The past few weeks have been hellish for Nigerians, no thanks to the energy crisis and other dislocations in the economy. Updates from the statistics agencies indicate a sharp rise in inflation in the country, with the prices of basic domestic items, including, of all things, sachet water (“pure water”) going through the roof. When you need about N250 to buy a bag of “pure water” which, by the way, is anything but pure, then it is time the authorities convoked a solemn assembly. Of course, household items like cooking gas have been systematically taken off the wish list of the masses.
It is easy and convenient to blame the nasty experience across the country on the recent crisis occasioned by the importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) with the wrong methanol content into the country by importers who are up till this moment yet to get their comeuppance for throwing millions of Nigerians into misery. No doubt, the fuel crisis escalated the cost of goods and services and scaled down the purchasing powers of the citizenry. But the fact is that Nigerians had long battled the consequences of mass poverty, rising crime rate and debilitating health status, and the recent crisis was no more than an aggravation of a preexisting sad situation.
A deeper look at the situation in the country suggests that it is only betraying the symptoms of a malignant dependency on oil importation. And there are potentially much more lethal consequences down the line if drastic measures are not immediately taken to stem the tide. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Ltd has for ages been grossly mismanaged. It has been run by a cabal that has no consideration for Nigeria’s national economic interests. NNPC operations have been nothing but legitimised brigandage. If at all there are any experts at the corporation, then such experts have not served or protected the interests of the ordinary Nigerians. Their expertise has been buried under the heavy cloud of corruption that pervades the operations of the corporation. Sadly, corruption by political officeholders provides yet another albatross for the people, meaning that the national wealth is effectively shared between NNPC thieves and political robbers.
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Up till now, the country has continued to shy away from locally refining its crude oil, as elementary economics would suggest. It is always vulnerable to the vagaries of the international oil market. Local refineries are dead, yet they guzzle humongous sums, due to the greed of Nigeria’s oil mafia. Nigeria pays subsidies for the importation of refined fuel despite its vast wealth in crude oil, a lamentable experience which the government dutifully and conveniently explains away. In this connection, the tepid and rather belated apology which President Muhammadu Buhari recently offered a bewildered citizenry over the fuel situation actually addresses nothing.
We condemn the authorities’ lethargy and lackadaisical attitude to the plight of Nigerians. Many factories and homes have had to suspend their activities due to the cost of petrol and diesel and millions of casual jobs have been put in abeyance. For an administration which claims to be committed to lifting the people above the claws and jaws of poverty, the Buhari administration has been rather too laid back and complacent. What a hungry and desperate people need is a change in their daily lives, not explanations.
Then, of course, there is the question of pervasive and widespread insecurity. If farmers cannot plant food without risking bodily harm, death and destruction of their farmlands, then there is no way to prevent the high cost of living that Nigerians are now in the throes of.
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