The Nation Newspaper

Tag: queues

  • ATM queues

    •Sad reminder of the ‘tally number’ banking era 

    For Nigerians familiar with long queues in the banking halls of yore, the ubiquitous queues at the Automated Teller Machines’ cash points would conjure a familiar memory – a throwback to the period of ‘tally-number’; of customers frantically seeking to withdraw cash in what was oftentimes, a less-than-seamless process of across-the-counter transactions in the atmosphere of bedlam.

    Now, three decades after the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) was introduced into the Nigerian financial market to relieve the bank customer of that burden of frustration, the queues have staged a comeback – from the banking halls to cash-dispensing tills.

    The story across the federation is virtually the same: where the machines – which are supposed to dispense cash to the customers whenever they need them – have not only broken down, they are more often than not, out of cash. Many of course are known to have been abandoned by their owners for reasons that are hard to fathom – leaving the few that manage to work with long queues.

    It is worse at weekends and public holidays – during which time bank doors are not open for business. Whether in the cities or far flung rural areas where a few of the machines are to be found, the story of frustrations is the same. During last week’s Eid-el-Kabir celebrations for instance, there were reports of customers spending 50 minutes or more on the queue before making withdrawals; the less lucky ones reportedly left the cash tills frustrated when the cash ran out, just as there were countless others whose accounts were wrongly debited even when no cash was dispensed.

    Just as obtains all over the world, the ATMs have since become vital elements in citizens’ transaction culture. Indeed, right from when the first set of the machines were installed by National Cash Registers (NCR) for the defunct Societe Generale Bank in 1987, its acceptance by the banking public – whether in the rural or the urban centres – has been phenomenal mostly for the reasons that their presence relieves citizens of the burden of carrying cash around while also ensuring that daily cash emergencies are met with ease and at minimum inconvenience.

    Proof of this is the surge in the value of ATM withdrawals. From N3.97 trillion in 2015 for instance, it surged to N4.7 trillion in 2016 – a jump of 22.5 percent. Clearly, if that trend is any confirmation of how much the services have enjoyed wide acceptance as well as the potential for growth in the foreseeable future, the least we expect is that the banks will seek to match their pace with the demand at any given time. Part of this is that the machines would be in their utmost serviceable conditions at all times and be well stocked with cash.

    That this is not currently the case should worry the Bankers Committee as a body; indeed, that the ATMs are fast turning into white elephants at a time of growing demand should stoke serious concerns. Moreover, that Nigerians are denied access to what is ordinarily a basic service by their financial services providers through willful negligence reflects, both on the individual bank’s poor culture of maintenance, and cash management.

    The banks should therefore consider the removal and replacement of the non-functional machines as priority. This is even more so that these are value added services for which the bank customer is charged a fee. We do also think that there should be better mechanisms to ensure that the ATMs are constantly maintained. Considering that the existing ATMs are not enough, the banks, through their forum – the Bankers Committee – should consider ways of fast-tracking the deployment of more machines to bridge the gaps.

  • Queues disappear in Lagos on N145/litre pump price

    Queues disappear in Lagos on N145/litre pump price

    Subsidy removal yesterday worked like magic in Lagos as long queues disappeared at petrol filling stations.

    At filling stations in Ikeja, Mushin and Ikorodu Road, among others, petrol was being sold. Some known for “good metering” had queues of about five to 10 vehicles. Others were empty and motorists drove in and out freely. Some filling stations were not selling because, the attendants said, they have no fuel.

    But Commercial buses and taxis have increased their fares. For instance, buses that ply Eko Hotel to Ojuelegba collect N250 as against N150. Ojuelegba to Ikeja is now N250 as against N150. Mowe/Ibafo to Oshodi, which was N200, has gone up to N250. Egbeda to Oshodi, which was N150 is now N250. Dopemu to Yaba is N300 as against N150.

    Although the removal of subsidy was praised by many Nigerians, particularly those in the manufacturing and operators of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as they need not labour to access fuel, there are concerns that with the state of the naira, some marketers may still sell above N145 per litre as they will source their foreign exchange (forex) from the secondary market, meet their logistics requirements and tackle other issues.

     When NNPC was importing and giving the marketers at subsidised price with some margin for using their (marketers) retail outlets and a little profit, some of them sold at N130 per litre. Now that the government has fixed the price at N145 per litre, marketers may not stick to the government’s margin.

    Mobil Oil Plc spokesman Akin Fatunke said the N145 per litre template for any patriotic marketer that is not greedy is enough. According to him, the government factored the cost of forex acquisition, logistics needs and marketers’ margins into the new price. The new price can only increase if there is a major economic depression, which will make the price of dollar soar far more than it is now or if the price of crude rises very high.

    He said: “At this point in time, if we put everything together in terms of Platts, logistics and other things, the new price is okay. Any reasonable, efficient and proactive businessman can make profit with the new price template despite the cost of securing forex, importing and clearing from the ports.”

