Fuel scarcity, return of queues and pains of commuters

By Otomewo Oritsejolomi Joshua

The new week started with nationwide panic from fears of a possible fuel scarcity. While queues returned to filling stations in Lagos, Abuja and other major cities in the country  as many people took drastic steps to store petrol, some petrol stations closed down  to increase prices. This worsened the  problem.

Initially, the scarcity was attributed to an increase in demand for fuel following a fire accident at the Egbin Power station, the country’s largest power station responsible for a significant amount of power on the national grid. 

However this current scarcity started as a result of a recall of dirty petrol from depots.This  batch of dirty petrol first arrived in the country in the second week of January, but the NNPC could not detect that it had abnormally high amounts of ethanol.

Following complaints by motorists who bought the  fuel, claiming that it had damaged their vehicles, the NNPC investigated and found out the mistake.

 The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority issued a release on Tuesday night admitting that a limited quantity of petrol with methanol quantities above Nigeria’s specification had been discovered in the supply chain and that it had been isolated and withdrawn from the market.

The recall of petrol and the subsequent shut down of filling stations has made life more difficult for Nigerians.Motorists queue for hours in an attempt to get petrol. Ibrahim, a Bolt driver, spent four hours at the petrol station before he could get any fuel. 

“I waited at the Gbagada branch of AP filling station for over four hours before I got any fuel. At first, they were selling freely. At some point when they saw that the customers were too much they restricted the amount of fuel you could buy, if I hadn’t filled my tank, I would have to fight for fuel again.”

Public transportation has deteriorated as the number of buses available on the road has reduced. Queues were spotted at several major bus stops from Yaba to Ojota as commuters patiently waited  hours for vehicles to come. Bola, a hairdresser who works at Anthony, had to walk home.

“I waited for hours at the Anthony Bus stop. Eventually I decided to just start trekking. I trekked from Anthony to Onipanu before I got a bus that took me to Sabo where I live.”

This is coming at a time  there are  rumours of a purported removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government which will lead to a hike in price of fuel up to about N250 per litre.

Also the Nigerian Association Of Road Transport Owners (NARTO)  has threatened to go on strike if the Federal Government fails to address the rising cost of operations it has been facing. This development will further worsen  transport problem in the state.

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