Following last year’s workshop, MOMAN’s collaboration with the FCCPC continued today 13th July 2022 with the Commission conducting a training on setting up a proper consumer complaint management system. Another training followed for energy correspondents on the same issue.
During a question-and-answer session, energy correspondents focused mainly on the challenges of queues in filing stations and product pricing.
The MOMAN Chairman, Mr. Olumide Adeosun explained that MOMAN appreciates the challenges the NMDPRA (the Authority) and NNPC face in making the product available despite the restrictive supply environment, extremely high international products costs and the almost insurmountable international logistics challenges occasioned by the unavailability of diesel and its ubiquitous place in the supply chain.
Mr. Adeosun informed the gathering that there is an energy crisis impacting the world, developed and developing countries alike, similar to the COVID-19 pandemic. Countries have different approaches of dealing with the problem. There is some energy nationalism going on, leading to some major refining countries hoarding petroleum products like diesel for local use as was the case with COVID-19 vaccines.
Some developing countries are subsidizing the cost, leading to widespread outages in those countries. Most countries are allowing the price to adjust, leading to higher prices but with product availability.
MOMAN believes the answer is somewhere in between.
Having subsidized PMS for so long, Nigerian institutions now have a diminished capacity to deal with the current international energy crisis. If the country had spent monies spent on subsidies on education, health and infrastructure, Nigerians and Nigerian businesses would have been better equipped to face today’s energy challenges.
However, better late than never. MOMAN believes that Nigeria needs to gradually reduce the subsidy of PMS while investing and perhaps subsidizing mass transportation and productive activities in such areas such as agriculture.
Finally, everyone has a role to play. We must all reduce consumption and find other ways to weather the current energy crisis as no Government can make this painless. Predictably, as a country, we shall be faced by the choice of queues and unavailability of products or increases in price at the right pace to make product available.
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