Crazy Deregulation?

Smiling in Nigeria sometimes provokes madness when one considers the huge unsolved problems involved in the emotion. For example, deregulation has become a song as everybody tries to learn its tune. The government is practicing its tune, marketers are practicing its tune and labour also is not left out.
But the question is who will give in the best tune to solve scarcity of petroleum problems m Nigeria?
Deregulation of petroleum products in Nigeria is a game where the few privileged Nigerians play against the masses. There are countries in the world that produce petroleum and their citizens are not suffering as we do in Nigeria. Every administration in this nation has slogan in which it used to bamboozle its citizenry. But when will this stop if there is no ulterior motive? Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Venezula, United Arab Emirate, Libya and even the new comer, Angola, are working hard to enable their citizens to benefit from the petroleum products. But in Nigeria we sing privatisation and deregulation to deceive the innocent Nigerians to their own detriment, and natural inclination to shylock tendencies. We must stop the shilly-shally about taking decision that will move us forward as a nation.
The countries that are doing well in petroleum industry, what are their secrets? lf we are to talk about deregulation proper, it means government . must not have full control of petroleum industry which is not going to be easy in Nigeria. The Nigerian mentality of deregulation is to increase prices of petroleum products and nothing else. There are no machineries on ground to effect implementation of deregulation as the marketers are scared of uncertainty of the Nigerian government. Our gas is a waste to Nigerians, if we cannot have pipes under ground linking of the products to our houses. That is a prophecy to come. We are money conscious without being result oriented.
The brain behind deregulation is how to get money easily not minding the suffering of Nigerians who cannot speak but can only scramble to buy what is given to them as petroleum product. Nigeria is a place where anybody can just wake up and give his or her own selfish explanation of an existing word and people will be nodding heads for it. This is a nation where petroleum products are hoarded where government agencies, marketers and labour leaders trade words at one another.
Deregulation is a plot to cause more hardship for Nigerians in 2010. The truth is that deregulation has nothing to do with pump prices but control. But government and marketers are playing hanky-panky on Nigerians in the name of deregulation. We do not have enough refineries that will make petroleum products available to those who need them. Another problem is that we are still bent to import or refine our crude outside Nigeria. You pay more to bring inside.. You see, that is the problem. Now they are telling Nigerians that if they deregulate, things will work well in Nigeria, which is pure fallacy that can not stand the test of time. All that is needed in this country called, Nigeria, is sincerity on the part of the major players in the oil industry.
Paradoxically, nobody is championing the course of rehabilitating or building more refineries at home rather, we are crazy about choosing deregulation as the best option that will make us smile. The business environment is unfriendly to business people and innocent Nigerians suffer a lot under such harsh environment, billions or millions of naira is used for the campaign on deregulation, It is wrong for us as a people to adopt a wrong approach to solving our internal or human problems in Nigeria. It is a fatal policy, if it should be adopted at the end without constitutional backup. It is sad to see how Nigerians suffer to get petroleum products that are available in their country. Deregulation can never be the answer to scarcity of petroleum in Nigeria. Deregulation can never provide answer to reduce prices of petroleum products. The answer is transparency on the part of government and marketers.
Deregulation can never be the answer to availability of petroleum products in Nigeria. But the answer is building more refineries and refining the products in Nigeria.
Deregulation policy is not the way forward. Government and marketers should do away with any policy that will cause more hardship for the teeming populace. Deregulation should not be seen as a do or die policy that must be adopted at all cost. Crazy campaign of deregulation policy is a threat to the future and hope of Nigerians. Government and marketers should adopt the right approach or attitude as it is done in other countries that produce petroleum. Nigeria is a nation where citizens suffer for what they have not committed.
Ogwuonuonu resides in Port Harcourt.

Frank Ogwuonuonu