Fuel Crisis: Auto Mechanics Lament Low Patronage In Akwa Ibom

As the new school session resumes today, Monday, January 6, automobile mechanics under the aegis of Motor Mechanic Association (MMA), Akwa Ibom State, have lamented that low patronage has severely impacted on their jobs, leading to job losses.

According to them, the new fuel regime following the removal of the fuel subsidy by the federal government has brought in its wake intense inflationary trend across virtually all facet of life.

They noted that the unilateral decision to remove the subsidy ultimately led to an increase in the pump price of petroleum products, especially the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), currently hovering between N1,050 and N1,080 by the independent marketing outlets. This has forced vehicle owners to park their cars and resort to the public transportation system.

Speaking with LEADERSHIP at the Mechanic Village, Abak road, on the outskirt of Uyo, the state capital, the distraught artisans, appealed to the federal and state governments “to intervene by further bringing down the fuel price to save our jobs.”

Idongesit Effanga, a union member from Uyo, lamented that “my Christmas and New Year celebrations were not palatable because there was little I could do to raise good cash since  job patronage has become completely low because our customers couldn’t afford petrol to be on the road.”

“As school resumes, my three children are all in private schools and the fees for all of them put together, is within the region of N97, 000, but I don’t have any other business to fall back on apart from this mechanic which has been my trade over the years,” another mechanic, who does his business around the Mechanic Village, added.

“For a very long time since last year, my customer who used to bring his car and that of his wife for repairs or servicing, I have not heard of him. When I called to know why, he told me they now used public transport because of fuel.

“The other day when I saw his call, I was excited, but when I answered, he only pleaded with me to help bring a vulcanizer to come fixed his flat tire that went down in his house after parking for months because he had no spare tire,” Effiong Utung, another colleague lamented, adding that the situation has forced him into shelving his planned travel to Oron local government area for the yuletide festivities.

Expressing concern over the incessant hike in PMS prices in an oil state like Akwa Ibom, Mr. Sam Osung, chairman of the state branch of the Natural Oil and Gas Association of Nigeria (NOGASA), told LEADERSHIP that sharp practices have bedevilled the sector with apparent lack of political will to effectively regulate the system to weed out the cabal.

However, Governor Eno, regretting the biting economic crunch occasioned by the federal government’s removal of fuel subsidies, said his administration has concluded plans to massively invest to become a major player in the oil, gas, and solid mineral subsectors  of the state’s economy.