Date Published: 02/02/10

JANUARY 25, 2010            PRESS RELEASE

THE PRESENT PERENNIAL FUEL CRISIS: A DELIBERATE CREATION OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL SCARCITY BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (FG) TO FORCE DEREGULATION DOWN THE THROATS OF NIGERIANS!!!

The present perennial fuel crisis being experienced across the nation is nothing but a calculated design by the federal government and its allies (the cabal in the Downstream Sector of the Oil Industry) to force Deregulation of the Sector down the throats of Nigerians. It is really not difficult to see this, as there is enough fuel in the country. Even the NNPC has said there is sufficient fuel in the country, so why the shortage? The answer is really simple. The government understands that if there is scarcity, the Nigerian people will become jittery, and then it can then attribute the scarcity to the non-deregulation of the Sector, thus effectively making the Nigerian people to rise against Organised Labour, Civil Society and other anti-deregulation forces. Since Organised Labour and Civil Society have consistently rejected the planned Deregulation, the government seems to have run out of ideas, and so it is now resorting to this cruel tactics. This much is clear from the inability of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) Task Force to arrest the situation and bring the perpetrators behind the current fuel shortage to book. Indeed, it appears the DPR is even in cahoots with those behind this show of shame as they seem overwhelm by the Cabal which really ought not to be.

This brings us again to the basic point. There is nothing wrong with Deregulation in the literal sense of the word. Deregulation simply means freeing a trade, business activity, etcetera from certain bureaucratic rules and controls. But the fact is that Deregulation cannot be implemented in Nigeria for now because it will never work as a result of our weak and disruptive socio-political and economic system, and as such if implemented, it will only serve to compound the woes and sufferings of the Nigerian people. Given the volatile nature of our politics and our economics, Deregulation is not feasible. Government therefore should forget about such talks and concentrate on the needful-strengthening our socio-political and economic system, and reviewing upward the minimum wage of Nigerians to cope with the economic crisis.

Again, the persistence by the federal government to stop the subsidisation of petroleum products is totally unwarranted as we believe there has never been any actual subsidy in the first place.

What we’ve had so far is nothing but the doling out of palliative measures, PPPRA (Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency) inept Pricing Regime and the deliberate crippling of the System by government and their so-called Foreign Exchange Speculators with Insider’s Connections. This is what has led to the unproductiveness of our local Refineries which in turn provided Parasitic Marketers and, Monopolistic Importers of refined products the opportunity to exploit and milk the System.

Nigeria as a low cost Crude Producer could easily set aside enough crude for local consumption which can be refined both locally and internationally, take care of all costs, guarantee fair profits margins for Marketers and other Players, make enough profit for government through addition of reasonable tax revenue, and then still make available to its citizens the refined products at a far cheaper rate than what is obtainable now.

But alas! Nigeria would not do this; not with the present crop of individuals in government!

We totally reject this latest development of unofficial Deregulation in its entirety as it will only impoverish Nigerians further. Currently, most Nigerians are worst hit by the dwindling economy which is an offshoot of the failed policies of the Yar Adua Administration. We therefore dismissed the planned removal of fuel subsidy because it is unnecessary, fallacious and a deliberate ploy to worsen the plight of Nigerians.

Nigerians in Lagos for instance today pay far more for transportation than any other part of the nation. More Nigerians are daily watching their investments plummet. More are out of jobs and others are at a risk of losing theirs. They can’t afford to send their wards to School or even feed decently. More still are watching helplessly as their home values shrink. We will therefore not accept further any policy designed by government to add to the sufferings of Nigerians.

Instead of trying to pull the wool over our eyes by talking of removal of subsidy which does not even exist in the first instance, government should embark on a genuine regulation of the downstream sector.

A genuine regulation of the downstream sector means in the final analysis that government must put the current Refineries in good order, Cushion unfavourable Market Conditions through appropriate Stimulus, and throw open the imports of petroleum products to all interested importers pending such a time when there are enough local refineries. It also means that all duplicated costs exceeding prevalent rates in organised societies and demurrhage charges be borne by government, so that they do not form part of the charges which are eventually passed on to Nigerians. Government must equally take adequate steps to root out inefficiency and waste from the Ports System which currently gives room for unhealthy manipulation and congestion of the Ports that leads to high costs in demurrhages and others. 

      Eneruvie Enakoko

(CLO Chairman in Lagos)