THORNY as it may seem, the crisis arising from the surreptitious removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government on New Year day, is not beyond solution. It only needs the government to muster the political will to implement them. For this to be done, it is important to go back to basics. The issue of subsidy on locally consumed petroleum products rests on the assumption that there is a shortfall between the cost of import and local selling price but does not address the causes of importation. Indeed, the need to surmount the vagaries of international pricing led government to establish more refineries and supply networks across the country from 1970 onward. The country's refineries have a processing capacity of 445,000 bpd and the original vision is to satisfy domestic demand, deepen self-reliance and avoid a situation in which oil companies and marketers would enslave the country. This vision worked up to a point in which a group of speculators took over importation of refined products as a result of the massive devaluation of the naira by the Gen. Ibrahim Babangida administration. This happened against the backdrop of low capacity utilisation, bloated overheads, inadequate technology for process upgrade and outright sabotage. These conditions have been entrenched and successive governments have not had the courage to address them.Ironically, Nigeria is the 6th largest oil producing country in the world and in other oil producing countries, consumers enjoy a great deal of good pricing. For example in Algiers, Algeria, a litre of fuel sells for 20p; in Muscat, Oman it is 20p per litre; in Egypt's Cairo it is 19p per litre. In Doha, Qatar, it is 15p per litre; in Kuwait City it is 14p per litre; in Manama, Bahrain, it is 13p per litre; in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, it is 12p per litre; in Libya's Tripoli it is 9p per litre; in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, it is 8p per litre and in Caracas, Venezuela, it is 2/3p per litre. At the current price of N141 per litre, or about 60p, the price of petrol in Nigeria will be the highest among oil producing countries. There is no reason why Nigerian consumers cannot enjoy price advantage like other oil producing countries.But this cannot happen until the refineries are repaired and new ones built. As knowledgeable and other well-meaning Nigerians have observed, the issue of subsidy arose in the first place because the refineries are down; and some people are profiting from the situation. The information that the original builders have been invited to do the turnaround maintenance is not a guarantee that they will work in an environment of intrigues. More private firms should be encouraged to set up refineries with lesser bottlenecks and devoid of the deliberate scare tactics of government officials which many of them have complained about. The oil majors should be called upon to build more refineries which should be amortised over time. Refining Nigeria's sweet crude is not rocket science and local refineries in the Niger Delta should be encouraged for local consumption.Government should also look at short term measures such as refining petrol in neighbouring West African countries where they would be required to pay only shipping and refining cost, and where costs are almost at par with Nigeria. At the same time, government should work earnestly to resuscitate the comatose refineries as well as ensure the building of new ones within a specified period. Besides, government should implement a repayment strategy with major buyers, which frees the entire industry from the meddlesomeness of Bretton Woods institutions as practised under the Buhari administration.Like it or not, the state would always be a major player in the energy sector. Elsewhere, it is tied to the military-industrial complex and guarded by the amour of the state for the larger interest of the citizenry. Therefore, a responsive government does not wait for resources from subsidy to implement capital projects like road construction and rehabilitation, railway and electricity. After all, government does budget for these projects yearly without results. Government should rather plug all the leakages in its business in order to reduce wastage and divert resources to other important areas. The President said the other day that he was ordering a 25 per cent cut in the basic salaries of public officials in the executive arm of government. He should go further than that and secure the consent of the National Assembly, State governors and their officials, to cede a proportion of their emoluments to the national purse. He should also initiate and enforce such measures as a ban on all officials from embarking on all but the most essential foreign travels which the government said will gulp N11.25 billion in the budget this year. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should be overhauled to enthrone transparency and accountability. A government that seeks the trust of its citizens should not shy away from confronting corruption of the magnitude reported in the petroleum sector, and making an example of those responsible for the rot.Rather than dismiss the resolution of the House of Representatives at its extraordinary session, as a mere opinion, and presumably consider the on-going efforts at the Senate as an irritation, the government should turn to the Legislature for support and soft landing. By its action, government has boxed itself into a corner with very little room for maneuvering. It found it difficult to forge a national consensus on the fuel subsidy issue and the need to remove it. But in the event, it has created the opportunity for ordinary Nigerians to construct a national consensus against the government's policy, leaving it very vulnerable and weakened. The situation cannot be allowed to continue. The National Assembly should insist on the President reverting to the old price of fuel, and more intensive consultations should be carried out. While this is afoot, the government should begin implementing some of the palliatives it has outlined in the SURE document. This will reassure the public, earn their trust and create the conducive environment for the government to eventually withdraw the subsidy.
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