Tale of the pump
SIR: As Nigeria gets embroiled in another fuel-price-induced crisis, this very brief hint from overseas may be of interest to those who rule us and who, from every indication, revel in plunging the country into avoidable catastrophe.
In the past six weeks or so, I have watched the remarkable movement of prices at a number of petrol (or gas, as it is called here in the United States) stations in the city of New Orleans. At the beginning of the escalation when the price of crude oil jumped to an unprecedented $55 on the world market, a gallon of gas hit $1.97 at many stations.
When a few weeks later, the price of crude went down by two dollars, the pump price at our local station responded with a downward slide. Now that the world market price is in the upper forties, the price of Regular Unleaded gasoline is about $1.85 at many stations. By my reckoning, the pump price of gas has gone down about four times in the past three weeks " in response to similar downward trends on the world market! If tomorrow the world price goes further down, the effect will immediately reflect at the local selling point.
Now, compare the scenario narrated above with what obtains in Nigeria; then ask: how much of the recent decrease in the price of oil on the world market has been reflected at our local petrol stations? Do Nigerians pay less for a litre of petrol now than they did when the price of crude hit that 'all-time high' globally a couple of weeks ago?
The current situation is another proof of the voodoo economics which the current 'Free Market' commissars delight in calling 'deregulation'. Because of the chaotic, corruption-ridden, eat-or-be-eaten 'system' in Nigeria, prices which go up never come down. And public functionaries seem always to be at their happiest and most 'efficient' when they rig up the prices of commodities which make life a little more tolerable for the common people. Besides, as I asked in my letter to President Obasanjo earlier on in February this year, how can you hope to 'deregulate' what you are not in a position to regulate in the first place? Who, really, is in charge " and in control " of the Nigerian economy?
The PPPRA and other shouters of the 'Market Forces' mantra have led the country down this perilous precipice. They should be asked why prices are only 'deregulated' upwards in Nigeria. They and the president who oversees their machinations should be held responsible for the avoidable chaos into which they have plunged this unfortunate country.
Niyi Osundare,
University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State
