By Dailytab24.
Background
The message on the lips of every Nigerian to NNPC is ‘allow Dangote to openly sell fuel and ease the pains of Nigerians.
The message is a unique one, but it’s unfortunate that democracy in Nigeria is dead. The version of democracy practiced in Nigeria doesn’t need the voice of the people; of course, even when it’s time to cast a vote, the choice of Nigerians doesn’t matter. So, Nigerians can murmur the message or even speak it out as loud as possible, but the government will do as it pleases it.
Corruption is practiced to perfection in Nigeria; little wonder the former British Prime Minister said the country is “very, very fantastically corrupt.” He might have taken his time to study the complexities of the corrupt practices leaders engage in and the way they make it look like they know nothing about it. He must have also taken his time to observe how each leader covers its tracks to make sure no evidence is out there against him.
Hope
Dangote, while speaking last year about his refinery, noted how he was frustrated and could not get any form of help from the government. He credited the now imprisoned governor of the central bank for his efforts to make sure that the refinery was a success. He disclosed that the former central bank governor offered him loans and ensured that he had enough and a stable exchange rate to enable him to complete the construction.
When the refinery was being constructed, Nigerians were hopeful of a brighter future, believing that the price of premium motor spirit would crash. Of course, its not a crazy hope because the country has crude oil, which is the ‘raw material’ needed to produce fuel. The fuel would be homemade, and when the lifting and landing costs are removed, the cost price will be lower, and it changes everything.
Price Conflict
Months after the refinery became functional, we are entering unchartered water, where the dream or hope is clearly being snatched away from us by desperate cabals that gain from our pains.
No one envisaged that after the refinery has been completed, we would be here discussing how fuel would be sold and the amount it would be sold. We rightly thought it was an express issue; what is in our home, like Aba shoes, will be cheaper after all.
It took many of us by surprise to hear that the same fuel would be sold for nearly the cost of the imported fuel.
The price was announced after weeks of political and business nagging, where Dangote and the NNPC are debating what should happen and what should not happen. Eventually, they announced what happened, and we are right where we were before the refinery began operation.
If Dangote fuel is sold at nearly the price of imported fuel, what then happens to the lifting and landing cost that was included or projected to be the reason fuel is costly? If crude oil is in Nigeria and refinery is in Nigeria, which gives room for the subtraction of lifting and landing costs, can’t Nigerians get fuel at a cheaper rate?
The Twist
But corruption has eaten deep into the bone marrow of Nigerian leaders, to the point that even an obvious issue is twisted to corruptly gain from it.
We spent time waiting for NNPC to fight with everything it had to ensure that it is the one responsible for dictating the price of Dangote fuel. We hoped for a crashed price. Instead, it is fighting to make sure the market is not altered by Dangote’s pump price, which would force them to give up their import fuel business that had turned a monster taking away everything from Nigerians.
There is practically no way Dangote would buy crude oil at home, refine it at home, and still sell fuel at the rate NNPC is telling us. There have been multiple prices and details of what triggered the prices presented to Nigerians by the NNPC; the conflicting data made available to the public underscores the corruption going on behind the people.
It’s clear that Dangote is opposed to the politics and demands of the NNPC to get fuel cheaper from him and sell to Nigerians at a higher rate. They are also afraid that Dangote would speak publicly about what is going on, so they are afraid and trying to cause controversies to be able to defend it should the truth be made public.
Conclusion
NNPC is presenting itself as an agent that wants to negotiate a price with the owner of a house and then put his own high price to sell.
It is unfortunate that a sector that is supposed to be fending or fighting for Nigerians turned against Nigerians. The sector is now trying to take a pound of flesh from Nigerians and allow them to bleed to death.
If NNPC could allow Dangote to sell fuel and make the market open, it would be a significant breakthrough in the fight to lift Nigerians from economic hardship. The importance of fuel, especially due to lack of electricity, cannot be overestimated. The country needs fuel to power the economy, and it affects almost everything in the country; why then play politics of corruption with it?
This brings us to the question if the leaders in Nigeria really want the country to be better or if they are only focused on frustrating Nigerians and accumulating wealth primitively.
Dangote refinery has once again shown that the country has a long way to go unless political leaders eschew corruption and embrace patriotism.
