Yesterday, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, on behalf of the Federal Government, made an announcement that is of great national import. It was equal in rank to a national presidential broadcast because it touched on an issue that represents a tectonic shift in the national policy regulating the provision of petrol to service the national economy. He informed the country of the Government’s decision to deregulate the price of petrol to ensure that the private sector can participate in the importation of that vital product.
The NNPC, constrained by foreign exchange unavailability, does not have the financial muscle to import the volume of petrol that can satisfy domestic demand. The wisdom of the new policy is that it will act as an incentive for the private sector to source, from any legitimate place, the foreign exchange with which to import a product that has a very ready market in the country. The nation consumes about 40 million litres of petrol daily. Any businessman or organisation who/which has the money to import such a commodity is not likely to suffer a loss. It is therefore hoped that this new policy will ensure the ready availability of petrol and spare motorists, commuters, industrialists and just about all Nigerians the pains and agonies we have been going through for the past 30 or more years and especially in recent times when we suffered prolonged fuel scarcity.
This new measure will ensure that greed for higher profits and sabotage on the part of retail outlets are eliminated. As is common with some radical changes, in the short-run, Nigerians may witness a high increase in the price of petrol. But as happened in the telecommunication sector, market forces or fierce competition will eventually force the price down to the benefit of Nigerians and their economy. At a certain point, Nigeria will be saturated with petrol to the point that none will have to worry about deploying forces to prevent the diversion of the commodity to neighbouring countries.
The sight of unemployed but energetic young men and women selling a highly inflammable commodity like petrol in jerry cans, disgracing a country which is the sixth largest producer of crude oil, will come to an end. For me, the new shift represents freedom from self-inflicted pains.
This must have been the most painful but necessary decision ever taken by this administration which came into power on a wave of monumental goodwill. It is now compelled to take a decision which, at first glance, some uninformed Nigerians may think is a wicked move to further increase their suffering. But on second consideration, no informed patriot will question its intention or capacity to free the country from the endless pains it has endured each time there is hiccup in the supply of this most essential commodity. While an increase is certainly not a thing to rejoice about, the availability of the product on a sustainable level will surely be a welcome development to Nigerians.
The folly that because oil is a free gift of nature to Nigerians we must therefore get it almost for free or at a lower price than obtains at the global market has finally been put to rest because it has cost us very dearly. There was a year in this country that we spent a scandalous one quarter of our national budget to subsidise petrol. If such an amount of the national budget had been spent on subsidizing farmers, this country would have become self-sufficient in food production and saved the about 22 billion dollars we spend each year importing all manner of food.
What the Buhari Government has done is what is called leadership. Sometimes a leader who truly loves his country is called upon to take a decision that may be painful or controversial but which he is convinced is in the ultimate overall interest of the economic and social well-being of the country. For years, the retention of subsidy has brought in its wake pains of unimaginable level to the country. Many past leaders have lacked the political will to put a decisive end to a matter that has not brought any tangible benefit to the quest for national development.
Even before this announcement was officially made, many stakeholders had become aware of the government’s plan, and retail outlets reacted by hoarding in order to enjoy higher prices when the information is made official. In the past few days, fuel queues were re-surfacing across the country. This new reminder of an old pain is merely a swan song. It is the dying cry of a painful affliction that reminded the country every once in a while that there was something wrong with a policy of subsidy which was meant to be a temporary thing but which became a normal thing for so long before a president who meant well for his country had the guts to do away with it, because he loves his country
For me, it is like a heavy cross has finally been taken off the frail shoulders of the nation. In my humble opinion, Nigerians should accept the new price regime in good faith and pray that, because of the small sacrifice they are compelled to make now, fuel scarcity will be permanently banished from our shores.
LEADERSHIP
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