Apex northern sociocultural group, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has said removal of fuel subsidy will be the only remedy for persistent fuel Scarcity across the country.
The secretary-general of ACF, Alhaji Murtala Aliyu, who disclosed this in an interview said, the best way for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to make fuel available is to remove subsidy completely.
“For as long as we continue to import fuel, we have to subsidise it and doing so, will certainly make government resources continue to be limited”. .
He kicked against the idea of borrowing money to pay for subsidy, adding that the government has been shying away from the issue of subsidy and this is where the problem resides.
He said, “We all know that Petrol; diesel, kerosene and gas are all utilities. Like we buy firewood, pay for water and pay for electricity, if we want to use it, we should pay for petrol too. It will definitely put a cost on transportation, and other things but that is the reality of the situation.”
While noting that if subsidy is removed, there would be enough resources to provide for security of life and property of the citizens; education, healthcare etc, he expressed strong support for an open market for marketers to import and sell freely.
“I am sure if this is done, the rate will crash because products will be available. And certainly, the issue of price hikes will be over. Let the market forces of demand and supply determine the price of goods and services,” he added.
Meanwhile, he urged the Engineer Mele Kyari-led Management of NNPCL to intensify efforts towards ensuring the recent fuel queues at filling stations across Nigeria disappear.
On the performance of NNPCL under Kyari, the ACF scribe said, “If you’re talking about the performance of the NNPCL or the oil sector generally, I think since the Buhari administration came up, we have had less problems with fuel queues until recently”.
He therefore urged the leadership of NNPCL to redeem the good image hitherto achieved in recent years as a company with improved performance and ensure that the issue of long queues in the filling stations are addressed immediately.
Fielding questions on the issue of oil discovery in the north, the ACF scribe said there is no exciting news about oil discovery in the north.
He said, “In the first place, the issue of discovering oil should not be a competition matter, but something that the whole country should be happy with.
“I can tell you that if for any reason we discovered oil anywhere within the country, we should all be happy because it’s an additional resource that will help provide more jobs, lead to sustainable growth and development.
“If there is oil in commercial quantity found inland, it should not be used for export, but processed for internal consumption.
“We can have modular refineries all around to produce the crude oil discovered in Gombe and Bauchi states. And where there is gas, we should use it for generation of energy instead of looking at it from the export dimensions. And if it becomes abundant even our neighbours can now benefit.”
While stating that discovery of oil in the north is a positive thing, he advised, “It shouldn’t be about export or 13 per cent derivation, but about the fact that there are enough resources for the country, for the population to enjoy .
“We in the ACF are not expressing undue excitement about oil discovery in the north.
“People look at things politically, they think the north needs to also measure up because they see you as not producing anything. If you look at the Nigerian GDP, oil is responsible for less than 10 percent, which means there is something else keeping the country together like Agriculture.
“Second, agriculture provides more employment than any other sector which means they engage the economy more than the oil sector.
“I think not just oil, but any other resources that could help the teeming masses to be more comfortable and wealthier. I think the government should embark on exploration of such resources,” he stressed.
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