SEGUN ADEYEMI, Lagos | Thursday 6.15pm.
THE Nigerian government announced on Wednesday that it is to embark on an accelerated massive importation of fuel within the next few weeks in an effort to end the prolonged fuel scarcity in the country.
Speaking from the capital Lagos, special adviser on petroleum matters Aret Adams said the move is part of a multi-pronged approach to end the fuel crisis. The massive importation ordered by the government will involve the delivery of an additional 30 cargoes of petrol, 10 cargoes of diesel and 12 cargoes of kerosene.
Scarcity of all categories of fuel for more than a year in the southern part of Nigeria and several years in the north has almost paralysed activities in the world’s sixth oil exporting nation.
In terms of the plan, the government said it will provide funds for short-term repairs of the refineries in the the south-eastern cities of Port Harcourt and Warri, and measures to improve fuel haulage across the country. It will also establish special tribunals in all the 36 states of the federation to, among others, prosecute those involved in illegal activities and an increased surveillance of petroleum pipeline systems.
Observers believe that the recent disaster in the oil-rich Niger Delta, in which up to 700 people fetching petrol from a burst oil pipe were killed when the pipe exploded, has jolted the government to find a quick solution to the scarcity. Current importation levels have not eased the fuel problem as long queues persist at filling stations in the commercial city of Lagos and Abuja, the federal capital. Though the official price for petrol is 11 naira per litre ($1 = 85 naira), the product fetches up to 100 naira per litre in the black market.