20091222
allafrica

The scarcity of petroleum products that is ravaging the country currently is an indication that the Christmas and New Year season would be marked by socio-economic hardship for Nigerians if appropriate measures are not taken immediately to redress the situation.

The scarcity in the supply of petroleum products, though now a recurring decimal in the nation's life, especially during the yuletide, was substantially tamed in the immediate past regime of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. Many had thought the achievement would be sustained to enable Nigerians celebrate Christmas and New Year with ease as regards the procurement of petroleum products, but this optimism appears to have been misplaced.

Indeed, for residents of Lagos and most other parts of the country, the last 10 days or so have been a harrowing experience of endless wait for fuel at filling stations as there was virtually unavailability of petroleum products in most of the stations.

The situation even degenerated to violence in some areas, with area boys having a field day.

Unfortunately, the scarcity of these products, especially premium motor spirit (PMS) or petrol, has persisted despite assurances and re-assurances by the managements of the petroleum resources ministry and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), that there is enough petroleum products to service the yuletide and thereafter.

The cost of petroleum products scarcity in any economy is enormous: Businesses are grounded, man-hours are lost and the cost of doing business skyrockets. This is a luxury an economy, such as Nigeria's cannot afford, especially as it wants to emerge one of the 20 leading economies in the world by 2020.

The current fuel scarcity is further exacerbated by the fact that public power supply has remained epileptic , hence compelling individuals and businesses to depend on generators .

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia and the Group General Manager, Public Affairs Division of the NNPC, Dr Livi Ajuonuma, last week, separately gave assurances that there is enough fuel products to go round! They even reeled out the number of vessels loaded with petroleum products waiting to berth at the ports.

Notwithstanding, scarcity of petroleum products has remained a cruel reality as most filling stations claim to have run out-of-stock, even when some are believed to be hoarding the products, and rationing them at higher than the normal prices. A random survey in parts of Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states showed that most filling stations inflated the pump price of PMS to as much as N100 per litre.

The reality is that Nigerians are being made to pass through excruciating pains to obtain fuel in a country that is ranked the eighth biggest producer of crude oil in the world and which has four refining plants with a combined capacity of 445,000 barrels per day. This is clearly, most unacceptable and the government and its agencies, especially the NNPC and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) must squarely take the blame.

For one, the supply difficulties would have been unnecessary if the local refineries had been operational. But they are literally comatose, hence local consumption is almost entirely dependent on importation. This is bound to cause availability hitches given that the storage facilities of the NNPC and the Atlas Cove Jetty, where fuel imports are discharged are not constructed to host the volume of products they are currently hosting.

Besides, the kite of deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry,, being flown by the Federal Government, has kept marketers on edge. They are eagerly waiting to hear when the whistle would be blown. This explains why most of them are hoarding the products. Government has not come out clean on this matter and has, ill-advisedly, chosen to fly this kite at this time of the year, when there is always mass movement of people.

The direct consequence of this is that most of those who wish to be with their families, relations and well-wishes this season would not be able to do so with ease. Transportation costs are already hitting the roof while the dangerous option of motorists carrying fuel in jerry cans in their vehicles has again, become the order of the day.

No excuse can warrant the scarcity of products at this critical time of the year and we urge the NNPC to ensure that it takes immediate steps to keep the yuletide wet with petroleum products, to save the populace from the current hardship.

The DPR must also be alive to its duties by ensuring that all marketers hoarding products and extorting prices above the approved pump prices have their filling stations shut down and the offenders harshly treated as economic saboteurs. This way, sanity will return to the fuel supply chain in the country.