OUR governments have notoriety for failing in their promises. This character is solely responsible for the vicious attacks on the planned deregulation of the oil industry. There is even the sinister conclusion that what government is aiming at is not deregulation, but price increase.
The protests have begun. They have become the traditional labour and civil society manner of telling governments that they disagree with the acclaimed benefits of deregulation. This time the protests would be stronger, probably without eliciting any reactions from an irresponsive government.
We have been at them for more than 20 years. Lives have been lost, trillions of Naira has gone into government coffers without the promised improvements in electricity, transportation, education, health services.
Government owes the citizenry a constitutional responsibility of providing infrastructure for the growth and development of society. Whichever road government travels to arrive at this destination must be one that gives the people minimal pain and inconvenience.
Government does not see the importance of a relationship with the people that is built on understanding that the essence of government is security and welfare of the people, as stated in Section 14 (2) b of the 1999 Constitution.
Arguments on deregulation of petroleum prices would always remain emotional. The same bait of better infrastructure that has not been achieved in the past two decades of debates on petroleum products are still in vogue. Debates have lasted because government has not been truthful. While General Ibrahim Babangida, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua have expended huge resources wooing leadership of labour and civil society groups, the public worries are unattended.
Government’s expenditure of N1.802.4 trillion on subsidy in the last four years is scandalous. The figure is more than four times its expenditure on capital projects in four years. The breakdown is N255.7 billion in 2006, N290 billion in 2007 and N654.7 billion in 2008 and about N602 billion so far this year.
Allegations of corruption in the oil sector receive poor responses from government. Accountability is poor and even another federal agency, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, accuses the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, of not remitting revenue due to the government.
Labour wants subsidy retained, arguing there were avoidable wastes in the system from demurrage and corruption. Subsidy is the platform on which large scale corruption thrives.
Diesel has been deregulated in the past three years. Most of the big commuter buses run on diesel. Regulated price of petrol at N65 per litre holds in Lagos, Abuja, parts of Port Harcourt and a few other places. The rest of the country buys petrol at deregulated prices.
The new protests should centre on ensuring deregulation which would enthrone competitiveness and better services (not just price increases). Government’s talk of using money that would be saved in improving infrastructure provided no details of intention.
Labour and civil society organisations should devise better ways of holding government accountable for how it uses the saving from deregulation.
How can you talk of deregulation when the evil cabal has ruined our refineries and fuel depots?? Gone are the days when we had four refineries functioning at near-full capacity and all the fuel depots in ore, etc were supplying fuel to all parts of the country. Before you talk of deregulation, all the refineries and fuel depots must be fixed and made functional. Licences should be given foe setting up of refineries at different parts of nigeria
Repeated increases have not solved the problem because the Naira continues to loose value while crude oil prices have continued to increase. Global oil supplies are dwindling while demand is growing. Any student of economics will tell you that this is a recipie for continued increase in oil prices. If we continue to subsidise, what will happen when the population increases to 200million, cars on our roads double and crude oil becomes $200pb? By then we will be spending all out national income on subsidy. Meanwhile, where will the jobs for that 200m population come from when all we have done is spend money on subsidy when we could have been building capacity of our economy. I have never heard any of our refineries recruiting, and rarely do I hear that NNPC is recruiting, but at least we often see Shell, Mobil, NNLG, Chevron etc advertise for recruitment. Same way I have never heard of Nitel recruiting, but most of us know people who work in MTN, Zain, Visaphone, Glo, Etisalat etc. If we had not deregulated telecoms, where would all the people who work in these companies be working today?? Nitel?? It may take some time for the deregulation to settle down (just like telocoms took a few years to settle down), but all in all, despite the short term pains, it is better for this economy in the long run.
Very interesting and amusing subject. I read with great pleasure.
Deregulation in itself will lessen the subsidy burden off the government. But the government of the day does not really know what it wants. Before deregulation of the downstram sector, the government should first all have gone ahead with making the 3 refineries functional and then selling them off. Secondly, educate the Nigerian population in a massive public highlightment campaign on the benefits (or otherwise) of this deregulation. This government is not sincere and does not mean well for its citizens, period.
Deregulation in itself is not a bad concept and I do believe that those opposed to the deregulation of the petroleum sector understand better then I do. Nigerians worries are, what will happen to the monies that will accrue as a result of the deregulations.These to me are the problem rather then the concept.
God Help Nigerians
Indeed we may have our strong biases about the integrity of people we have had in leadership: Hence all the pungent pessimism about the effectiveness of Deregulation for job creation and fiscal improvements. Nevertheless, however ineffective, there are structures for dealing with curruption, ineptitude, abuse of office etc. There is now Bode George, the Omisore may be on the way with others…..
