Business
Expert Faults Planned Down Stream Deregulation
It is barely five years since Charles McPherson, the former Senior Adviser, Oil and Gas, World Bank delivered a paper “Drivers of Price and Tax Reform” during Nigeria Gas Policy Stakeholders Workshop in Abuja.
Since September McPherson had been in the country, this time as the managing Director of international Monetary Fund (IMF) on the invitation of the Federal government, yet on another assignment ‘mediation of the current face-off between government and the Foreign Oil Companies’ over the very voyage he set/launched yet without adequate resources for the mission.
Speaking in Port Harcourt, the Chief Coordinator, Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria, South- South, Mr. Friday Udoh said the reschedule petroleum downstream deregulation policy of the Federal government is faulty, describing deregulation as a perfect agent that is capable of transforming economic landscapes of any nation only when structuring in a more sustainable way. “The American, Britain and many other nation does it and it works bringing down the prices of oil and gas” of all “what drive this success is adequate structure and capacity, in Nigeria to my understanding, private sector is gone,” he asserted.
The Coordinator, noted that deregulation build-up market based price mechanism for increasing balanced in supply and demand structure, complementing with appropriate instruments to give every consumers and producers alike within products supply chain liberty to exercise its right, at ensuring value for money and quality supply in the market, again shaping the market for appropriate and long- term up-front investment. Where are these instruments? He asked
Citing malfunctioning of the already inadequate 445,000 barrel per day referees in the country and the inability of government given private investor’s necessary cooperation to assists them in speeding up various private refinery projects. “The issue that bothered on the fully taken-off private refineries construction is not just the removal of subsidy alone, but enabling laws to galvanized their relationship with the upstream operator for security of feed stock and difficulty in accessing credit facility due to global and domestic financial structure failure, a situation that call for government intervention in addressing the challenges” “as I am speaking, the major components of the Amakpe Refinery, Eket is ready in United State and I feel that it is the responsibility of government seeking to know their problem and supporting this initiatives for the interest of its citizens by developing collaborative structure for contacts and innovative financial structure to boost local production capacity for appropriate pricing of Petroleum Products in the country, not only Amakpe alone but to others “He noted.
According to Mr Udob, the situation become more worrisome under a weak institutional environment referring to sector-level legal and regulatory framework whose capacity to influence and supporting sustainability and success of reform depend, more so its recognition as the beginning and implementation point of every successful reform, especially in a market oriented reforms as in petroleum sub-sector to protect the consumers, its mandate and clarity of rules defining her/his existence and relationship with other bodies, such as antitrust commission and relevant ministries. Is it the kind of Petroleum Products Price Regulation and Monitoring Agency (PPPRA) a tool for political joggling or Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in the face of disjointed supply chain capability? Earnestly, their activity creates more problem than can solve. He reiterated
Mr. Udoh likened reform measures to macro-economic policies and reform performance to economic indicators such as income per capita and the institutional aspect to the rule of law and property rights, again energy resource independence to geographical advantage of a state, to which careful thought need to be given while pointed out that the quality of institutions in the country can have a significance influence over economic development, sustaining continuity and the dynamic of reform process” At the moment kerosene goes at N300 per litre meaning that in an economy with many leaving in abject poverty and within $1 N140) per day, deregulation of downstream amounts to mass suicide, hence adequate thought must be given to economic indicators” He stated
He listed poverty as one of the greatest problem facing the country today and alarming unemployment rate which radical approach is needed to facilitate income growth through employment and ensure access to basic services and goods for the poor meaning that for successful reform, the Economic, Social, Environmental and Institutional Framework must be given adequate attention, considering that Petroleum product is the only source of energy qualified as “strategic goods” given rise to abuse and absent of standardization and quality control pricing and uncoordinated safety measures.
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has criticised Nigeria’s import ban on 25 categories of goods, claiming that the restrictions limit market access for American exporters.
This is the effect of President Donald Trump’s tariffs introduction on goods entering the United States, with Nigeria facing a 14 per cent duty.
The USTR highlighted the impact of Nigeria’s import ban on various sectors, particularly agriculture, pharmaceuticals, beverages, and consumer goods.
