I am not an economist by training, but I understand its principles by seeing economic factors playing out everyday as a tangible reality. Besides, I read a lot of economics in my public secondary school that is now dilapidated with no motivated teachers. Having cleared the premise for discussing an economic issue, I would like to add that I know the word, DERGULATION, as an animal doctor with a specialist understanding of disease. I have slept and woken with this crazy word, because I have been thinking of it as a virus deserving attention and requiring an urgent vaccine like the Swine fever virus. I have tried to understand this word as a neo-colonial virus being created as a mutant from institutions in imperial economies. It is as dangerous as you want to see it depending on where you are; that is, if you have protective gears or you are a highly susceptible immunologically naïve juvenile economy.
Deregulation has become a phenomenon urgently called for in the downstream oil sector. Several reasons are given to justify that it is the cure for the ills of this sector. The danger signals flash from my test apparatus and tell me Nigeria wants to play with a fulminant invasive and malignant infective agent. The economic disease of the world is caused by deregulation, which is defined as unmitigated capitalism without welfarist impulse and with no protection for the defenceless poor in a deregulated regime and have no strength to find the potential richness embedded in everyone.
Deregulation is an impotent pill for weak economies brandished by experienced economies which know the theories and experiment them on the poor nations without good results. President Bush defended capitalism very well before he receded into ineffectiveness that caused economic recession. President Obama told us that capitalism failed because of irresponsible governance and failure to apply the necessary regulations required for sustainable execution of business activities. The West is coming out of the recession, but Nigeria is just going into it and trying to preach what Bush practiced and failed in a developed nation. Can we be less stupid to think that senseless deregulation will do us any good, when it has been the cause of misery in the homes of its protagonists?
Deregulation means abdication of responsibility by government in power. It means the punishment of the people by the people’s inaction. It is an uncontrolled romping of profit-driven capitalists who destroy gullible people with weak sense of self-protection. It no longer means removal of public monopoly. It has become institutionalization of private monopoly with ultimate destruction of increasingly weakened public governance, and enthronement of a faceless imperialism of cabals in strategic sectors.
The oil sector is the core of Nigeria’s existence and to consider trifling with it, is contemplating national suicide. Any decision in this sector should be carefully taken. In terms of strategic importance, the oil sector is far above the deregulated water and telecom sectors which enjoy little government interest and operate in haphazard manner reminiscent of the blinking lights. What is necessary now is to allow private refineries to spring up in Nigeria where crude oil is sold to them at a discount so that they can sell fuel to Nigerians at adjustable of retail price that is in congruence with per capita income of Nigerians. This is because we have been told that NNPC is corrupt and self-destruct, and about to be privatized like NITEL because of failure of government instruments.
Meanwhile, the government needs to find foreign refineries to import fuel from at concessionary prices in exchange for crude oil at discount rates, provided their cost of production is low and their home governments concede some export tax wavers to us through bilateral agreements. We can look for refineries in emerging economies that understand our problems and are eager to go into a synergy. Co-operation of countries with histories of similar political economies and targets may bring us the succour we are looking for. Let’s run away from economic lords with high-sounding theories because we can’t afford to continue in economic slavery in the 21st century.
1 comment:
Well, if I should attempt to answer some of the issues in question raised as well as provide case studies brought by deregulation.I can categorically put it that deregulation is the answer to payments of trillions over the years into the pockets of few individuals. Again, the issue of corruption in the NNPC can only be stopped through through such policies. This means government have broken down the single commodity of monopoly by either the NNPC or the connived organized stealing between the major marketers nd major marketers. Come to look at it. Since the announcement by government to deregulate the down stream sector. Petroleum commodity has been available in filling stations who only sell such once a year. There r more filling stations nd yet more are being built every day to collect subsidies on commodity they never brought. We know there was sabotage to frustrate Buhari administration by many oil players particularly so the independent marketers. Now suddenly, the reference was changed as well as the goalkeepers while the players remained.
Take a look at diesel,since it was deregulated by Jonathan administration the commodity has not only been available but also cheaper. As of the time of deregulation, the commodity was sold at more #200 per litre. However, as I am talking to you, it it being sold at 1:20 per litre. So it is a matter of time, very soon the price of the product would go down just like the diesel.we need to give the Buhari administration a little time as it is easier to distroy than to built. Nigeria wouldn't have been where it is now if Jonathan had won the election as equally put by our respected professor Emeritus Sole Soyinka.
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