Fuel scarcity increases unemployment, inefficiency

Nigeria’s economic hardship is further being aggravated by the acute shortage of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol.

BusinessDay findings reveal that this situation is compounding the unemployment problems and the general inefficiencies in public life in the country, with many business concerns grinding to a halt as a result of lack of electricity supply and acute petrol shortages.

Supply chain operators say food and other commodity prices could rise significantly in the days to come because the cost of transportation is sure to rise if relief does not come in good time.

Many motorists have started sleeping at filling stations just to get fuel for their vehicles.

Despite this discomfort they often have to give out tips before they can fill their tanks.

Some workers who spoke to BusinessDay commuting to work has become a strain because the cost of transport keeps rising.

However, Igwe Achese, president of the National Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Association of Nigeria (NUPENG)has described as unfortunate, the statement credited to Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, the  minister of state for petroleum, to the effect  that the country would have to endure the lingering fuel situation until the end of May.

Achese said if the minister monitors the depots well, and does not allow them to hoard fuel, the current problem would soon be resolved.

“It is unfortunate that the minister made such statement”, he said.   

Also commenting on the ministers comment, the Organised Private Sector (OPS) faulted the minister, saying  the statement has led to the price  of the product skyrocketing because of the acute shortage of fuel and massive queues for the product in Lagos and Abuja .

John Kachikwu, Chairman, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Small and Medium scale Enterprise Group (SMEG),  said that such a statement was unacceptable to Nigerians when businesses were dying over non-availability of petroleum products.

He explained that the minister’s stance on the fuel scarcity was already causing untold hardship to businesses, as operators were groaning under the persisting fuel scarcity.

  According to him,  the NNPC has failed Nigerians over its inability to end the fuel scarcity, adding that the unabated scarcity of the product was contributing to the high cost of manufacturing.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has in a statement decried what it termed “misinterpretation’’ of an otherwise benign and sincere assessment of the fuel supply scenario by Kachikwu during a brief chat with State House Correspondents at the Presidential Villa, after leading members of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) to a meeting with  President Buhari.

The statement said that the Minister’s candour is in keeping with the regime’s policy to be open and sincere with Nigerians at all times.

“For the avoidance of doubt, it is pertinent to state that efforts are in full gear to eliminate all extraneous factors which have so far impeded the free flow of petrol across the country, especially the issue of foreign exchange for oil marketers which the Honourbale Minister is working with the Central Bank of Nigeria to resolve”, the NNPC stated.

It therefore apologise to Nigerians for the recent hardship in assessing petroleum products, the NNPC assured of normalization of the fuel supply and distribution system in the weeks ahead.

Olusola Bello