from Lagos to Abuja despite the ongoing construction, what is stopping fuel trucks from doing the same? Two, is the vadalised NNPC’s depots a recent development? If it is not a recent development, why has it suddenly become an issue to the extent that the government’s directive with respect to the approved retail price of PMS has been flagrantly disregarded? Three, if private businesses can maintain their own depots why can’t NNPCL, which is now a private business, maintain its own? If the private tank farm owners can protect their investment, why can’t the almighty NNPCL protect its own facilities? Why should the biggest petroleum company rely on other operators such that it subjects Nigerians to being fleeced?

It is quite obvious that the government or the NNPC or both of them are working to an end, which is to foist a fait accompli on Nigerians. They want to leave Nigerians with no option but to accept that fuel subsidy is not sustainable. While that may not be a real problem because the government has already forewarned Nigerians that subsidy would be removed by June next year, why do they have to subject Nigerians to the endless and needless agony of queuing to get fuel and paying way above the approved retail price for it? This is terrible for a number of reasons.

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One, many man-hours are needlessly wasted; this would negatively impact productivity and eventually the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Two, people are forced to suffer for nothing and they blame the government for it. The effect of this is that the bonding that is supposed to exist between the country and the citizens is threatened. Three, as a consequence of the hike in the price of fuel, prices of other commodities are forced to go up. This makes life more difficult for the people. At the last count, 133 million Nigerians, representing 63 per cent of the population, are said to be poor. The current fuel price hike may have spiked the number. Four, the price hike is a double whammy for Nigerians because while the people are paying more for PMS, the marketers will still make subsidy claims.

So, head or tail, the marketers (NNPC and its collaborators) will make a killing while the people languish. They are killing the people to make a killing. They are killing businesses, careers, killing opportunities, killing hope and killing citizenship. Yet they go away unchallenged. That is what happens where incompetence is the order.