In the throes of fuel scarcity
Despite the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC), Mr. Jackson Gaius Obaseki’s promise that the fuel scarcity currently being experienced all over the country would abate by penultimate weekend, the contrary appeared to be the case as the expected 200,000 metric tonnes of premium motor spirit (petrol) has done little to mitigate the anguish of motorists and commuters.
FOR commuters and motorists alike, most of whom have almost forgotten the hassles associated with fuel scarcity, these past four weeks have indeed been trying. For just when Nigerians having enjoyed considerable stability in product supply in the past three and half years, were beginning to heave a sigh of relief that fuel scarcity and its attendant problems were now a thing of the past, long queues suddenly re-emerged at filling stations across the land. Often these fuel queues stretched for kilometres.
In Lagos, the latest fuel crisis as usual brought out the worst in motorists and filling stations attendants as most motorists in trying to procure fuel blocked the roads with their vehicles, thus resulting in traffic gridlocks while the attendants on their part, adopted several means of shortchanging customers. Street urchins also cashed in on the chaos at most filling stations to make brisk business.
At the Total Filling Station, Alakuko in Alagbado on Abeokuta Expressway, at the instance of the station’s management perhaps, pump attendants made brisk business. Motorcyclists were only allowed into the premises after paying a toll of N50 at the gate. This was aside the mandatory token of N50 to the attendant who sold the fuel. But as the motorcyclists (Okada riders) pointed out to the DAILY TIMES, “ it is better to part with this sum of money than to spend four to five hours at the station.
Motorists on their part, had to part with N200 and more to refuel their vehicles while noncompliant buyers were not obliged with fuel.
Moreover, a group of young men armed with jerry-cans of fuel were seen milling around the station, obviously looking for desperate motorists on the queue, who ended up parting with as much as N3000 for 25 litres. According to a motorist, Mr. Akinwale Gboyega, rather than stay endlessly on the queue and probably have his car dented in the process , he preferred to buy from the black market.
Strikingly, while many fuel stations lacked fuel for sale, hundreds of street urchins, otherwise known as ‘area boys’ were seen in different parts of the city peddling the scarce product though at exorbitant prices. For example, 50 litres of petrol which official price was N1300 was sold for N3500 while 25 litres, sold at N1,600 instead of N650.
As one of the ubiquitous fuel hawkers, Saheed, disclosed, their prohibitive price was determined by the extra charges collected by the fuel stations before it could be sold to them in jerry cans. For instance, the total cost of purchasing a 50-litre jerry can of petrol came to N2200, though the pump cost was N1600, thus, settling amounted to N800. Saying that they often operated from morning till late in the night, especially at filling stations with very long queues, Saheed said their customers were often affluent persons or those who were too busy to queue for fuel. He also claimed that some stations had adjusted their metres to reduce the quantity being sold to unsuspecting motorists.
But the area boys had the Police to worry about. Sometimes, the security men came round to seize their fuel while at other times, they (street urchins) bribed them to forestall seizure of their priced product, Saheed said.
Princess, a business woman, lamented that the current fuel crises was affecting her business hence she had to resort to the black market in order to be mobile. “ Last Monday, I was forced to buy 20 litres of petrol at the black market for N2000 due to the fact that I had an urgent supply to make to my client,” she said. When she spoke to the DAILY TIMES, she claimed to have been on the fuel queue at the station since 6.30 a.m., thereby, foregoing the day’s activities.
Expectedly, commuters are the ones who bore the brunt of the hassles being experienced by commercial bus drivers to procure premium spirit. A driver on the Iyana-Ipaja/Ikeja route, Babajide, bluntly stated that , “this is our time to make money; we queue for fuel for several hours, yet we have to pay the Police, the touts and also deliver to the owner of the bus. Commuters must face the reality.”
Similarly, a commercial bus driver, Mr. Oludare Adekunle, said he had been on the queue since the early hours of the day having exhausted the fuel he bought three days ago. If eventually, he got fuel, commuters would have to pay for the wasted time on the queue since he had to deliver a certain amount of money to his boss. It was such situation that made most commercial drivers to hike transportation fares, Adekunle explained.
A commuter, who resided in Gowon Estate, Egbeda, a sprawling suburb on the outskirts of Lagos and worked in Victoria Island, lamented that ever since the resurgence of fuel queues, he now spent between N400 and N600 daily on transport. Previously, a bus ride from Egbeda o Obalende, CMS cost either N80 or N100, but given the current fuel crisis, commercial bus operators now charged between N150 and N200 depending on the crowd. Worse still, there was a Monday when commuters on that route had to cough out as much as N250 to Obalande.”
Parents also complained of having to spend more on their children’s transport fare to their various schools. One Mr. Omotunde, complained that, one of his children fell ill last week due to the long distance he trekked from Egbeda to Ikotun, where his school was located because he was unable to struggle with fellow commuters for the few available buses on the routes.
It does not appear that Nigerians are comfortable with the excuses being thrown up by the Federal Government and the relevant officials in the sector on the actual causes of the crises. As Mr. Ojo asserted, this was what he considered the most frustrating aspect of the crisis. “How can one suffer for what he did not know and for how long, he cannot say,” he asked. Initially, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Jerry Gana, had linked the current crises to detractors who wanted to sink the ship of the state.
However, after several weeks of speculation on the causes of the shortage, President Olusegun Obasanjo in far away Damaturu, Yobe State, traced the crisis to the war between America and Iraq, which made oil prices go up. He also said that the strike of oil workers in Venezuela contributed to the increase in the price on the international market. The Presidentc further stated that they thought the problem had been resolved, apparently in reference to the temporary abatement of the scarcity.
Investigations by the DAILY TIMES revealed that the officials of the petroleum ministry did not react promptly to the dynamics of international oil price. The surge in oil prices last month brought the price to an all time peak of about $40 per barrel. This increase sparked off a disagreement between the major marketers and the NNPC. International media reports indicate that oil prices are usually agreed upon two months ahead of its supply. For instance, in anticipation of a surge in oil prices in the event of war, Saudi Arabia the largest oil producer said it had secured 14 extra tankers to ship an additional 29.9 million barrels to the US, which was expected to be delivered in May. During the last OPEC meeting, it also said it was pumping more oil to meet the world’s demand, by 1.5 million barrels per day. The same cushioning was also made by the International Energy Agency ( IEA). These explained why oil prices slumped to as low as 31.16 dollars per barrel according to its Director, Claude Mandel.
Reacting to this development, the President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr. John Odeyemi, asked the government to increase the price of fuel. As he argued, given that most of the fuel used in the country was imported, then , the difference in local pump price and the cost of importation constituted a huge deficit on the government. As such, it had become imperative to adjust the price.
Arguing that a lasting solution to this problem can be engineered by the relevant authorities ,Odeyemi canvassed for more commitment in the repair of the refineries to check the perennial crisis associated with price increase, while suggesting that the time had come for the government to enter into a barter arrangement with oil firms in Nigeria. Such arrangement will see these functions as a liaison with their relevant branches overseas that could receive and refine fuel for the country at a lower price and shipped in on a special import duty basis.
“The Federal Government can ask Agip, Mobil or others to take oil abroad to refine and bring it back under a special arrangement,” he argued.
But such responsibility may not be convenient to the government considering the impasse that had dogged the current fuel crises. For instance, while the major marketers are insisting that only a hike in the price to N37 would determine their future participation in importing refined products, NNPC, the organisation in charge of importing the fuel into the country, has maintained it would not succumb to any price increase.