Fuel scarcity is Nigerian, at least, until it was almost obliterated by the government of Muhammadu Buhari. It is on record that the few times that Nigeria experienced fuel scarcity during the Buhari era, it was caused by either bad weather and floods that render the roads un-motorable or the antics of saboteurs and fuel speculators hiding under the cloak of independent oil marketers who hoard products to force scarcity.
But, even this type of scarcity has been greatly battered by the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, led by its Group Chief Executive Officer, GCEO, Mele Kyari, working under the cover of a new legal framework, the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). The last fuel scarcity, perhaps the greatest example of an artificially orchestrated supply shortfall, was experienced in the months and days leading to the 2023 general elections. That many political parties concluded that that scarcity was deliberately planned to affect the outcome of the elections says a lot about how easily enemies of this country can plunge the nation into a needless energy crisis.
Sadly, the culprits are known, and their modus operandi is public knowledge. They start by sponsoring rumours of fuel price increase just to create an atmosphere of panic-buying in spite of the NNPCL assurances of sustainable stock and supply. When that is debunked, they will move on to threats of oil workers strike and if somehow that is also thwarted, they’ll clandestinely begin to hoard products. This is then preceded by panic-buying from a populace that has been burnt many times over.
Equally, political interest is also one of the triggers of fuel scarcity and unexplained queues at the nation’s filling stations. Those who aren’t comfortable with the genuine stewardship of Kyari, especially his dogged stand against oil bunkering and theft, illicit transactions that cause the federal government huge losses, are all out to sabotage his efforts.
Another round of artificial fuel scarcity rues started recently. The rumours opened this time in the guise of the return of fuel subsidy and that was triggered by the enemies of the nation and economic saboteurs.
In fact, some were also unethically and unpatriotically involved in the scheming; I’ll not be surprised if brown envelop syndrome has equally been employed. No wonder, trigger happy news outlets as well as rabble rousing, and unprofessional on-air media personalities started reporting the return of fuel subsidy and the subsequent queues. This is even as the NNPCL has continued to maintain that the obnoxious subsidy regime has not returned, and supply has not been hampered in any way.
About five days ago, fuel queues began to form in Lagos as many filling stations remained closed. The newspapers claimed the landing cost of petrol has reached ₦720. Reacting to this falsehood, which could only have been the handiwork of political and economic saboteurs, some greedy marketers all over Nigeria started reviewing fuel prices upwards.
Interestingly, NNPCL, the sole importer of fuel in Nigeria, continues to insist that there’s no need for fuel price to increase as there is no stoppage of supply or shortage. In truth, Nigeria’s oil marketers only want to make money out of the hard work of NNPCL. The full implementation of the PIA, leading to the full deregulation of the sector, gives the so-called independent marketers as much right to import fuel as the NNPCL. But, they will rather play the victim game, transact in blame and push the burden to Nigerians.
Some sections of the saboteurs are doing the ugly thing for political reasons, while behind all their narratives of contributing to nation building, Nigeria’s oil marketers are only after profit maximisation. At the first hint of trouble, they have cracked open. What better way to stick it back to a government that ended the lucrative subsidy regime that lined their pockets with filthy lucre. What better way to pay the head of NNPCL back than to promote cheap blackmail. In the front of the camera, they will promote the removal of fuel subsidy, but they are, in fact, always working against it.
Thankfully, Mele Kyari is an old fox. He understands how the minds of the marketers work and knows exactly how to counter their double dealings. NNPCL must now retake the fuel importation market share it relinquished to the marketers as the last two months or so have shown that they are not interested in solutions, but only sabotage and a blatant attempt to hold the nation to ransom!
Yusuf writes from Abuja
