By Jude Opara
RECENTLY Nigerians have been groaning under the heavy burden of
acute fuel scarcity which has hit the country for the third week running. Also
the issue of power which many thought was beginning to improve for the better
has gone bad again thereby leaving behind anguish and lamentations across the
nation.
Interestingly, these vital components of a nation on the
path of recovery were witnessed as soon as Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in as
president last May. Then what was on the lips of many people was that the body
language of the new President was beginning to work.
The moribund refineries, we were also told, started to
operate to a certain level and there was a ‘promise’ that with just few months,
the issue of fuel scarcity and the attendant hardship experienced by Nigerians
will be things of the past.
The argument in many quarters then was that since there was
a new sheriff in town, the people who hitherto used to sit on the progress of
the generality of Nigerians for their selfish interest were afraid of being
hounded into jail, hence the decision to allow the system work again like what
is experienced in many other climes.
The masses who have always been at the receiving end of the
drama and power play that usually play out between the Federal Government and
the all powerful oil marketers heaved a sigh of relief that the days of hurray
were here at last. They thought that the fuel importation which has made even
the government to lose count of how much it spends will be a thing of the past.
But surprisingly, just six months down the line it seems
that we are returning to Egypt
which we thought we had left for good. The scenario has not been anything
different from what it used to be in the past as the two vital indices; fuel
and power have once more become the most elusive commodities one can get.
