Fuel Price Hike

By Usman Muhammad Salihu,

In Nigeria, fluctuating petrol prices have long been a source of frustration for citizens. It’s not just about the financial strain—it impacts daily life, from commuting to work to powering homes. The government faces immense challenges, balancing affordable fuel prices with foreign exchange rate volatility and maintaining a sustainable oil and gas sector. Add the country’s reliance on imported fuel, infrastructure problems, and unpredictable global oil prices, and you have a perfect storm.

The government’s communication around petrol price changes often lacks clarity and consistency, confusing and mistrusting the public. People ask, “What’s going on?” and “Why should we care?”

The Transparency Issue

A significant problem is the lack of transparency in how fuel prices are determined. The government’s lack of clear communication feeds uncertainty and speculation. This situation can be improved by regularly sharing detailed and transparent information regarding the factors influencing petrol prices. 

Nigerians need access to crucial data such as fuel import reports, pricing mechanisms, and subsidy allocations. Making this information publicly available would help build trust and reduce the growing mistrust surrounding petrol price changes.

Collaborative Stakeholder Engagement

The government must also open lines of communication with industry leaders, labour unions, and civil society organisations. These groups have a direct stake in how petrol pricing impacts the broader economy and everyday life.

Engaging these stakeholders in meaningful dialogue can help align expectations, address concerns, and prevent misunderstandings. This collaboration can reduce the public unrest often triggered by abrupt price hikes. Building consensus among all stakeholders can also create a more stable economic environment regarding petrol prices.

Establishing a Predictable Pricing Framework

One of the most critical steps the government can take is establishing a clear, stable, and predictable framework for setting petrol prices. Currently, changes in fuel prices often come as sudden shocks, leaving citizens and businesses unprepared. A transparent pricing model communicated in advance would help mitigate this uncertainty and reduce panic.

When people know what to expect and when they can make better financial plans and avoid the anxiety associated with sudden price hikes. This predictability would benefit individuals and businesses, as they could better manage their operational costs tied to fuel expenses.

Educating the Public on Petrol Pricing

Many Nigerians are unaware of the factors that influence petrol prices, such as fluctuations in the global oil market and government interventions to manage these costs. This knowledge gap contributes to the public’s frustration and misunderstanding.

Launching public education campaigns to explain the variables behind petrol pricing can help citizens make more informed decisions. Using various media platforms to deliver this information in simple, accessible language will foster better understanding and reduce confusion. It’s not just about explaining why prices fluctuate—it’s about empowering Nigerians with knowledge.

Reducing Reliance on Imported Fuel

Nigeria’s reliance on imported fuel is critical to its petrol price volatility. Exploring alternative energy sources and boosting local refining capacity are essential to reducing this dependence. Investment in local refineries, for instance, would not only lessen the country’s reliance on imports but also create jobs and foster economic growth.

Additionally, encouraging fuel efficiency initiatives can help Nigerians reduce fuel consumption. Simple practices like carpooling or using public transportation more frequently could significantly reduce fuel demand, ease supply pressure, and ultimately stabilise prices.

Investing in Alternative Energy Solutions

Another long-term solution is to explore and invest in alternative energy sources. By diversifying the country’s energy portfolio, Nigeria can reduce its dependence on petrol and mitigate the impact of global oil price fluctuations.

Renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydropower could provide sustainable alternatives to petrol. While transitioning to these energy sources will take time and investment, the long-term benefits include energy security, reduced pollution, and job creation in the renewable energy sector.

Building Trust through Human-Centered Communication

Managing petrol pump prices is no easy task, but the government can ease the burden through a more human-centred approach to communication. By addressing citizens’ concerns in a relatable and transparent way, the government can foster trust and reduce the uncertainty often accompanying price changes.

This communication must be consistent and delivered across multiple channels to reach all Nigerians, from urban centres to rural areas. Regular updates, accessible language, and relatable messaging will go a long way in alleviating public frustration.

The Path Forward: A Collaborative Effort

Managing petrol prices in Nigeria is a complex but surmountable challenge. The process can become more manageable with clear, transparent communication and collaboration between the government, industry leaders, and the public. The government can create a more stable economic environment by taking a holistic approach, including educating the public, establishing a predictable pricing framework, and investing in alternative energy solutions.

