EDITORIAL

PROHIBITIVE AND UNACCEPTABLE COST OF KEROSENE

Since April, the price of Kerosene has been on a steady and irrational increase. As at now, the price is over 300% of the government recommended price per litre. The critical importance of kerosene as a cooking fuel in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized as most families both in the urban and rural areas depend heavily on it.

Since 2007, the Federal Government has been fine-tuning arrangements for the deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry. Early this year, President Yar'Adua set up the Presidential Steering Committee on the Deregulation of Downstream Sector of the Petroleum Industry headed by his in-law, Gov Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State, with Gov Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State as member. Apart from the Presidential Steering Committee, there are other nebulous and often unproductive official groups in the oil industry that complicate issues. These include the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, which is primarily concerned with determining prices of petroleum products through its pricing template - the Petroleum Equalization Fund, whose activities are shrouded in secrecy; the Petroleum Trust Fund, which is supposed to cushion the prices of petroleum products; the NNPC; the major independent marketers, and other unproductive and counterproductive groups.

Added to this bedlam is the hare-brained government policy of the removal of subsidy on petroleum products. This policy has been stridently condemned across the nation but government would not back down, insisting that phased subsidy removal will in the long run compel market forces of demand and supply to determine prices of oil products.

As an oil producing nation, Nigeria has no choice than to subsidize her petroleum products as this is the only way the masses can benefit from the natural oil resources of their country. Without functional refineries, any attempt to remove fuel subsidy will cause untold hardships to the citizenry. Besides, removal of subsidies whether gradual (phased) or not, is bound to exacerbate domestic corruption as the various agencies put in place by government will collude to short-change the people.

Most importantly, post-Amnesty Nigeria should not complain of scarcity of petroleum products. There is now peace in the Niger Delta and the economic sabotage of the militants has been put on hold. The four refineries in Nigeria are comatose. But attempts can be to compel the major oil companies involved in oil prospecting and drilling to also maintain incipient refineries in their areas of operation. It might take some time and money to rehabilitate those refineries, but it will amount to little to compel the oil companies to maintain refineries. After all, thousands of “illegal” refineries are being discovered in the Niger Delta and destroyed by the JTF.

Nigerians are tired of our governments always talking about oil subsidy. There is no clear policy on oil. The NNPC is still manned by the Northern cabal. Nigeria's natural oil resources belong to Nigerians. Kerosene is very important to millions of Nigerians. Of course, there is the same upward price trend in the price pf PMS (Premium Motor Spirit) otherwise known as petrol. Once the price of petrol goes up, the complexion of the general economic activities in the country turns for the worst. Therefore government must come down from its high horse and urgently address the critical problem of the prohibitive rise in petroleum products, especially kerosene,

Government should not forget that increase in the price of essential commodities has led to the fall of governments. In 1789, the acute shortage of bread contributed to the collapse of the 'ancien regime' in France.

A stitch in time saves nine!