Any End To Kerosene Scarcity?

Virtually two weeks after the National Assembly summoned Petroleum Resources Minister, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke and the top management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) over the persistent scarcity of kerosene and got assurances from them that the problem was being resolved, the situation appears to be getting worse.

Millions of Nigerian citizens that depend on kerosene for domestic fuel are also paying dearly for the anomaly.

Stakeholders, Petroleum Ministry, NNPC, major and independent marketers of petroleum products keep passing the buck over the scarcity, a development which had further worsened the crisis, thus forcing end users to pay over 200 percent of the official rate of N50 per litre.

Not even the threat by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to sanction oil marketers that divert or hoard kerosene to hike its price has made any impact so far, as the scarcity keeps biting harder everyday.

Besides buyers paying through their nose, whenever or wherever the product is available, the negative impact of the scarcity on the environment is unimaginable and colossal.

Most kerosene users have resorted to using firewood as an alternative source of energy to kerosene, thereby creating massive deforestation and emission of carbon to the over polluted environment which we all depend on for existence.

Moreso, kerosene scarcity has led to adulteration of the product, resulting to explosions, most of which claim lives and destroy of properties and buildings.

The situation is indeed, so pathetic that people waste several man-hours looking for where to buy the product, but end up frustrated. Sadly, a consumer in a suburb of Port Harcourt was knocked down, by a motorist recently while searching for kerosene in Choba area of the Rivers State capital.

The victim’s case may not be an isolated one, as there are many unreported cases of victims of kerosene scarcity in the country. Such accidents are avoidable if there is normalcy in the distribution and marketing of the product.

It is rather regrettable and unfortunate that Nigeria, with its abundant natural resources and rated as the sixth largest producer of oil and gas in the world, should be experiencing kerosene scarcity, a product that should, ordinarily, be the most handy source of energy to the rural folks and other average citizens.

Unfortunately, the discordant tunes from stakeholders have further aggravated the situation, and except drastic steps are taken to restore normalcy, Nigerians may as well be prepared for a prolonged crisis.

President Jonathan’s transformation agenda can not succeed when most Nigerians are groaning in pains as a result of kerosene crisis. The time to act, obviously, is now before the situation gets out of hand.

The Tide urges the NNPC and DPR to flood the market with kerosene without further delay to ensure availability and affordability of the product. Let the average consumer of the product access kerosene without tears.