The restrictions affect items such as beef, pork, poultry, fruit juices, medicaments, and alcoholic beverages, which the United States sees as significant barriers to trade.
The agency argues that these limitations reduce export opportunities for United States businesses and lead to lost revenue.
“Nigeria’s import ban on 25 different product categories impacts United States exporters, particularly in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, beverages, and consumer goods.
“Restrictions on items like beef, pork, poultry, fruit juices, medicaments, and spirits limit United States market access and reduce export opportunities.
“These policies create significant trade barriers that lead to lost revenue for United States businesses looking to expand in the Nigerian market”, the agency said .
In 2016, Nigeria implemented the ban on these 25 items as part of efforts to control imports and stimulate local production.
Some of the banned items include poultry, pork, refined vegetable oil, sugar, cocoa products, spaghetti, beer, and certain medicines.
On March 26, 2025, the Federal Government also announced plans to halt solar panel imports to encourage local manufacturing as part of its push for clean energy.
A leading agribusiness strategist and digital agriculture expert, Ayo Oluwa Okediji, has sought cooperative-driven investments in sustaining growth of poultry industry in Nigeria.
He said the poultry industry was at a defining moment and requires urgent structural reforms to secure its future and ensure long-term sustainability.
Speaking on the theme, “Strengthening Poultry Farming Through Cooperative Synergy and Strategic Investments”, at the recently concluded Oyo Mega Poultry Workshop 2025 in Ibadan, Okediji called on poultry farmers, cooperative leaders, financial institutions and policy makers to rethink the existing structure of the poultry sector.
He stressed the need to transition from fragmented, individually-driven operations to well-structured, cooperative-led enterprises capable of attracting sustainable financing and securing long-term viability.
He said, “Our poultry sector cannot thrive on individual effort alone. We need to organise ourselves into cooperative clusters, build strong governance systems and position ourselves to attract the level of investment needed to sustain this industry beyond this generation.”
Drawing on lessons from successful global cooperative models such as Rabobank in the Netherlands and Landus Cooperative in the United States, Okediji introduced the FarmClusters Poultry Model, a locally adapted solution developed by Agribusiness Dynamics Technology Limited (AgDyna), a subsidiary of AgroInfoTech Africa.
According to him, the model is currently being piloted in Oyo State in partnership with PANOY Agribusiness Limited and local poultry cooperatives.
The Rivers State Representative of the Nigeria Chambers of Commerce, Mines, Industries and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Mr. Erasmus Chukwundah, has urged palm oil farmers to consider hybrid seedlings for planting, if they must break even in palm oil business.
Chukwundah said this recently at the Free Oil Palm Business Climate Smart Best Management Practice/Assistance Training organized by Partnership Initiative In Niger Delta (PIND) for Palm Oil Farmers in Elele, Ikwerre Local Government Area.
The Rivers representative said until palm oil farmers begin to consider such hybrid oil palm seedlings, they may not meet up with the daily increasing demand of palm oil in the market.
According to him, the seedlings produce up to 30 bunches at once that ripen same time.
He said PIND decided to partner with Oil Palm Growers Association of Nigeria (OPGAN) to ensure that the message was received by the targeted audience.
According to him, palm oil remained a popular choice of industry operators as it could be converted to many other products such as vegetable cooking oil.
He also noted that products such as motor tyers, marine ropes and others are now gotten from the palm tree.
Chukwundah, who is the immediate past Director-General of Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Mines, Industries, and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), further warned against use of unrecommended fertilisers in growing oil palms.
He noted that such practices could limit its export value or chances as the foreign marketers have a way of detecting such .
He reiterated the need for organic fertilizers, including poultry droppings, to enable them have a natural palm oil.
“People must reduce physical contact with palm oil production. That is why we are campaigning for hydrolic oil mills. The foreign markets are no longer interested in crude method of palm oil production”, he said.
Meanwhile, one of the farmers, Sonny Didia, who appreciated Chukwundah’s commitment towards the concern of farmers, appealed for an urgent need for loan opportunity with low interest rate in order to enable them beat the target.
King Onunwor