NO BREAD….IN THE BAKERY..?

This happens to be the situation we find ourselves in Nigeria at this time. Nigeria a major oil producing country and source of crude oil to other countries finds itself lacking the finished products that power the country. Kerosene, Diesel, Gas and most especially petrol are in short supply. How can we be in lack in the midst of plenty? This is embarrassing to a country that has been dubbed the giants of Africa!

"It is obvious that the scarcity is artificial and it is always so that the petrol marketers and other stakeholders can extort Nigerians thereby enriching themselves. What still remains a mystery is why we have to export crude oil and then import the finished products?"

This situation has lingered on for years and a possible solution in the nearest future looks bleak as few are selfishly benefiting from this lack of finished crude oil products to the detriment of Nigerians. What is appalling is that this lack or scarcity often occurs before during or after festive periods in the country. This reminds me of a story I heard about a year ago – The Chief operating Officer of a trading and Service Company in Nigeria owned by foreigners was accosted by her sales team and service engineers during a fuel situation like we are experiencing now. They asked her for an increase in their daily conveyance allowance since the prices of petrol has increased and this has affected the transport fares to and from the offices of their various customers. Her response – I don’t know why you guys are making so much noise regarding this situation. I was born in this country and have lived here all my life. You should be used to it by now; don’t you know that this is our Christmas present from our government every year? This is from a foreigner living in Nigeria. Thinking back, I remember spending Christmas day at the filling station in 2007. This has been the trend for years. It is sad.

It is obvious that the scarcity is artificial and it is always so that the petrol marketers and other stakeholders can extort Nigerians thereby enriching themselves. What still remains a mystery is why we have to export crude oil and then import the finished products? What will it take to refine the raw material (crude oil) into finished products (petrol)? Nigeria can shamefully boast of 4 non-functional refineries when some developed non-oil producing countries have refineries in every county that serves the community where they find themselves. How can our government explain this situation? In a developed society, a high school student can follow defined steps and refine crude oil into finished products in his laboratory however our Government make us believe that they have to commit millions of Naira into building and maintaining refineries.

What we lack in the petroleum industry as well as the country at large is committed hardworking and honest leadership. Our leaders have played on our intelligence for so long all in a bid to selfishly enrich themselves and their close family and associates. We have been deprived of what is rightfully ours and in the midst of plenty we experience lack. The infamous militants in the Niger delta region of Nigeria might be fighting their cause in the wrong way but it is no doubt a worthy fight. They have been to the FCT Abuja and have seen the level of infrastructural development that has been achieved from the crude oil that is obtainable at their backyard. Even though Abuja can not boast of internally generated revenue sufficient to achieve such infrastructural development, it continues to develop and become beautiful while the States in the Niger delta oil producing region are riddled with poverty, under development and inadequate if not lack of infrastructure. This is the situation in which Nigerians at large find themselves.

I remember years ago, my Aunt that resides in the United States of America had to call the Hotel opposite our house and ask the receptionist to please call us so that she can speak to us. She will hang up and call back after about 10 minutes. Communication was a luxury and our Government made sure that getting a Nitel line was tasking and expensive. The infrastructures were in place to provide communication services to all but our Government was not proactive and responsible enough to make it happen. The case is different now. The solution; proactive, honest individuals with good intentions brought in their money into the sector and made it work for them

We can not continue to live in the bakery and not have enough bread to eat, swim in the ocean and yet complain of being dry. Government rules and regulations that constrain the free operation of market forces in the petroleum industry should be simplified or completely removed so that there will be healthy competition in the industry and the finished product derived from crude oil will become readily available to everyone. It has happened in the telecommunication industry in can happen in any other industry. We will get there!!