Even as Nigerians are yet to come to terms with the possibility of paying more for petrol after full deregulation of the downstream sector may have come to be, the nation is already been psyched to yet another possibility; this time, it is coming via a proposal from the moribund but drain pipe that is called Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA). The proposal is to the effect that the agency will want a five per cent road users’ tax, otherwise known as fuel tax and a reintroduction of the toll gates that were demolished sometime in 2004.
The nation was recently awaken to the move when FERMA’s board chairman and former Governor of Niger State, Alhaji Abdulkadir Kure (an engineer) met with media men to drum support for the proposal, which according to him, has already been endorsed by “stakeholders”, which according to him, included the labour unions.
If eventually introduced, FERMA expects to rake-in about N30bn annually from fuel tax alone and according to Kure, the proceeds will be used to maintain about 220,000 kilometre network of roads which dot the nation’s landscape.
Coming side by side with FERMA’s proposal on fuel tax is another which concerns re-introduction of toll gates that were abolished during the regime of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
We recall that the former President had a hectic battle trying to convince Nigerians to accept his plans to impose a fuel tax of N1.50, hence the decision to dangle the carrot of demolition of toll gates on all federal roads across the country. It took the doggedness of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) under the leadership of Comrade Adams Oshiomole and of course the intervention of the judiciary to force the government to back-pedal.
As a newspaper, we have at different times and in at least three different editions looked at deregulation, we have looked at the options that are available to this country and we have also looked at the fact that one can safely conclude that Nigeria has indeed adopted deregulation for as long as the pump price of petrol is not uniform in all nooks and crannies of this country.
The collusion of oil marketers and the activities of middlemen and black marketers have collectively ensured that while petrol is sold at filling stations in Lagos and most parts of the West at the pump price of N65 per litre, the same does not apply in other parts of the country. The question is: if at the moment, petrol sells for N65 per litre in Lagos and it goes for as much as N150 in some parts of the country, then have we not deregulated?
It is almost certain that deregulation is inevitable and this is because government has programmed it to be so and has made it appear as if there is no alternative.
It is very uncharitable and a clear demonstration of total disconnect from the people to romance a policy that has the tendency to further impoverish the people.
We reiterate that if Nigeria must embrace deregulation, then its government should take the repair of refineries more seriously.
Just as it was in 2004, the desperation to introduce fuel tax may have been heightened by government’s dwindling revenue and the need to shore it up, but the way the policy is being canvassed and the fact that it does not represent anything new makes the whole thing laughable. Only the government alone can reveal how much of tax payers’ money that was used to demolish the toll gates that were constructed (in the first place) with monies from the same tax payers.
Just as the idea of reconstructing toll gates six years after they were demolished and the reintroducing toll fees are demonstrations of dearth of innovations on the part of the government, the idea of introducing fuel tax, even while the debate on deregulation is yet to be concluded is another mark of insensitivity and lack of focus.
Just like it was defeated six years ago, it is our expectation that Nigerians will rise up against fuel tax. We equally urge the NLC to distance itself from the policy and be weary of the carrot which is being dangled before it by saying that the union will monitor the collection and usage of proceeds from the five per cent fuel tax which translates to higher pump price.
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