The Miracle Kachikwu Promised

Dr. Kachikwu should stop speaking for the Petroleum Minister. He is after all only the Minister of State, and that is because of somebody’s cocksureness that he can do the job better than the professionals. Now, everyone would be saying that the miracle Dr. Kachikwu promised has turned out a mirage – the fuel queues simply refused to disappear in Abuja and Lagos on Thursday as he declared! At least, I am very sure that it didn’t disappear in Lagos! He would be receiving all the blows while the man who appointed himself Petroleum Minister is sitting still in his house, unperturbed, and probably, sipping well-chilled kunu, thinking of his next trip to one other better-managed country, far removed from the problems he troubled us for sixteen years to allow him to solve for us.

*Buhari: President and Petroleum Minister 

The fuel queues I saw today in Lagos were terrible. At Oregun Road in Ikeja, the long queue created traffic problems. Consequently, there were hold-ups where none should have existed. Perhaps, to underline the fact there was no miracle, the NNPC filling station at Oregun Road had no fuel to sell. The one at Omole, as you approach Ojodu, further compounded the traffic situation in the area with the very long queue it also created. I was unable to confirm if it even had any fuel to sell, or that the motorists were waiting with the hope that it might start selling, as was the case at several other filling stations. Because these fuel-thirsty cars occupied great parts of the roads, it was difficult sometimes for big vehicles to pass, thereby holding every other motorist to ransom.

At Ikorodu Road, the story was the same or even worse. People even queued at fillings stations that were not selling anything, even water, probably in the hope that the promised miracle might happen. As you move further down to Western Avenue, the filling station at Alaka made its own very generous contribution to the people’s woes. The queue stretched as far as Shita Busstop on the way to Masha in Surulere. 

*Dr. Kachikwu 

One can go on and on, but, it was heart-shattering watching fellow Nigerians under the very angry and oppressive sun waiting for fuel they may never get. Some of the vehicles had no drivers in them. Did they abandon their cars there because they had no fuel to drive them away after waiting for hours and even days for fuel that had refused to come? Maybe, it is rather too early by nearly 5pm to make conclusions? God help Nigeria…