The complexities of petrol pump price management require collective action. As Nigerians, we must engage with the process, hold the government accountable, and support initiatives that promote transparency and sustainability. Only by working together can we navigate the complexities of petrol pricing and ensure a better future for all.

Conclusion

Petrol pricing is a critical issue in Nigeria, impacting not just individual livelihoods but the broader economy. The government’s current approach, characterised by a lack of transparency and sudden price shifts, contributes to public mistrust and instability. However, by adopting a more transparent, predictable, and inclusive strategy, the government can build trust and create a more stable environment for all Nigerians. Investing in alternative energy sources and educating the public about the factors influencing petrol prices are essential steps in this process.

Managing petrol prices may be a tough job, but it can be made easier with the right approach. Through collaboration, transparency, and innovation, Nigeria can tackle this issue head-on, fostering economic growth and improving the quality of life for its citizens.

Usman Muhammad Salihu is a PRNigeria Young Communication Fellowship 2024 fellow and wrote via muhammadu5363@gmail.com.

By Uzair Adam

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar have issued warnings that the recent increase in petrol prices by the Federal Government is pushing many Nigerians to a breaking point.

This comes as prominent human rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN, calls on the government to complete the rehabilitation of the nation’s refineries by September 2024 or take legal action against contractors for failing to meet project deadlines.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) also urged President Bola Tinubu to order the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to reverse the price hike, labeling it as “illegal and unconstitutional.”

While the NLC advocated for public resistance to the fuel price increase, Atiku highlighted that the government’s plans to raise Value Added Tax (VAT) would further worsen the economic strain on citizens.

NLC President Joel Ajaero, represented by Prince Adewale Adeyanju at a Labour Writers Association of Nigeria workshop, decried the combination of fuel price hikes, naira devaluation, and rising electricity tariffs as policies that have deepened the struggles of ordinary Nigerians.

Atiku also voiced concerns that the VAT increase, following the petrol price surge, would severely impact the country’s already fragile economy and the livelihoods of Nigerians, compounding the existing cost-of-living crisis.

By Abdullahi Mukhtar Algasgaini

The National Association of Nigerian Students, (NANS) has announced a nationwide protest, slated for September 15, across major cities in Nigeria to express displeasure over the new pump price announced by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, (NNPCL).

This announcement was made yesterday, in an issued statement signed by NANS National Senate President, Comrade Henry Okunomo, in Kano.

According to the association, “The protest, tagged: ‘Fuel Price Hike: A Threat to Our Future,’ will take place on September 15, 2024, across major cities in Nigeria”.

He stated that NANS is “appalled and disheartened by the recent announcement of yet another hike in fuel prices by the NNPC.”Furthermore, the statement issued a clarion call for a nationwide protest against what it described as an ‘egregious act’.

“We demand an immediate reversal of the fuel price hike and a more compassionate approach to governance.

“We urge all Nigerian students, civil society organizations, and the masses to join us in this peaceful demonstration as we demand an immediate reversal of the fuel price hike and a more compassionate approach to governance”, Okunomo said.

According to him, “We shall not be silenced, and we shall not be intimidated. We shall rise in unison to demand a better deal for Nigerian students and the masses.

He further disclosed that, “This latest development is the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back, as it has become patently clear that the NNPC, under the leadership of its Director-General, Mele Kyari, has failed woefully in its primary responsibility of ensuring a stable and affordable fuel supply.

“Since his appointment, Kyari has presided over a regime of unrelenting fuel price increases, with each hike further exacerbating the suffering of the masses. This, Okunomo argued, is a clear indication of Kyari’s “gross incompetence and inability to deliver on his mandate.

“The NNPC, under his watch, has become a behemoth of inefficiency, perpetuating a cycle of hardship and despair for the Nigerian people,” he added.NANS, therefore, demands the immediate removal of Mele Kyari as the NNPCK Group Chief Executive Officer.

“His continued stay in office is an affront to the sensibilities of the Nigerian people and a stark reminder of the government’s insensitivity to their plight”, the statement concluded.

