The PMS deregulation policy: Buhari, a tyrant or a hero?

Recently, the Federal Govern­ment removed the subsidy on petrol otherwise known as Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), thereby hiking the price of the said prod­uct from N86.5 to N145.

Subsidy is a statutory fund invariably released by the government on a certain commodity or good with a view to re­ducing the price of the good, to enable the citizenry purchase it at ease. Hence, the recent total removal of the PMS sub­sidy implies that henceforth, the product will no longer enjoy such gesture.

Implementation of suchlike policy by the government was informed by the obvious fact that the prime reason for which the subsidy was made was be­ing shortchanged owing to corruption. Needless to say, the so-called subsidy on petrol consistently constituted more harm than good. To this end, the Presi­dent Muhammadu Buhari-led adminis­tration via the effort of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, thought it wise to deregulate the sector for the interest of Nigerians in general.

Deregulation, on its part, is the act of selling off a certain government firm, sector or parastatal to interested pri­vate investor(s) as a result of a tangible reason, contrary to concession which is the practice of leasing the manage­ment of a particular government firm, sector or parastatal to interested private investor(s) for a stipulated period of time after which the government can redeem the ownership.

It’s noteworthy that deregulation could be whole or public-private partnership. For instance, in the Nigeria’s power sec­tor, what’s presently taking place is the latter; the government sold off the dis­tribution section of the sector. Power supply involves three major segments namely, the generation, transmission, and distribution segments (phases); so the ownership of the distribution phase was sold to private investors.

Similarly, before now, what we were witnessing in the petroleum sector was public-private partnership whereby the government was the major determinant of pricing; but at the moment, the private investors have been empowered to own refineries, hence determine the price of the petroleum products just as it’s cur­rently witnessed in the telecom sector. In a regime of this kind, what makes the price of the goods and services to be af­fordable is competition. When such em­bargo is lifted, most entrepreneurs would be interested to invest in the sector, which in the long run would definitely usher in a competitive market where ev­ery investor would aspire to attract the highest patronage.

One may wonder, why didn’t the gov­ernment consider addressing the menace occasioned by corruption that was hin­dering the anticipated effective function­ality of the subsidy regime, rather than outrightly removing the subsidy? Better still, why not fix or revive the country’s moribund refineries? The awful truth is that, even if the government eventually succeeds in rejuvenating the four inca­pacitated refineries, it won’t serve up to 40 percent of the Nigerian population. In other words, there’s a compelling need for the establishment of several other refineries that would cater for the entire population which is almost 200 million.

The costly mistake the government made was that the citizens were taken totally unawares. Implementation of a policy of this nature has a fundamental procedure, and the procedure remains that every relevant stakeholder or group must assent to the proposal seeking for such implementation. Government can­not wake one morning and put up an austerity measure. It’s even more pathetic that the organized labour wasn’t carried along; they were only notified on the proposed measure, not that their consent was sought.

This is why every concerned Nigerian would ask, is Buhari a tyrant or a hero? In some quarters, people are of the view that the leader in question could be best described as a tyrant for having imple­mented the PMS deregulation policy unannounced, while in some other quar­ters, those who seem to acknowledge the essence of such ostensibly cruel-like step are immensely chanting that Buhari is indeed a hero. What we must take into cognizance is that implementation of some harsh policies such as this very one requires the use of non-human face, be­cause if the government decides to wait till the citizens unanimously approve the proposal, implementation of such lofty policy would end up in shambles.

Since the policy is genuinely targeted at bringing in a positive change, what we need to do is to accept our fate in good faith, thus wait patiently for the fruit of such labour. What the organized labour is expected to do at this point is to give the government a mandate. An ultima­tum of about twelve months or there­abouts can be issued to the government, mandating it to ensure that such policy yields a wholesome fruit within the given period; else, it should consider reversing it thereafter.

And while the citizens wait, the gov­ernment ought to note that they deserve compensation so that many wouldn’t depart eternally before the policy be­comes productive. They should be duly compensated by ensuring that every clause in the 2016 budget is thoroughly implemented without further ado. On the other hand, there ought to be a leg­islation regarding the policy. Thus, the lawmakers are required to headlong pass a bill as regards the policy into law so that Nigerians won’t be of the notion that their leaders are acting outside the box; similarly, the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) should be revisited toward ensur­ing a speedy passage.

In the same vein, the regulatory agen­cies to include the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), as well as the Consumer Protec­tion Council (CPC) should be more pro­active at this critical moment, especially in regard to pricing, purity/quality, and measurement of the petroleum products in various filling stations.

It isn’t news anymore that some of the petroleum dealers often adulterate the products; and in most filling stations, you would observe that their metres were adjusted, thereby making consum­ers purchase a quarter-litre of PMS or as the case may be, in the name of one li­tre. Consumers deserve to enjoy the real value of whatever they purchase, and this shouldn’t be an exception. Moreover, be­fore we start witnessing the anticipated competition in the market in question, the agencies must ensure that the prod­ucts aren’t sold at outrageous prices.

The ongoing renewed Niger-Delta militancy cannot be left out while dis­cussing the petroleum sector. Toward re­solving any crisis, we must endeavour to ascertain the fundamental origin of the mayhem. The said militants are called Avengers, which indicates that they are significantly a set of aggrieved individu­als; hence, we must find out what their grievances are. One may wonder; after the commendable amnesty programme initiated by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, which held waters, why would these men return to the field? The government ought to endeavour to fill the actual lapse.

Anyone who truly means well for Nigeria looks forward to seeing an era where everyone including critics, scep­tics and cynics would address President Buhari as a hero for having taken this gi­ant step which was long overdue. Thus, the government must do everything humanly possible towards ensuring that the policy isn’t bedeviled by any form of sabotage. Think about it!