People waiting to buy fuel at a filling station along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Lagos ... on Monday
Loading of petroleum products
commenced at fuel depots in Apapa, Lagos, on Monday afternoon, although
Nigerians are still counting the cost of the crippling energy crisis.
The resumption of product loading
followed the suspension of the strike by marketers and workers of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
Two marketers confirmed the development to one of our correspondents in separate telephone interviews.
The marketers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Nipco and Capital Oil loaded products on Monday.
One of them, who is a member of the
Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, said all the major marketers
were likely to commence loading today (Tuesday).
It was gathered that other depot owners
aside from Nipco and Capital Oil could not start loading on Monday
because they did not have facilities for overnight loading.
Another marketer said normalcy would
likely return to the depots by Friday as the current product scarcity
had already eaten deep into the system.
In Abuja, marketers of petroleum
products resolved to mobilise their members for the immediate
distribution of fuel across the country at a public hearing organised by
the Joint Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream and
Downstream).
The Co-Chairman of the joint committee,
Senator Magnus Abe, who read a communique signed by the representatives
of the major stakeholders, explained that the Minister of Finance, Dr.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and others at the meeting unanimously agreed to the
deal in interest of the nation.
He also explained that following the
intervention of the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation, Dr. Joseph Dawah, the strike embarked upon by the Nigeria
Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers and the Petroleum and Natural
Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria had been called off.
Abe said that the Executive Secretary,
Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Obafemi Olawore, had
agreed to direct members of the body nationwide to start lifting
petroleum products from 7pm on Monday, while the body equally agreed to
pay the National Association of Road Transport Owners the transport cost
for the products that would be determined by them.
The energy crisis currently rocking the nation has thrown the manufacturing sector into a near state of redundancy.
While lots of the manufacturers have
embarked on working half schedules to cope, others are planning to shut
down production completely until the situation improves.
Some of the manufacturers, who spoke to
one of our correspondents in Lagos, said they had decided to cut down
their working hours because of the acute shortage of petroleum products
and electricity to run their factories.
A pure water maker, Mandu Obi, said he was buying diesel for N800 per litre instead of the previous N150.
“My plant needs about 1,000 litres of
diesel to work every day. For a small business owner like me, I don’t
see how I can keep up with such expenses. I had 1,500 litres of diesel
left from last week and this morning, I decided to top it only to spend
four times what I usually spend on a litre of diesel,” she recounted.
The President, Manufacturers Association
of Nigeria, Mr. Frank Jacobs, said manufacturers were losing a lot of
money as a result of the energy crisis.
He added that no one could put a figure
to the amount being lost, but admitted that the manufacturers were
losing a lot of money.
The Director-General, Lagos Chamber of
Commerce and Industry, Mr. Muda Yusuf, said the situation had completely
crippled the manufacturing sector.
He said, “A lot of people are cutting
down their working hours. Some companies have also shut down. It is a
very bad situation. It is crippling businesses that depend on diesel and
fuel.
“It is affecting productivity because
instead of working for eight hours, companies are forced to work for
only two or three hours.
“The public power situation is not
reliable and the fall-back position is diesel or petrol. Now, both of
them are not available. There are very few businesses that can be run
without energy.”
Most civil servants were absent from work in Abuja on Monday as a result of the nationwide fuel scarcity.
Only a few people reported for work at
the Federal Secretariat located in the Central District, a part of the
city that is always crowded.
By 2pm, most offices at the secretariat had been deserted as the few civil servants who turned up for work had gone home.
The fuel scarcity also took a toll on
the banking sector as five prominent banks in the country had to close
their branches in the Federal Capital Territory by 1pm on Monday.
They are Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Zenith
Bank Plc, Skye Bank Plc, First City Monument Bank Plc and First Bank of
Nigeria Limited.
Similarly, many banks and insurance companies in Kwara State closed early on Monday because of the lingering fuel scarcity.
The situation was not different in Lagos as the banks and other offices closed early.
Our correspondent, who monitored the
development in Ilorin, the state capital, observed that many of the
banks stopped allowing customers entry into the banking halls from 1pm
as against the normal 4pm.
Most filling stations visited by one of
our correspondents in the FCT on Monday were not dispensing petrol, thus
increasing the hardship of the residents many of whom were seen
trekking long distances due to hikes in transport fares.
It was learnt that a bus ride from Nyanya to Wuse, which hitherto cost between N150 and N200, went for N300 on Monday.
Taxi fares have also doubled as the
operators now charge a minimum of N1,000 for journeys that normally cost
between N500 and N700.
In Ondo, some members of the state
Chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers staged a protest
against the acute scarcity of refined petroleum products.
For almost two hours, commercial
vehicles in Akure, the state capital, were stopped from operating,
especially on the popular Oba Adesida and Oyemekun roads, by the
protesting NURTW members while some drivers who had already taken
passengers were forcefully ordered to drop them.
As a result of this development, the
commuters did not have any alternative but to continue on their journeys
by trekking, while those who could not trek returned home.
Business activities were substantially paralysed in Abeokuta and most major cities in Ogun State on Monday.
Some of the banks in Abeokuta shut their doors against their customers around 12noon, while some did not open for business.
Many civil servants resumed late for
work, whil e some did not bother to leave their homes due to the few
number of commercial vehicles on the road
No comments:
Post a Comment