PRESIDENT Tinubu’s inaugural bombshell set the Nigerian trade unions on an opportunistic collision course with the Nigerian Government, which half-heartedly forced it to come with measures to cushion the effects of the abrupt subsidy removal.
The Presidential CNG Initiative (Pi-CNG) is one of the policy responses to mitigate the harsh effects of the subsidy withdrawal. Its principal objective is to provide cheaper alternative to costly PMS, whilst subsidiary objectives include the provision of an environmentally friendlier, cleaner, healthier and safer energy, and employment and investment generation.
Do the drivers of freely converted CNG-driven vehicles, or tricycles charge lower transport fares? From my experience they don’t; they charge fares as if their vehicles are PMS driven. They justify the higher transport fares, alleging that the much talked about free conversion is a ruse. Some of them allege to have paid hefty amounts before the conversions of their vehicles to bifuel driven ones.
Primarily designed to mitigate the increased cost of living, the CNG programme isn’t an ordinary palliative measure, because of its economic trajectory and developmental potential. But the Nigerian factor could be the Achille’s heels of the programme.
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A condensed expression of systematic normalisation of abnormality, and erosion of core societal values, paved the way for the unusual way of administering the nation, derogatorily called the ‘Nigerian factor’ toxically affecting, and skewing national programmes with economic trajectories to exclusive sectionalist and ethnic interests.
The Nigerian factor makes the least qualified candidate in a job interview to clinch the job; it transforms justice into a cash-and-carry affair, and incapacitates public institutions from optimal discharge of their responsibilities, making agencies to abandon or bend their rules to achieve predetermined opaque goals.
When juicy public appointments are reserved for ethnic brethren or region, the Nigerian factor is at work. When public projects are unfairly sited to favour a region, state, clan, etc.; the Nigerian factor is in action. When a strategic public agency is broken into regional units, impairing its capacity to discharge its mandate, the Nigerian factor is responsible.
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The Nigerian factor makes commercial vehicle owners entitled to free conversion to bifuel driven vehicles, pay heavily for the service. It makes those whose vehicles benefitted from free conversion services, charge the same transport fare with PMS driven vehicles.
It is the Nigerian factor which gives the CNG programme a predominantly South-Western imprimatur. Eight of its 12-member Zacch Adedeji-led Steering Committee were South-Westerners. And the composition of its Michael Oluwagbemi-led Program Management Team reinforces the South-Western domination of the Programme: three of its 5 members are from the South-West.
According to the NLCGA Newsletter of 18th October 2024, out of the 45 free CNG conversion centres, 24 (53%) were in the South-West; 7 (16%) in the South-South; 0 (0%) in the South-East; 13 (29%) in the North-Central; 1 (2%) in the North-West, and 0 (0%) in the North-East.
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Establishing 53% of the centres in an enclave unduly prioritises a section of the nation over other sections. The South-East, North-West and the North-East seem to have been side-lined in the programme.
And since CNG largely depends on pipeline network transportation and distribution, virtual transportation could have diffused the benefits of the policy to all the off-pipeline zones in the nation.
Powergas Global Investment Nigeria Ltd is an energy company specialising in virtual CNG transportation and distribution. It could transport CNG to any place irrespective of whether there is a pipeline network or not.
Do the drivers of freely converted CNG-driven vehicles, or tricycles charge lower transport fares? From my experience they don’t; they charge fares as if their vehicles are PMS driven. They justify the higher transport fares, alleging that the much talked about free conversion is a ruse. Some of them allege to have paid hefty amounts before the conversions of their vehicles to bifuel driven ones.
The Pi-CNG Initiative’s Program Management Team has to roll its sleeves, because out of 4.6 million commercial vehicles in the nation, only 100,000 are CNG driven. It has to expand the conversion centres and leverage on CNG off-pipeline transportation and distribution to make as many Nigerians as possible to benefit from the programme.
Having paid for the conversions, economic logic would make passengers to shoulder the burden through higher fares, till they recover the costs of what would have been a free service. If they fully recover the costs, will they revert to lower transport fares? But they could have lied about the payments to justify the higher fares they unconscionably charge their passengers.
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It is only the Nigerian factor which could make each of the scenarios possible: paying for a free public good or service, thereby denying motorists the full benefits of the programme; and lying to justify the denial of the cost-mitigating effects of the scheme to the passengers, after fully benefitting from free conversion and cheaper CNG prices.
Since the hardship induced by the subsidy removal is national, the benefits of the programme should also be national, not unduly localised to a particular enclave.
The rising poverty due to escalating terrorism in different parts of the North, reinforced by the impact of the subsidy withdrawal, should have made the North a priority target for the CNG programme due to its economic trajectory.
The Pi-CNG Initiative’s Program Management Team has to roll its sleeves, because out of 4.6 million commercial vehicles in the nation, only 100,000 are CNG driven. It has to expand the conversion centres and leverage on CNG off-pipeline transportation and distribution to make as many Nigerians as possible to benefit from the programme.
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And it should develop a feedback mechanism to find whether motorists are being extorted for the conversions or not; and whether passengers are charged higher transport fares by drivers of CNG-driven vehicles, or not.
The relevant House and Senate Committees should ensure that the CNG Program Management Team is expanded to include representatives of critical stakeholders and equal representation of the six geopolitical zones to free the pro-poor friendly programme from the toxic effects of the Nigerian factor.
Jahun, a public affairs analyst writes from Dutse, the Jigawa State Capital. He can be reached on 07039038088.
