The current fuel scarcity in many parts of Nigeria, amidst widespread suffering and hunger, underscores the urgent need for government to enact better economic policies.
Development Diaries reports that the recent fuel scarcity hit Nigerians harder in Lagos State, the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and other cities.
While the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) recently raised concerns over the shortage of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, affecting its members across the country, the association’s spokesperson, Ukadike Chinedu, has also announced that Port Harcourt and Warri depots have received PMS from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
What are Nigerians meant to believe at this point, when many people are still queuing to get fuel at exorbitant prices?
It is no longer news that Nigerians have continued to suffer and smile in silence as the fuel scarcity has led to increased transportation costs, directly affecting prices of goods and services across the board.
This has also contributed to inflation which is already at an all-time high.
For a population where a significant percentage lives below the poverty line, the inability to access fuel, which is not even affordable, has made daily survival increasingly difficult.
Many businesses, particularly small enterprises, are struggling to operate, leading to job losses and further deepening the poverty crisis.
There is already a sense of worsening hopelessness and despair among the populace, who already feel abandoned by a system that seems indifferent to their plight.
In the midst of these sufferings, the silence of the leadership is a failure of governance but a moral failing that leaves millions of Nigerians in despair.
The silence of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration in the face of this crisis has been both deafening and disheartening. The absence of clear communication, coupled with a lack of effective intervention, has left the public feeling neglected and ignored.
The consistent failure to resolve the fuel scarcity, alongside the lack of transparency and accountability, continues to increase the erosion of trust which is a long-term challenge that could undermine the social contract between the government and the people.
When there is no immediate and decisive action from the government to address the root cause of the crisis, public trust is eroded.
Immediate and decisive action is required to address the root causes of the crisis, restore public trust, and alleviate the suffering of the people.
Development Diaries calls on the NNPC Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari, and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, to address the situation immediately in order to lessen the burdens of already overburdened citizens.
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