LAGOS—GOVERNOR Bola Tinubu of Lagos State has said that unless the nation’s refineries are urgently privatised, the country will continue to experience frequent price adjustments of petroleum products. The governor, in an interview at the presidential wing of the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, weekend, also advised the Federal Government to take advantage of the intervening period in the suspended strike of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to redress the nation’s energy situation.
He said: “The refineries, I stress again and again, you need to get rid of them into private hands. Let the public buy into them; let them be managed by those who can really manage them.”
According to him, the NNPC should urgently be privatised to remove it from the cycle of bureaucracy that continues to hamper its effectiveness.
He said the NNPC would compete better with other oil prospecting and producing companies if it is operated privately.
“What is the purpose of the NNPC? Is that what they’re doing all over the world, in other oil producing countries? If you want to carve out NNPC itself and make it a private company that will compete with any oil producing or prospecting company, and run efficiently and effectively, do so.
“NNPC now is not different from any other bureaucracy. When you carry it to the apron of government, it becomes something else. Why are we not doing what Venezuela is doing?” Tinubu queried.
He said the Federal Government embarked on deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry without laying the proper framework for it to thrive, saying there laid the sufferings of the people.
Tinubu said the existence of effective alternative means of transportation would have forced down the consumption level of fuel in the country, with attendant fall in price of petroleum products.
“Yes you need to deregulate, but there are certain things you need to do ahead of the suffering to stem the suffering of the people, that is one. “Roads are bad terribly; investment in public transportation is inadequate, that is clear to everybody, including educated illiterates and complete illiterates. There is no fair transportation system that is mass in nature.
“We should do that in short, medium term and long term. If we had done that, people will have alternative to their cars. Car is of absolute necessity for travelling, it’s no longer a means of luxury and if that consumption is going on, the price will continue to go higher,” he said.
He said there was nothing unusual about the strike, as it was a genuine vehicle for Nigerians to show their anger and frustration against government’s policy.
Tinubu commended the NLC, Lagos residents and security agents for the peaceful conduct of the strike, saying it was a win-win situation for all the parties involved.
He said the international media that waited to feast on bad news to paint a picture of instability in Nigeria as a result of the strike were disappointed, as no single cannister of teargas was fired throughout the duration of the strike, and attributed that to the beauty of democracy.
Tinubu said the state government was still taking stock in order to come out with accurate figures of what was lost to the strike, but stressed that what was of utmost importance to him was the image it projected of the country abroad.
