Some residents of Port Harcourt metropolis have expressed strong view about the state of the nation’s refineries, saying it is largely responsible for the fuel scarcity situation across the nation.
Our Correspondent who spoke with some respondents said, they expressed uniform opinion on the issue.
The Director of Neldan Oil Service Limited, Princess Dema Ogba said, “no amount of rescue effort would ensure sustained free flow of petroleum resources in the country as long as the control of the sector is in the hards of the oil cartel”.
Ogba who noted that the cartel has taken charge of every aspect of the sector urged Federal Government to get the refineries working so as to take back the control of oil from the cartel.
She wondered why refineries cannot work in Nigeria to full capacity when it works in other nations of the world and stressed that with adequate will, the refineries would even work better and the issue of fuel scarcity would become a thing of the past.
The Director said, “a situation where petrol is imported exposes the product to circumstances surrounding the world market as currency depreciation, and extra cost.
Also speaking, Chief Nwalamba Pato, said “it is embarrassment that successive administrations have not exercised adequate political will to get the refineries working.
“If we produce the crude in Nigeria and refine it here, it will cut cost, it will create or expand market, it will create employment and the price will be determined by the local market environment than subjecting it to international influences as in the world’s competitive market”, he explained.
Pato maintained that until refineries in the country begin to work, the same negative interfernces causing scarcity will still be there.
In his own opinion, Mrs Chinyere Nwogu, an international businessman said, “It is funny when people keep saying refineries cannot work here and based on that, the nation keeps importing larger volume of the product from outside the country. It is so because the system has allowed those blocking the way of progress to remain our obstacle”, she said and noted that the best option is to push these elements of progress out of the way and enable the nation move forward.
“Even some countries that import the product from other countries do not suffer the kind of things we suffer in the name of fuel scarcity,” she said and narrated that she had spent over two hours looking for ordinary petrol in a nation so blessed with crude oil.
“This is a shame to us all and it is high time we stopped this nonsense”, said her.

Chris Oluoh

L-R: Deputy Comptroller-General (DCG) of Customs, Trade and Tariff, Mr Akinade Adewuyi; DCG, Human Resources, Mr Ibrahim Mera, Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr Ima Niboro; Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi; DCG, Enforcement, Investigation and Inspection, Mr Tahir Musa and Special Assistant to NAN Managing Director, Mr Obiora Chukwumba, during a courtesy visit to CGC’s office in Abuja yesterday.