Let me begin by declaring that I am a neophyte when it comes to what it takes in the processes leading to the production of petroleum products. But, this I know – nature has endowed Nigeria with so much petroleum resources.
As at 2022, Nigeria had proven oil reserves of approximately 37 billion barrels, equivalent to 237.3 times its annual consumption. This means that, without Net Exports, there would be about 237 years of oil left (at current consumption level and excluding unproven reserves). It is ranked as the second largest in Africa and 10th largest in the world.’ Therefore, all things being equal, Nigerians should not suffer because of scarcity or exorbitant prices of petroleum products. A Nigerian adage says one cannot be in a river and use spittle to wash his face.
The current economic hardships and groaning Nigerians are going through because of the astronomical hike in the prices of petroleum products is unheard of in Nigeria’s history in peace times. Many Nigerians had hoped that Tinubu’s presidency would usher ‘renewed hope’ and make life better for them compared with that of his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari. But it is like President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is responding by reminding Nigerians of the biblical story in 1 Kings 12:14, ‘my father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.’
How else can anybody explain the justification of a litre of petrol selling as high as N1,500 in some parts of the country?
Understandably, the removal of subsidy on petrol on May 29, 2023, is the root cause. After the removal, the Federal Government assured that it would soon put on measures to reduce the attendant sufferings of Nigerians. It gave assurance that it would roll out vehicles powered by Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), which would drastically reduce the cost of transport fares. Till date, we are still waiting!
The Federal Government promised that it would soon establish places in different states of the Federation where motorists could take their vehicles for conversion to CNG. We are still waiting! In August, last year, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum, Heineken Lokpobiri assured that ‘Port Harcourt Refinery will come on board by the end of the year, adding that two other refineries in Warri and Kaduna will start processing crude between the first quarter and end of 2024.’ Year 2023 has since ended and the year 2024 will soon come to an end. We are still waiting!
These timelines on the coming on stream of Nigeria’s refineries by the Federal Government and its officials are nothing but a pyramid of lies on the exact state of our refineries, in spite of the billions of dollars sunk in its so-called Turn Around Maintenance. Every lie has an expiry date. The immortal lines of Thomas Hobbes: “When men build on false grounds, the more they build, the greater is the ruin,” comes handy.
Various questions have remained unanswered concerning why the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) cannot operate our refineries. Are these refineries truly non-functional or they are deliberately made not to function in order to continuously serve as drainpipes for siphoning of our collective resources by government officials and NNPCL? If it took less than 10 years for an individual, Aliko Dangote, to build his refinery from scratch, why is it taking the government over 25 years to revive its own?
The recent news that Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals has started production gladdened the hearts of most Nigerians with high expectations that prices of petroleum products will drastically reduce. But, our hopes were soon dashed as the NNPCL came up with a hoax that Dangote petrol was sub-standard, capable of destroying the engines of vehicles. Dangote used his might to deny the false narrative by the NNPCL. Hardly had we tried to digest the falsehood of NNPCL than it came up with a bigger lie. This time, NNPCL claimed Dangote was trying to monopolize the petroleum sector. Though this allegation cannot be ruled out because Dangote has almost done the same to the Cement Industry, what is stopping the NNPCL from making its four refineries work in order to neutralize the possible threat of Dangote monopoly in the petroleum sector?
After so much back-and-forth ‘drama’ between the NNPCL and Dangote Refinery and the greenlight was given for the lifting of Dangote Petrol, we were told that Nigerians should only expect availability of petrol in all parts of the country and not significant reduction in the pump prices of petroleum products. Nigerians, to their chagrin, were told that it is the NNPCL that would determine the price of Dangote Petrol.
Where has it been heard that a company that has failed woefully like the NNPCL determined the price of the same product that an emerging company owned by an individual is to sell? Why can’t Dangote sell directly to NNPCL, Independent and Major Marketers rather than NNPCL dictating the terms and conditions upon which Dangote Refinery is to sell its product?
The late Afrobeat king, Fela Anikulapo Kuti had an answer in his song, Government Magic. Hear him: ‘them go dabaru everything…them go turn green into white…them go turn red into blue…them go turn electric into candle…’ Is Dangote Refinery solely owned by one person, Alhaji Aliko Dangote or a company owned by Nigeria’s political, military and bourgeois elites, some of whom have stolen Nigeria blind?
