By Rev. Fr Gerald Nwafor
Saudi Arabia, Texas, Russia, Kuwait, and many others are states and countries where God has deposited crude oil on the planet Earth and fortunately, my country Nigeria is one of those countries. Almost all the other countries are enjoying the largess that comes from crude oil.
They compete with the West on the world stage because of the deposit of crude oil in their land. Saudi Arabia is swimming in money thanks to crude oil, likewise other emirates in the middle east (Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and so on). All the money they make from oil is the only reason why their countries are enjoying the respect of all the world powers. The only reason why Nigeria is not respected all over the world is because they have crude oil. What a contradiction.
The citizens of Saudi Arabia are entitled to free medical services because of oil but the citizens of Nigeria are not entitled to even primary health care services. I worked in a village where the federal government erected a building for primary health care. The shrubs were overgrown, and the roofs and the windows were falling apart. I mobilized the villagers to go and clear it up so we can ask the government to send us at least an NYSC doctor. After killing six snakes and five grass-cutters in the compound I concluded that it is not wise to put somebody’s son or daughter at risk.
Anyways that is a story for another day but today it is about crude oil and its effects on the people of Nigeria.It was in 1993 during the time of Sani Abacha that I had my first experience with fuel scarcity. It was also my first-time hearing about NUPENG and PENGASSAN. Similarly, it was my first-time hearing about ASUU. All these acronyms didn’t make a lot of sense to me until Nigeria began to crush.
So, I asked my senior brother who was an attorney (the Late Barrister William Ikemefuna Nwafor aka Mikasa) what all these people were doing. He said that they planned to make the country ungovernable to the military government led by Major General Sani Abacha who overthrew the interim government led by Mr. Ernest Shonekan.
PENGASSAN means Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and NUPENG is Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers. Meanwhile, there is NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) which supposed to be Oga-kpatakpata (overall head) of all these other unions. These groups of people oversee lifting the crude oil, refining the oil from the upstream to the downstream sector where it becomes available to the common masses to use as premium motor spirit (PMS) and cooking gas, and other domestic usages.
The government has interfered so much in this process that today we do not know the thieves and the robbers in the crude oil sector of Nigeria. The price of petroleum in Nigeria has been said to be subsidized by the federal government of Nigeria but today we are under fire from the subsidy.A liter of fuel was fifty Naira, and two thousand five hundred Naira would fill a 50-liter container. I was standing by the fuel station. Many cars were in the queue.
The fuel station manager said that he has no fuel to sell. The public was sure that 33,000 liters were dropped the night before. People would bribe the fuel station workers and they would bring you fuel with a container. A guy came up to a woman beside me and asked if she wanted petroleum and the woman replied in the affirmative.
The guy said that she should get a gallon can and give him a tip and the money for the fuel. The woman hurriedly went and got the container and gave the guy money for fifty liters and 100 Naira for tip (bribe). The guy left and never came back again. I pitied the woman because her cry that day touched the heart of my faith in human beings. On another occasion a guy was standing on the road corner with containers of fuel (25 liters each). He was selling for the same price as the fuel station and people decided to patronize him rather than go to the long queue at the fuel station. The guy sold off everything and even the containers.
Fast forward to two hours later, he is gone and the people who bought the fuel came back looking for him. Half of the container was filled with water and the cars of the buyers were in the auto shop for repairs and services. This was the situation in 1993-1998 before Sani Abacha died.Today again the government of Nigeria and the Oil marketers are embarking on a journey that will bring untold hardship on the Nigerian public.
The government is saying that they are removing subsidies from the oil. The NUPENG and PENGASSEN and NNPC are saying different things to the public again. The masses will suffer while these elephants will be fighting for their selfish aim. Why is the oil in Nigeria being stolen by those in government?
Why can’t the government give us a clear picture of what they are doing with the oil money? The latest problem now is that the new president said that the government will remove the subsidy. The NNPC chairman said it will be removed in June 30th. And by May 30th the price moved from 190 Naira a liter to 540 Naira a liter. Now it is back to the 1993 episode again.
Fuel scarcity, price increases, and fuel adulteration are now the order of the day. Why is crude oil not a blessing for the Nigerian people? If we should lack anything in Nigeria it should not be petroleum. The Niger Delta Youths have not started their wahala because the way things are going now in Nigeria, wahala can erupt from any angle, the tribunal court not excluded.
