I intended to post this piece last two weeks, but I had issues with my internet connection which has now been rectified though. Although the situation has considerably improved, but I believe the issues raised here are still not remedied, therefore the piece is still relevant. Enjoy.
For the past few days, long queues at the filling stations across the northern states and the capital Abuja have resurfaced, proving wrong those who thought the queues at the stations were a thing of the past. Why should not them think that we have passed that era since the president assured and reassured us that we would never stay for as long as 15 minutes at the filling stations when we go to refill? That the government had taken measures to make sure that it never happen again. That those selling the products in jerrycans by the road sides would soon had to get something doing as we would have no reason whatsoever to buy fuel from them because of its abundance at the filling stations. Perhaps the mother of all assurances came when Mr. President while campaigning at the last April elections asked the Nigerians to vote for him for reason that he was able to bring to an end the fuel scarcity, and promised when he was voted he would do whatever to keep the status quo ante. Isn't it ironic that even before the president takes his oath of office that the queues resurfaced?
People who actually have an idea on how the system works did not believe Mr. President when he said that. It doesn't require somebody to be genius to know that so long as transportation of the products is left exclusively at the hands of NARTO, and with the greediness for which this association is characterised with, the fuel crises will never be solved in this country. When the queues started to appear, in a blatant attempt by the government to deceive us as they always do, they attributed it to the holidays that were observed at that time, then later they said it was the post elections violence. Now that all those things are way behind us and the problem still persists, they decided to be a little bit more honest by claiming that they are trying to reach a workable bridging claim with the transportes which may accumulate to about #2 billion monthly if the government succumb to the increase of 45 percent freigth rate as being claimed by the transporters. The plain truth is the government can not continue to be paying this 'subsidy' to the transporters for long, and as we don't have any alternative to them, they will continue to be hiking the rate and be holding the country to ransom at the sligthes provocation.
The solution? Well, I have always argued that unless the government is going to revive one of these two or both, then any spell we may have of the availability of fuel is just going to be temporary. Repair the pipelines or revive the railways. That is all. These are the only solutions to this fuel crisis. You either be pumping the products through the pipelines or be transporting it by rail. One has to look at what the government spends every month on this 'subsidy' which stands now at staggering # 1.5 billion and which could well sky rocket to #2 billion if the transporters' demands are met by the government, and also the amount the government spends every month for repairing the roads which the transporters help considerably in putting it in its dilapidated condition with their heavy duty traillers and for which they don't pay corresponding taxes, and see if a total of such amount in a year can not make significant work in the revival of our railways. However, if anyone thinks the government will make the same calculations will be even more disappointed than those that voted for Mr. President on the promise that fuel crises would be over if he was elected.
Nigeria is being led by a visionless leadership, that is just the plain and bitter truth! So its better that we do not expect that from the government for fear of us being disappointed if it never happen.
No comments:
Post a Comment