By Muhamamad Suleiman Yobe

Jigawa state task force on petroleum products says it will reveal the identity of filling stations found tempering with their litres to short-charge consumers.

The chairman of the task force, Alhaji Alhassan Muhammad, gave the warning when members of the committee visited some filling stations in Gumel, Jahun and Kiyawa local government areas.

He also warned that any filling station that does not possess Sarafin Gauge would be sanctioned.

He said a number of filling stations visited by the committee have no standard measuring gauge.

Alhaji Alhassan Muhammad advised marketers to always check their litres before dispensing fuel to consumers.

The chairmen said that from the inception of the task force to date, more than 30 filling stations have been warned for engaging in various unwholesome activities.

He commended some marketers in Hadejia and Gumel for possessing Sarafin gauge and maintaining proper litres in their filling stations.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

The management of the University of Ibadan has approved the reduction of the number of workdays for staff from five to three.

According to a statement by the institution’s registrar, G.O. Saliu, the decision was taken due to the skyrocketing costs of fuel.

“The generality of Nigerians have experienced enormous economic difficulties as a result of the astronomical increase in the pump price caused by the removal of subsidy by the Federal Government,” the statement reads.

“Salary earners who have to commute to work every working day are faced with an aggravation of the condition, given the attendant hike in the transport fare and cost of living.

“After careful consideration of the situation, the University Management recommended a temporary work schedule adjustment for members of staff, which Senate at its meeting of Thursday, 03 August 2023 considered and approved.

“Accordingly, members of staff are now expected to work on-site for three (3) days in rotation per week, with effect from Monday, 14 August 2073. “It should, however, be noted that those on essential duties are exempted from this adjustment.

“It should be further noted that Management will review the arrangement as the situation improves. Meanwhile, members of staff are to maintain commitment, open communication, and cooperation towards ensuring free workflow, including working from home where and when necessary.

“In light of the foregoing, management seeks the understanding of all Deans, Directors, Heads of Departments and Units towards a smooth implementation of the intervention,” the statement added.

By Bilyamin Abdulmumin

Since the return of democracy in Nigeria, successive governments have contemplated removing fuel subsidies. The then government of President Olusegun Obasanjo (OBJ) saw multiple fuel price hikes, from N20 per litre it inherited from the transitional military government to the last unforgettable fuel hike. In 2007, two days before the expiration of his tenure, OBJ jacked up the pump price from 65 to 75 naira per litre.  However, the incoming president Umar Musa Yar’adua returned the honest nest to order.

The subsequent struggle to remove fuel subsidies, perhaps the biggest standoff, came in 2012 during the government of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ). Vibrant labour, trade, civil and student unions, and agglomeration of opposition descended on the government for the decision, forcing GEJ to lower the price from the initial N141 to N97 and later in 2015 to 87 naira per litre. The struggle would continue. As soon as President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) ascended to power, he greeted the public with partial subsidy removal.

PMB took the pump price from the official N87 to N145 before hitting N187 at the end of his tenure. But all out on fuel subsidy removal came during the run-down to the 2023 general election, where all the major presidential candidates dismissed any doubt left on fuel subsidy. They all warned the point black electorates that they would remove fuel subsidies so that President Tinubu would walk the talk even from the inaugural stage. 

The government and subsidy removal activists argue that an unbelievable amount of funds are being poured into the scheme while the national infrastructure languishes in bad condition. The large amount spent on the subsidy has been said to reach this height dubiously, no thanks to inflated numbers by some unscrupulous officials and the diversion of subsidised fuel to neighbouring countries by rogue marketers. To add insult to injury, Nigeria borrows to sustain this counterproductivity. Although this argument is plausible, instead of throwing a baby with the bath water, why not the government sanitise the scheme so that it brings the amount to within its capacity?

Another pro-subsidy removal argument was that only a few rich Nigerians benefit from the subsidy, the poor masses who were the target of the scheme are not benefiting the way it is supposed to. This slogan is challenging to explain to people; which ‘The poor masses are not benefiting the way it is supposed to’? When people can visibly see the effects of the subsidy when they buy fuel. No answer is as crunching as for a Nigerian to enter a filling station, and after purchasing an expensive fuel, he declares, they said we don’t benefit from subsidy!

