My thought on the fuel crisis in Nigeria between December 2017 and February 2018
The scarcity of petrol at filling stations is not new to Nigerians. We've had the worst of it. But then we didn’t know the worst was yet to come.
So far as I have known, petrol scarcity has not been a topic for over a month but it was the issue for over two months from December 2017.
The Buharinomics (never mind – it’s simply Buhari’s idea of economics) is not working for me. I know we are in a democracy but a firm statement or resolution with the petroleum marketers would have gone a long way I believe. This I did not hear of in the media.
At Akure, petrol was sold for 180 Naira and above. The price at 180 was in February 2018. We bought at 200 Naira per litre and some people claim they bought at 250 Naira per litre at some filling stations. Only one filling station sold at 145 and as you might know, the trail of vehicles at such points would leave you with some doubt about joining. It would have been better if the queues were monitored, but then this was not the case as some smart Nigerians would try their best to beat the queues.
I think our system of governance creates a cloud that shades the people in government from the people. It seems like they do not know. Buhari seems to be unaware of the happenings in the country. This is evident in the statement he makes when on air or reaching out to the populace and by the words of his appointed ministers.
I wonder if the solutions are hard to come by. I think that, If the cause of the frequent scarcity is the landing cost and subsequent subsidy required, let’s remove the subsidy and sell at the appropriate price. At whatever price it is set, the people will buy. They might complain for a while but for now, it is an essential commodity. We will survive. We've always done so.
Let's wait for the electric vehicle option that might phase out the use of petrol as fuel.
But then I think, my trust in government has become like a pinch of salt when we talk of subsidy. They tell you they are removing the subsidy today and the next 5 years, you hear they have been paying the subsidy all through the five years. Who is the fool?
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