We are in a very difficult situation as Nigerians. Citizens are always left to suffer the brunt of government’s inefficiencies, illegal activities of private firms and their disregard for the safety and satisfaction of consumers.
When the failure of government is compounded by the sheer selfishness of some well-to-do citizens, the hope of getting things right becomes practically impossible.
For some weeks now, the cars and generating sets of many Nigerians have been damaged because they unknowingly bought adulterated fuel.
Under the watch of the Ministry of Petroleum, headed by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), adulterated fuel was imported and distributed to different parts of the country, resulting in avoidable hardship. Aside from the damages done to vehicles and machines powered by premium motor spirit, there is also the issue of fuel scarcity which many have had to battle with in recent times.
As is typical of such situations in Nigeria, a blame game has ensued, with no one willing to take responsibility for the act of negligence and oversight. Fuel stations told customers that the adulterated fuel was sold to them by licensed distributors. On their part, the distributors also faulted marketers for giving them poorly refined fuel, while marketers and the government have refused to take responsibility. It is particularly pathetic because the adulterated fuel passed through various supposed quality assurance stages before it was distributed. It goes without saying that the standard must have been compromised somewhere along the line. In saner climes, certain persons would have been held accountable and responsible for the criminal act of negligence that has led to untold hardship for many Nigerians.
Ordinarily, Nigeria, as an oil producing country, should not be going through such. Unfortunately, the country does not have functional refineries, so we have to depend on other countries to get our crude oil refined. I have thought about it thoroughly and I could not find any logical reason for an oil-producing country not to have a single functional refinery.
At the moment, citizens have to endure long queues and even pay bribes to petrol station attendants before they can purchase fuel. This is even as some fuel stations have increased the price of this essential product. Yet, many cannot even get fuel to buy.
In a country that battling with insufficient electricity supply, one can only imagine the hell Nigerians are currently going through.
Going forward, I hope the government would learn the best approach to address emergency issues such as this, like it obtains in more organised countries.
At this juncture, the government should be doing everything possible to lessen the suffering of the people, rather than maximise their pain.
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