Nigeria Has Been Feeding West Africa With Fuel, Major Marketer Confirms
The Managing Director of the Northwest Petroleum & Gas Company Limited, Winifred Akpani has confirmed that Nigeria had been feeding the whole of the West African subregion with subsidized fuel long before the government of Bola Tinubu removed it.
Speaking to newsmen shortly after a solidarity visit to President Tinubu today, June 7, at the Presidential villa, Abuja the major oil marketer said: “we have been feeding the whole West Africa Sub Saharan Africa, with fuel.
“Since last week Monday, and it’s difficult to believe that it’s only 10 days that this happened, if you check, all those neighboring countries have all their prices shot up.
“Probably maybe Niger is the cheapest with about N580 per liter because they were all feeding on Nigeria’s fuel.”
She defended the removal of the subsidy, saying that it is all about repositioning the country.
“I think Nigeria has suffered for too long. It’s about putting your money in the right place. “We spent like N4 trillion last year. We have spent N4 trillion this year for the first three, four months already.
“We are at about spending 2.7 trillion in subsidy and by the end of this year, we would have been at over 6.7 trillion. How much of that really goes to the populace?”
The boss of the oil marketer stressed that Nigeria cannot be subsidizing the whole of Africa, especially when the country has a lot of its own problems.
“So we came today to express our support and to see how we can cooperate with government because ultimately, you can’t kill the people you’re trying to save. So we’re not going to sit back and say, hey, yes, you have removed subsidy, so it’s fine. There are a aches, there are pains, what can we all do?”
She said that a lot of suggestions were made to the President on how to move the country forward.
She said that over time, Nigeria had depended on PMS because it was cheap, regretting that gas was not developed. “There’s electricity. So we’ll have alternate sources of energy. It doesn’t have to be PMS.
Now suddenly, we now realize that we have gas in abundance.
“There was no fresh investment. Nobody’s going to invest in an economy that is not free. “You’re going to have restrictions. since maybe July last year, I don’t think NNPC has paid anything into the Federation accounts.
“As a matter of fact, we’re actually going to start billing the Federation because there was spending more on a subsidy than they were earning. So these are the problems and that’s why we said it was important for the government to understand that we do support and we are very willing and able to help Nigeria transit this situation.
“The President did listen to us very graciously. And it was interesting, because we all suddenly remember that he’s an accountant first and foremost.
“He asked and he interjected with very, very intelligent questions, and he understood what we meant by saying we want a complete free market. “Free market to have one exchange rate so people can stop trading in dollars. When there’s free exchange rate then we can compete in importation, have competitive licensing, and having refineries running.
“Ee have gone through so many years of no fresh investments, all you ever see are new depot being built? Why is that because that’s all it takes. If you do that, then you become a marketer and you can begin to sell fuel but no. And we also try to explain that whereas you were buying 10,000 matrix ton of petrol for N4 billion, today you have to pay N12 billion. So it’s also important to recognize the fact that the pain is not only for the populace, it’s for the marketers, we’re going to see mergers.
“We’re going to have drop off because that’s a lot of money. But that’s also not to say that we’re going to have scarcity No. Finally we’re going to have our real volumes. “We have stopped feeding most of Africa already, the volumes have dropped. And it’s not only because you’re saying we can’t afford transportation. It’s only the man who has a Jeep that will spend N70,000 now to fuel his car.
“The man who doesn’t have a car doesn’t have to worry about that. All he needs is transportation. And to that extent, we recognize this fact that we have to have an effective mass transit system so that people don’t want to be bothered to drive cars have alternatives, and they’re not going to be stuck at home because they can move.
“So, most of what we talked about is how do we go from here? How can we actually make it work? How can we go back to almost the points where we are before? It’s possible.
“And I say that with all sense of responsibility. And one good thing we also have recognize is the fact that a lot of jobs are going to be created, new businesses are going to come up.
“That’s an adage that says sometimes if you don’t shut a door a window doesn’t open. “And you will find out that maybe that window that opens because of the timing, there’s a lot of opportunity that comes through that.
“So for us it was a very, very good meeting. And we had an input in which we also were able to discuss about helping the economic team, participating in what they’re doing, because they were the people on the field were the ones doing this distribution. What can we do differently?
“And one thing that the President also stated clearly is that we must minimize frictions in this system. We must have a free market that works. “Whether is licensing if you say you are licensing, how long does it take to license it has to be done promptly.
“So in a nutshell, I think that covers essentially what this meeting was all about. We believe by July, which is only a month away, we’re going to begin to really see what is being put in place to help, to assist and to make sure that people can go back to seamless living.
“And we all collectively agree that we’re going to work at providing real mass transit buses that work, the ones that run on CNG, which is a compressed natural gas and diesel interchangeably, and hopefully we’re going to start with about 50 to 100.
“And that is in the very, very short term. And these are locally produced, so you see that we’re also providing jobs, a lot more jobs because we’re using local assembly plants, we are not importing this.
“That is less pressure on our foreign exchange, and that’s more jobs for Nigerians. And Mr President was very happy with that. And we’re really relieved to thank the President because he has a perfect understanding of a lot of the issues.
