….Call On Other Petroleum Corporations In Africa To Build Capacity

The Presidency of the All-Africa Students’ Union (AASU) has commended the Management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) for intensifying efforts at increasing the supply of petrol into the market in order to bridge any unforeseen supply gap, mitigating the fuel crisis with such commendable alacrity.

It could be recalled that a fortnight ago, limited quantity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as Petrol, with methanol quantities above Nigeria’s specification was discovered in the supply chain; and its immediate withdrawal from the supply chain occasioned an unforeseen supply gap in Abuja, Lagos and some major cities in the country.

According to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Companies (OPEC), Nigerians consume an average of over 19.5 billion liters of petrol annually and an average 1.6 billion liters of petrol monthly; and the NNPC making over N2.5 trillion from the sale of petrol between 2020 and 2021; exported $27.7 billion worth of petroleum products in 2020.

This makes the undertaking of the NNPC quite huge and herculean; by far the most sophisticated in Africa and so one of such in the whole world.

AASU in a statement signed by its President, Osisiogu Osikenyi E., on Friday urged all hands to be on deck to bridge the gap in the supply chain to ameliorate the suffering of the Nigerian populace.

“We urge that rather than politicizing the current supply gap, every hand should come on deck in partnering with the NNPC at ensuring that the current supply hardship is properly mitigated; so Nigerians will be the ultimate beneficiaries.

“We are therefore urging sister Petroleum Corporations in Africa to take a cue from NNPC under the sterling leadership of Malam Mele Kyari, to build institutional capacity to swiftly curtail such crisis while enhancing indigenous capacity to refine locally and forestall reoccurrence”, the statement concluded.