It appears the over two decades of suffering by Nigerians to access petroleum products which the country is one of the major producers have just started with Dangote’s monopoly of all facets of our national life,w and the pretences of bringing to an end many years of scarcity and energy crisis in the country.
Nigeria should not contemplate cutting off importation of the products inspite of the shady deals surrounding the exercise and favouritism prevalent in the system over the decades.
The lack of transparency displayed by Dangote Refinery has subsumed the fanfare that came with the commencement of local refining of petroleum products and it’s availability aside the ones made available by NNPCL in recent times.
The controversies surrounding the inauguration of Dangote Refinery by the immediate past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari was enough sign that the group may not satisfy the aspirations of Nigerians, except the economic prosperity of the organization.
The commissioning of the Multi billion dollar Dangote Refinery was expected to commence production immediately, but one year down the line , it was shrouded in between buying the products in dollars or local currency and appointing NNPCL as the sole distributor and marketer, fixing the prices as against the policy of deregulation in the global world, but practicable in Nigeria.
With the new pricing regime announced by NNPCL and the controversies surrounding it , it appears both the owners of the new refinery, Dangote Group and NNPCL are exposed of their translucent deal over the years in the area of construction and running of the new refinery.
For the sake of monopoly, Dangote Refinery and NNPCL has agreed to be the sole off taker of the products to the general public, living millions of Nigerians in the business to wallow in abject poverty , with no choice of buying it at exorbitant rates to cover the hidden subsidy regime of the present administration.
Dangote Refinery who is positioned to protect his business and investments has gone on collision course with the Nigeria’s government and NNPCL to make life unbearable to ordinary Nigerians, through erratic fixing of pricing regime that may move towards 1,500 per litre in the coming months.
As a wholly single investor in the new Refinery business, it is obvious that what Dangote cannot practice both in the Cement, Sugar, Salt, Rice and others over the years through sales of its products to government and its agencies alone, is now practicable in the oil business.
These alone was an indicator that Dangote Refinery has debuted to make life meaningless to ordinary Nigerians, rather than meaningful way of living expected by them when Dangote Refinery came on board.
The inability of Dangote Refinery to fix the price of his new product shows a double collaboration between it and the NNPCL, an indicator that Nigeria will continue to import PMS overtime.
The dollar -naira quagmire in terms of foreign exchange availability is enough for the Nigerian government to combine with Dangote Refinery, so as to continue to make life unbearable to ordinary Nigerians, through erratic fixing and determination of prices of petroleum products in Nigeria going forward.
It is obvious that Dangote Refinery without the intervention of NNPCL does not even have the capacity of making the products available across the country, with the refinery inability to even provide 100 trucks in the first day of the commencement of leading of its products.
Ordinary Nigerians are already wallowing in the crises of multiplier effects of the new pricing regime by Dangote Refinery and NNPCL
This current development in the energy sector was a clear indicator of going back to beyond square one in the current situations, that the obvious consequences will be on ordinary Nigerians who are likely to buy fuel for 2,000 in times to come.
It is unfortunate that Dangote Refinery has extended its translucent practices in the manufacturing industry to the production and distribution of petroleum products, with government cut napping on the issue.
As Nigerians are expecting Dangote Refinery products to hit the market at not less than 1,000 , we hope that the new price regime will not further be determined by the foreign exchange rate , but in the local currency as proposed to commence in October, 2024.
Whatever happens between Dangote Refinery and NNPCL, Nigerians will be at the mercy of the decisions that is glaringly against the citizenry.
*ABUBAKAR YUSUF can be reached on [email protected].
