5 September 2008
editorial
Since June, households where kerosene is the source of fuel have been experiencing untold hardship in getting the product from major selling points across the country.
In Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna as well as Enugu and Port Harcourt reports reveal the same trend as people in long queue wait in vain at designated outlets including the NNPC mega stations. Yet, we recall that some few weeks ago, President Umaru Yar'adua launched the N50 per litre kerosene initiative introduced by African Petroleum,[AP] aimed at alleviating scarcity of the product.
According to accounts, many reasons including hoarding, smuggling and diversion of the product for use as aviation fuel explain the acute shortage of the product. While the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) attributed the scarcity to what it described as "unwarranted hoarding"; the Depot and Petrol Marketers Association of Nigeria (DPMAN) imputed it to inadequate supply from the NNPC depots across the country. The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG), ascribed the scarcity to the activities of some oil marketers who they accused of converting the product to aviation fuel in order to reap high profit. Still, the NNPC recently announced that due to the low production capacity of the refineries, the nation would experience kerosene scarcity for a period of time, but assured that government has resorted to importation of the commodity in order to bridge the gap. It is almost 4months now, still the scarcity persist.
The scarcity has, as expected caused the present high cost of the product which range between N100 and N120 pump price per litre as against N65 per litre previously. Consequently retail price has skyrocketed to N175 per litre as against the old price of N70 per litre. The trend has provided ample opportunity for middlemen to carry out their nefarious activities unchecked, thus forcing the end users, particularly in rural communities to resort to felling of trees for firewood, a development which is detrimental to the on going battle against desertification. The scarcity has persisted so far because those who use kerosene for fuel are in the lower wrung of society. The environmental cost of prolonged scarcity of kerosene would be a resort to wood as source of fuel, with its implication for deforestation. Government should therefore intensify effort towards finding a lasting solution to the scarcity.
Over the years, government at all levels have cultivated the bad habit of being insensitive to the suffering and yearning s of the populace particularly on issue like this. Since governance is all about people, it will be wrong of those in authority to be insensitive to issues that border on the welfare of the masses. In the short term, government should begin to look for alternatives fuel for domestic use as well as initiate punitive measures against those hoarding or diverting the commodity from the market. The situation would also be curtailed if government make it mandatory for every fuelling station to lift kerosene and make it available for consumers at subsidised rate.
The Kerosene situation today is a measure of the failure of previous government to develop and harness the solid mineral sub sector of the economy which could best provide option to the over dependence on kerosene and gas as sole products for domestic use. For instance, the coal mining industry in the eastern part of the country which has been abandoned over the years can be revamped, while industrial waste like the sawdust could also be put to use in our kitchens. All these, if properly developed would definitely provide succour to most families who cannot afford to buy kerosene or gas for domestic use.
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