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• says Nigeria refinery obsolete
From Stanley Uzoaru , Owerri
The Chairman, Imo State College of Education Governing Council, Ihitte Uboma, and paramount traditional ruler of Isiama,Eze Oliver Ohanweh has urged citizens of the country to support the fuel subsidy removal by President Bola Tinubu.
Adressing newsmen at the weekend in Owerri, Imo state capital, Eze Ohanweh said that the move should be commended adding that Nigeria cannot afford to be enriching international communities and oil industries while its citizens wallow in abject poverty.
According to him, successive administrations had used the oil subsidy, mounting debt profile and servicing of over 10 billion dollars in debt as excuses for the most abandoned projects that would have impacted positively on the well-being of the masses.
“Now that they have removed the subsidy, let things change for good.” Ohanweh said.
He continued “So, the best thing that has happened to us is the removal of the petrol subsidy. I think President Tinubu should be commended for that. Nigeria gives crude free, the marketers take it outside the country to refine, gets three products from it and Nigeria goes to buy it the same product, no nation can survive on such arrangement,” he said.
“The removal of subsidy completely has to stay, but let the administration of Bola Tinubu factor a way to address the pains of the masses.
“This can come in the form of mass transit, improved railway system and network across the country, liberalisation of the oil industry, licence of more oil marketers to import the product to break the monopoly and encourage competition to allow the market forces to determine prices.”
On refineries, he suggested that Nigeria should forget to refurbish the existing refineries as they are obsolete and cannot make 50 per cent production.
He regretted that Nigeria did not take the advice of oil experts to build new refineries about 22 years ago when he was mandated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to go overseas to do a technical audit on Nigeria’s refineries.
“About 22 years ago, the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo sent me to the United States of America and the report I got from the technical audit carried out by experts of refineries from Texas is that our refineries cannot make 50 per cent production and the report also added that Nigeria should forget our existing refineries and build new ones.
“If we had followed that advice we would have solved the problems we are facing today in the sector, yet today we budget billions of dollars to refurbish these outdated refineries.” The monarch said.
