Promise Obatayo
Fuel is a commodity that has played tremendous roles like nuclear energy, heat or power in the lives of citizens of the country. Irrevocable roles like electricity supply, automobile movement and so on. Especially in a country like Nigeria where the economy depends solely on fuel for survival, and as a result of fuel scarcity is becoming a normal thing affecting citizens’ standard of living is affected in the society.
Oluwarotimi Gideon, who witnessed a long queues of vehicles at Akure filling station could not but explain the repute effects scarcity of fuel has caused on the country. In his own view, fuel scarcity occurred when Nigeria exports crude oil to other countries for processing.
“If we refine it here in Nigeria, there won’t be problems, the expenses incurred on it are too much, so it affects the price of fuel. The available fuel doesn’t meet up to the demand of the citizens,” he noted.
Gideon also raised the concern of how the scarcity of fuel is affecting Nigerians. He disclosed that the use of petroleum has taken over as a result of poor electricity supply. To him, Nigerians’ alternative way of generating light is through generators as people cannot do without electricity either at home or in their place of work.
“Fuel scarcity has affected most people who depend on daily income. People like the motorists who will be in a queue for several hours without getting fuel, this will surely affect their daily income,” Gideon remarked.
He further lamented on how the increments of transport fares have paralyzed the business of some citizens when people strive hard to get to their place of work at the appropriate time. He noted that some people will even buy fuel in reserve for the other days, some travel all around with filled barrels of petrol which could lead to a fire outbreak.
“We have refineries in Nigeria, but some of these refineries are not functioning, but I would advise the government to repair the refineries and also do what will benefit the citizens. Government should try to bring back righteousness to Nigeria and every individual should exhibit the fear of the Lord in their heart,” he said.
According to research, Nigeria is one of Africa’s largest oil producers and one of the world’s largest exporters. Nigeria produces almost two million barrels of crude oil daily and has been processing less than one hundred thousand barrels per day in the last few years.
However, most Nigerians are still faced with fuel scarcity. Citizens have reportedly been said to be suffering. Some in hard conditions of trekking long distances, and more often people queue in the filling stations to get fuel for their daily lives. Some filling stations dispense fuel to users while others sometimes shut their gates.
To Tackle Fuel Scarcity, Repair And Use The Refineries- Students Advice Government
The ongoing shortage of petroleum in Ondo State has raised concerns among students of tertiary institutions across the State. They narrated how the money spent as transport fares in a short distance have skyrocketed and things have become expensive because traders spend more money to transport the goods.
Citizens React
Benjamin Oluwatobiloba, a student of English Studies from Federal University of Oye Ekiti, FUOYE, noted that the shortage of petroleum in the country has jeopardized the country’s economy. He reacted that part of what led to this problem is greediness among leaders and followers.
“Fuel scarcity has really caused a lot of damage. Prices of commodities are on the rise everyday and when we ask why, people will say the price of fuel has increased which shouldn’t be.
Some people take advantage to extort money from other people using the high cost of fuel as an excuse.”
“There is also something called black market, where people buy fuel in abundance and start selling it to their neighbours at a high price.Scarcity of fuel has affected many industries, the entertainment world, and commercial activities, mostly transportation,” he said.
Aderibigbe Ololade, a student of Mass communication from Adekunle Ajasin University, Ondo State also reiterated that it is not good enough for a country of over 200 million occupants as estimated, to be experiencing fuel scarcity when the country actually has these natural resources. She said the shortage of fuel occurs when the government tries to increase the price of fuel.
“Earlier this year, the price of fuel was going back and forth and even the government was trying to remove petrol subsidies. The government knows that if there is scarcity of fuel, the fuel price will go up automatically and when there is scarcity, the price of fuel may not be reduced because whatever goes high in price in this country, does not always come down,” she noted.
According to her, the scarcity of fuel has affected a lot of businesses in the country, even as a student. “I am a final year student and I am currently working on my research projects. Whenever I go to the cafeteria to get my work printed out, I will be told that the price of printing has increased. What we do at the rate of twenty naira before has gotten to fifty naira per copy.”
“I had more financial burden on me and as a student it has affected me not to talk of the cafe man who has to run a small business on fuel all day and yet didn’t get the fuel at ease. We are suffering from a modern means of electricity, yet facing the scarcity of fuel. This has caused a lot of damage in the country,” Ololade said.
She however advised the government to be truthful and map out a system, “we have the petroleum in our country, why don’t they create a refinery where we can refine it.The government should also try to collaborate with the Niger Delta refiners and equipped them with what they need. The government should make them a body to become legal refiners.”
Janet Ayomikun Olojede, from Ondo State School of Health and Technology, Akure said the shortage of petroleum in this country has affected people’s life savings, even the health of buyers. Something in the process of queueing at the filling stations has been tampered with.
“Sometimes people queue to buy fuel for almost 3-4 hrs and before they could get it, they would have faced a lot of challenges like throat dryness, sunburn, fighting for space and this event affect their health.”
She remarked that both the students and the lecturers are affected by the scarcity of petroleum. “Lecturers don’t have enough petrol to drive to class and lecture the students. In that process, students start losing interest in going to class when lecturers don’t show up. I urge the government to try and restore normalcy,” Olojede reacted.
Alabi Aishat from AAUA also lamented how fuel scarcity has influenced the cost of things and this has been affecting her financial budget as a student.
“Fuel scarcity has affected a lot! I hardly take money from home because I know how the situation is. I have to manage myself, but the little I have is still being wasted on high transport fares due to fuel scarcity. It’s draining us as students and this can be rectified when the government sets a goal and takes responsibility for their actions.”
Aishat further added, “The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) does not have the resources or facilities to meet the fuel demand for the whole country. Nigeria imports fuels because the refineries are not working.”
“To reduce this rate of fuel scarcity, the government needs to repair the country’s refineries, so that Nigerians can produce petroleum instead of importing fuel from other countries,” she disclosed.