We must however not let our biases becloud what is in itself an intrinsically good policy – Deregulation. The initial impact will be drastic and affect most of us since we are presently importing and the refineries are below capacity and there are no private ones yet. But if we don’t deregulate, we may never get out of that cycle. Investors are not investing because of Regulation in the sector. Once these are removed, Total, Shell, Chevron and their like who have refineries elsewhere, will find better economics in refining here than transporting crude to great distances before refining. The resultant refineries will creat job in Nigeria.
When GSM came, I bought MTN sim card for N20,000 at a time in 2001/02. Today it is almost free. Call tarrif was about N30/minute, Today there are Glo, Etisalat, VISA, Starcomms etc at very much lower rates and gives us a communications choice. You know what is happening to Nitel now. When you deregulate, these present refineries will end up like Nitel.
As a Chistian, will you for fear of pain, fail to circumcise your son early? or Will you wait until he is old enough to bear the pain or take anaestheics?
Now is the time in our history to Deregulate, Sanitise our electorial system, Fight corruption and bad governance. All who agree should standup and be counted as PATRIOTS.
the old tricks work no more. Nigerians will not take the FG serious for whatsoever reason any more. since mid 70s when obj came to the political scene, our leadership seized to be trustworthy. needless to say infrastructure is paramont to industrial advancement, these woods (leaders) deaf and dump, never care to listen to common sence. this time arround, FG is in for the excesses of our dirty politicians. whether deregulation or not, there will be no going back on unions and students actions. the people are taking their destinies in their hands and will proof that the led are the boss and the leaders the savants (employees).
let it be known to every one that gasoline at N65per litre is not in any way subsidized. These vampires (FG), blood suckers politicians, literarily and metaphorically , retualists, must be buried alive. Hell is their portion for subjecting 150 million to hardship that knows no end.
corrupt leaders, embezzlers,mismanagers, election riggers, murderers, money launderers, smugglers, economic saboteurs, what elss describe these “animals called men”.
It is just too sad that in this present day and time, Nigeria as a country cannot boast of simple basic infrastructure. The government cannot provide common electricity for the teaming masses of this dilapidated nation. I am beginning to think that the only role of government in this country is to increase the prices of fuel and nothing else. Call it deregulation, regulation or whatever! In other parts of the world, government caters for the well being of its citizens but in Nigeria, People cater for their government. Nigerians are not asking for so much from these visionless leaders, they only ask for basic infrastructure and enabling environment so they can fend for themselves.
THE GREAT SEARCH
The Nigeria for sale and deregulation call, so as to remove subsidy’s another incentives for corruptions-but more dreadful:
To perfect the “mago-mago” perestroiska of our economy system a systematic organic call is now having his way through as the most enabling doctrine to faceout scarcity of oil and boost supply to satisfy the accrueing of demand in the market and improved on price, even though we lack the basic requirement of technology of exploration, extraction, storage, refining, distribution and the geology equation and the environment implications without the manpower resources to drive the sector. or the idea of deregulation of a sector is not all about price alone, it is the somme total of a factors that is considered which enable economists to determine if a sector is market mature, and that deregulation will remove some of the obnoxious obstacles to free the sector for “in and out” of capital investment and render it more attractive and competitive with all factors variable or non variable available but under-employed.
But in Nigeria, here is a country bless with oil but lack the infrastructure and the human capitals talking of deregulation, to bring in more foreign multi-national or to do what? because déja the oil sector is already deregulated with ownership of oil well in the hands of individuals ex-Nigerians owning expliotable oil champs all over the Niger-Delta, and yet nothing in term of inputs had happened that the private ownership added as value to the shrinking and moribond state of the sector- the privatisation of all the petroleum champs and sea level of Nigeria, in the Niger-Delta, had long been handed over to few cabals where Danjuma, Orji kalu etc now owned oil well had not contributed in anyway to improve situation or anything in the oil sector. What we had now is a situation where some Nigerians, are now proprietors of the natural resources of Nigeria, through the Nigeria “perestroika mago-mago”( what the Russians fight against under President Putin) ownership of the only source of revenu the nation had, and this had been leg to individuals of questionable characters without having any business venture office nor knowledge of how to put together a multi-national company of national interest to develop the sector from exploring to the final product.
Therefore, deregulation in the Nigeria, sense is a call to all Ex, if you are ex-military rulers, ex-civil servants directors and permanent secretary, ex-civilian politicians,ex-governors and ex-bankers between the ages of 45-80years, and are crafty, solidly gifted, bless with corrupt appetite. You are the candidates the nation call Nigeria is looking for in the deregulation exercice of the total over-hauling or surrender of the oil sector to few physical nonentity Nigerians, of ex- individuals.
To be candidates you must have been an ex- convict or possess the quality of being convicted. You are hereby require to report at “Aso -Rock” to receive your certificate of ownership of the privatisation regulation of the remaining of the Niger-Delta oil wells sharing, which was base on precedent track-record of corrupt practices, the absence of office and employ Nigerians and the total absence of notion of business expertise for enterpreneurship venture of business enterprise.
God bless Nigeria.