 GMB and APC supporters have an additional puzzling dilemma to unravel because GMB had outrightly opposed the plan in 2012 when President Goodluck Jonathan mulled the idea of its removal. GMB and other APC chieftains famously proclaimed ‘over their dead bodies’ would they allow it. Meanwhile, by the side of the TV screen, we threw roses at them.

So, one of the top Buharist El-Rufai’s tried to rescue the situation in the aftermath of the then PMB’s backpedal. According to an accidental civil servant: ‘When fact changes, decision changes.’ This was to defend the then PMB decision even though he opposed it earlier. This philosophy convinced me; I said that Elrufai rightly arranged the pieces together. But one of my friends would make my life miserable; he said the same philosophy could also be applied to Jonathan as his reason behind fuel subsidy removal. I became speechless.

The speed with which the marketers change fuel prices immediately after price changes from NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation), regardless of what’s in their stock, whether old or new, is perhaps the biggest showdown between the public and marketers. As soon as NNPC announces a new price, marketers countrywide change the price in the blink of an eye. The public argues that since the new price is for the new product, the marketers with the old product should stick to the old price. One Sheik brought this public sentiment to the fore when he calculated the difference between the old and new prices and multiplied that by a presumably large number of litres for one marketer. The profit he got was staggering, about 300 million naira.

I share this public sentiment, and I, too, initially thought the marketers were doing it illegally until Mele Kyari explained it on BBC Hausa Ra’ayi Riga program. According to the NNPC MD, marketers must sell their old products at a new price. This approach enables them to recoup their old investment. For instance, if a marketer had 100 litres, he had to sell them at a new price so that he could buy the same amount, but if he sold them at the old price of N250, he would not be able to buy the same 100 litres of new product at a higher price.

This is a plausible reason from a market viewpoint; what of the masses? Because while the market provides safety measures for marketers, it does not offer the same to the general public, especially the poor. Economics and the related professionals’ expertise are needed here; they should help us balance these conflicting but appealing arguments.

Although it could be too late to cry when the head is chopped off, Nigerian policymakers may need to learn from thermal shock phenomena when it comes to subsidy removal or any government policy implementation.  Thermal shock is a situation a material experiences when exposed to sudden changes in temperature conditions; it can lead to the material cracking or even breaking down. 

Take a glass cup of tea, for instance. If the tea glass cup is scorching and you suddenly put it in cold water to cool the tea inside, the glass may crack or even break depending on the level of the thermal shock, but to cool the tea inside the got glass cup successfully without harming the glass, you apply gradual cooling. First, you put the glass cup in warm water, then gradually reduce the water temperature until it becomes cold; in this way, the tea inside the glass cup can cool without causing any injury to the glass.

Bilyamin Abdulmumin is a doctoral candidate in Chemical Engineering at ABU Zaria, a public affair commentator, and a science writer.

By Muhammadu Sabiu 

Professor Sagir Adamu Abbas, the vice chancellor of Bayero University, Kano (BUK), has revealed that the university has implemented a job programme for students in which the university hired students to do some jobs for it in exchange for N15,000 per month. 

Delivering a speech over the weekend in Kano when he met a group from the university’s main campus and the Education Correspondents Association of Nigeria (ECAN), Adamu-Sagir said: “The university equally introduced a kind of job scheme for students, whereby they were engaged to render some services to the university, and they were paid N15,000 monthly.  

“This does not affect their normal learning because it does not take much of their time as some were to clean some surroundings or render certain minor service within the university and got paid at the end of the month.”

The Vice-Chancellor bemoaned the large expense of maintaining the institution in his remarks over the rise in registration fees, particularly the exorbitant cost of providing fuel. 

He disclosed that the monthly cost of power is approximately N35 million, and the cost of diesel for generator purchases is approximately N40 million. 

He also noted that with a student body of almost 45,000, including postgraduates, and a staff of over 5,000, both teaching and non-teaching, it was practically impossible to provide social services. As a result, the management was compelled to hike registration fees.