No petrol in many stations

Today is April 7, the sacred day Ibe Kachikwu, Nigeria’s minister of state for Petroleum and group Managing director of the NNPC promised  Nigerians to banish the harsh reality and agony of fuel scarcity.

Reports from all over the country indicate that the fuel agony is far from abating, although in Abuja, the queues are said to be reducing.

“I slept at the fuel station all through the night, from about 3pm when I joined the queue the day before”, said Saka Anifowose, a commercial driver. After queueing for more than 30 hours, he managed to buy 50 litres into his vehicle. He needed the fuel, not just for his Toyota truck, but also to power a small generator at home, since the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company has also not been supplying power regularly.

It was the second time Kachikwu’s promise to end the scarcity that began in late February will explode on his face. Initially, he said it would go away in 48 hours. When it did not happen, he said he was not trained as a magician and gave a deadline of May.

That triggered a panic countrywide as Nigerians jam the stations to store for the uncertain future.

Despite ships after ships arriving with petrol cargoes, the supply gap is yet to be bridged and the prices are crazy in many parts of Nigeria. In some places, a litres is sold for between N180 and N250, far from the official price of N86.50.

Kachikwu in a video explains the root of the crisis:Kachikwu explains the crisis