As fuel scarcity continues to linger in the country, it is not far-fetched to say that this issue is gradually grinding the economy to a halt. The hope of Nigerians continues to remain in despair as there seems to be no end to this fuel scarcity in view. A lot of businesses are facing it hard this period as they constantly have to spend heavily on petroleum products at an exorbitant price, which has accrued more losses on their business. A lot of motorists now spend hours at the petrol stations in long endless queues, which has led to the loss of working hours, causing them to be less productive, which is already felt in the economy.
It was recently reported that 17 cargoes ordered by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation( NNPC) which arrived in the country could not discharge the product. Reports stated that out of the 17 cargoes ordered by the NNPC, four had arrived at the Lagos port but could not discharge earlier this week as they were finding a space to anchor. Sources at the NNPC blamed the current scarcity on supply and logistics issues.
According to officials at Nigerian ports, they disclosed that Petrol will not be distributed to depots until ships have discharged their contents. What this implies is that as long as cargoes arriving at different ports in the country do not have where to anchor, there will still be scarcity of petrol. It is when petrol gets to various depots that retailers get their allocations and take it to the stations for sale. The disheartening thing about this whole issue is that the issue is proposed to linger for a week or two, meaning there is no immediate remedy.
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Carefully scrutinizing the issue of the fuel crisis in Nigeria, one can observe that a major issue in all of this, is the continuous importation of petroleum products. The NNPC had last month, when the scarcity began, cited the issue to the “importation of adulterated petrol from Belgium”. For a country like Nigeria that is richly blessed with crude oil, to still be heavily involved in the importation of petroleum is an aberration. It just reveals the gross incompetence of present and past leaders. Immediate steps must be taken to end the importation of petroleum products.
Government should ensure to build more refineries so that the country can be able to produce its fuel to avoid these incessant reoccurring issues of fuel scarcity. They must ensure that all refineries in the country work in full capacity for a definitive end to the importation of petroleum products. According to a report by OPEC in 2020, Nigeria spent a whopping $43.46 bn on the importation of petroleum products which was higher than the revenue that the country earned from the export of petroleum products in the same year. Such an outrageous amount should rather have been channeled to the development of other sectors in the country, if only the country was refining its own petroleum products. But rather, it was spent on the development of another country’s economy.
Nigerian refineries continue to remain dormant for years, despite repeated turnaround maintenance done by successive governments on the facilities. The country continues to spend billions of dollars to import petroleum products than the amount of Foreign exchange being earned from crude oil sales.
Despite claims from the government in ensuring that Nigeria refines its crude oil to save foreign exchange, the promise seems like an empty one because there is no evident change. One really sad thing about fuel scarcity in the country is its ripple effect on other sectors. The ripple effect of fuel scarcity impacts almost every aspect of living, and things would get tougher if a solution is not found soon.
Food prices have gone high because they are directly connected to transportation costs, as food products are usually transported from villages to markets. Beyond the cost of transportation, the cost of production of cooked foods is also directly impacted by a scarcity of fuel. Most businesses including restaurants generate their own electricity with fuel-powered generators. A prolonged fuel crisis can take a major toll on employment because due to the high cost spent on fuel to run an organization, they may not be able to employ new staff or may even be forced to lay off some of them.
This menace of fuel scarcity has to end, it is embarrassing that a major producer of crude oil is heavily exporting petroleum products from other countries.