“I guess we’re not surprised but we were almost amazed to use that word. He asked all the right questions and he pointed to who could solve this problem and that problem.
“So like I said, we’re really, really grateful that we’ve had this interaction, and we’ll take it from there.
“And hopefully, everybody here and Nigerians at large will begin to see that even if this sounded very difficult, it’s a very, very good move, and very courageous.
“We’ve been trying to do this for so many years. “No president has had the courage to do this. “But now we’ll have to face it and like we said, support is what is required now to sit this through.”
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When Preparation Meets Leadership; Tinubu Happens, by Fredrick Nwabufo
The past one week has been one of the most momentous in the life of the nation. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu dared the undared, and triumphed. He passed a knotty test of leadership. The first of its kind. Under a haze of threats of strike by labour unions over the abrogation of petrol subsidy, President Tinubu showed peerless leadership, preparation, and attunement. When preparation meets leadership, Tinubu happens.
With mounting national debts, desiccating revenue, haemorrhaging economy, corruption, and shadowy sectoral enterprise, the removal of subsidy on petrol is coming at an auspicious time. It is either we slither down the snaky tunnel to certain economic peril or we buck up, pull together, and confront this bogeyman menacing us for decades.
Tough decisions are expected. President Tinubu affirmed a fait accompli when he said in his inaugural address that petrol subsidy ‘’is gone’’. The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 signed by former President Buhari already made the petrol subsidy regime inoperative. Although the effective abolishment of the scheme was delayed until the end of June 2023, there are no funds to finance the deficit.
But the President had been forthright and genuine about his intentions on petrol subsidy. He said during the campaigns that he would not maintain the parlous order, and that he would stop the haemorrhage.
Nigeria had been borrowing to fund petrol subsidy. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) was spending as much as N400 billion every month to subsidise the petrol price. According to Mele Kyari, NNPCL CEO, Nigeria has racked up $6 billion in petrol subsidy debts. The scheme is projected to have wolved over N11 trillion in eight years. This is clearly not sustainable, not even for any avidly populist government. Without an accurate data of Nigeria’s daily petrol consumption quota, the petrol subsidy regime was nebulous and prone to abuse, and chronic venality. Much of the subsidised product is believed to be smuggled to neighbouring West African countries by profiteers.
The argument for petrol subsidy retention is an emotive one that obviates the filth in the system. Nigeria is a quasi-socialist country, a highly subsidised country. Corruption thrives partly because of the regime of subsidies.
The President once said he had prepared himself, all his life, to lead Nigeria. His artful management of the concomitants and corollaries of the petrol subsidy removal accents this conviction. He has triumphed where many leaders failed. How did he do it?
On Monday, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) suspended the planned strike. Earlier, the Joint Health Workers Union of Nigeria (JOHESU) suspended its planned strike as well. A government delegation had been meeting with the labour unions, negotiating terms of entente. The president, himself, had met with the leadership of JOHESU. He did not stay behind the ornated walls of his office while his aides do the jaw-jawing. He got his hands on the wheel.
The President was unambiguous about his proposition to the unions – providing palliatives, particularly minimum wage review — to cushion the effects of petrol subsidy removal. At a meeting with some governors, the president had said: “We need to do some arithmetic and soul searching on the minimum wage. We will have to take a look at that together, and the revenue. We must strengthen the source and application of our revenue.’’
The federal government and the labour unions agreed to ‘’establish a joint committee to review the proposal for any wage increase or award and establish a framework and timeline for implementation” and ‘’to review World Bank Financed Cash Transfer scheme and propose inclusion of low-income earners in the programme.’’
Evidently, the President anticipated a problem and primed a solution.
During the campaigns, the President made a valiant statement on axing petrol subsidy and other economic blackholes. What many considered a political suicide attempt at the time. But he stuck to his guns.
He said: “By all means, you must have electricity. And you won’t pay for estimated billing anymore. When I become president, multiple exchange rates will go away. Write it down. How can we be subsidising fuel consumption of Cameroon, Niger, Benin Republic? No matter how long you protest, we are going to remove subsidy. We can do it. We are educated enough.’’
The honesty, courage and forthrightness exemplified by the President in this instance was infectious. He did not dilly-dally or play around the critical issue with political chicanery; he made a firm statement and asked Nigerians to hold him to his word.
And staying true to principle, his first presidential dispatch was to permanently seal the drainpipe. He showed sincerity of purpose, genuineness, and clarity of mind. Honesty is infectious. Nigerians saw the sincerity of the President and the decisiveness of his leadership. He did not get into the saddle and change from Rock and Roll to Rhythm and Blues; he maintained the same tempo; the same energy, the same oomph; the same vision, the same truth, and the same purpose. When preparation meets leadership, Tinubu happens.
The President has earned public trust and goodwill for his honesty and firmness of character. He is aware. Two days after his inauguration, two law enforcement agencies got into a public brawl. He did not dither. He did not vacillate. He did not look away. He issued a stern reprimand.
Nigeria has a leader who is not afraid of taking tough decisions for the greater good. The President may have prepared himself for leadership, but destiny prepared him for Nigeria at this time.
Fredrick Nwabufo, Nwabufo is a media executive.