    Fatunke said any marketer who wants to sell above the new pump price does that at his/her own detriment because aside the fact that the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) will closely monitor the retail outlets, in the long term also, there will be supply glut due to competition and people will buy at stations with lowest price and “good pumps”.

    He agreed that some marketers have proclivity for profiteering but noted that with subsidy removal, there will be competition among marketers because the government looked at all the nooks and crannies in terms of petrol price before settling for the price band of N145 per litre. In Fatunke’s view, pump price will not be same across the country, depending on how far a filling station is from the port. He cited the current price in Ibadan and Enugu, which is higher than what obtains in Lagos.

    Any marketer who sells above N145 is not only profiteering but should be seen as a cheat, he said, adding that there will be a glut in the market in the long run and such marketers will be out of business.

  • Tales from the fuel queues

    Tales from the fuel queues

    How that the fuel queues are shrinking and the black marketers as well as their filling station collaborators are returning home to wait for the next harvest, it is fit and proper to relive the season of anguish and anger. Who knows, those fellows who visit such hardship upon us may be touched and choose not to trouble the land this way any more. Who knows.

    As the fuel stress eases, nature has coincidentally chosen to be merciful. The rains seem to be here – so is the rainy day, again coincidentally –  after a long, harsh break occasioned by an unusual heat wave worsened by a collapsed electricity system which, we are told, succumbed to vandalism that drained the plants of gas. The long years of neglect by rapacious adventurers and marauders posing as leaders have finally come to torment us all. Pity.

    It is cool now. Plants have found their flush – fresh, lush and flowery once again, their sheer greenery exciting the mind and bewitching the eyes. The cool breeze hits the body in a refreshing lullaby that only mother nature is capable of working.

    Oh! If man could learn a little from nature and enrich humanity with some kindness. Pardon my digression.

    No matter how bad a situation is, it will have some redeeming feature. And so it is with this latest encounter with the fuel scarcity demon. Long after we had forgotten that the mother of former Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was kidnapped, the secret behind the crime has been revealed.

    Thousands of kilometres away from the crazy queues that partly symbolise the anger of the subsidy lords, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala has told the French newspaper Le Monde of her experience in the fight against corruption. She said sharply: “Nigeria subsidises fuel. About $67billion that it costs. We found that $1.5billion was fraudulent. … I told the President that we would stop paying. What happened? They kidnapped my mother, 83 years. During the first three days, their only demand was my resignation. I was supposed to go on television and announce my resignation.”

    “This was one of the worst moments of my life. Can you imagine what happens in your head if you have to be responsible for the death of your mother? I will not go into details but you must understand that in a country like this… in the fight against corruption, we must be prepared to pay a personal price.

    “My father asked me not to resign. The president asked me not to resign. At the end, everyone began looking for her, and the kidnappers released her.”

    What a revelation!

    Instead of appreciating the former minister for this prized information, which an analyst has rated in the class of the Panama Papers, many have been lashing her for not going the whole hog. They have been asking:  Is Madam telling the truth? Why was it difficult to stop the daylight robbery that the fuel subsidy had become? Who were the men and women behind this criminal mask? How much was paid for the old woman’s freedom? Was that why we couldn’t stop the subsidy and the sharks held the nation to ransom? Did we taxpayers eventually pick this fraudulent bill for our minister’s mum to be released?  C’mon Ma, tell us the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

    Those are the fair and objective observers. There are others who challenged Mrs Okonjo –Iweala to answer the age-long question of what became of the $2.1billion Excess Crude Account cash which Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole said was unaccounted for. In fairness to Madam, she once said that the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) was aware that the money had been spent. Even then, she was quickly reminded that FAAC was a mere assemblage of finance commissioners created for administrative convenience and not a constitutional body, which can elbow aside the National Economic Council (NEC).

    By December 2012, the ECA had a balance of over $10 billion. By May, 2015, the balance had gone down to $2.07 billion. Crude oil was between $100 and $108 between 2011 and 2014 when the budgets had a benchmark of $77 and $79. Why was the account not fattened by the excess?

    This is among the numerous questions they are asking Mrs Okonjo-Iweala to answer.

    President Muhammadu Buhari has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of not saving for the rainy day. They ran the country as if it was Hollywood and movie stars, living a Champagne life of opulence and obscene luxury while the people starved.

    Mrs Okonjo-Iweala disagreed. She spoke of how governors did not allow the Dr Goodluck Jonathan administration to save for the rainy day. Her first tour of duty, she said, saw the establishment of a stabilisation mechanism and opening of an account for surplus oil earnings of $22billion.

    “In 2008 when prices fell from $148 to $38 a barrel, no one heard of Nigeria because the country was able to tap into this fund. And that, I am very proud of. When I returned in 2011, there remained only $4billion on this account while the price of oil was very high. I tried again to put money aside. The president agreed, but the governors did not accept. I suffered a lot of attacks from them and now that the country would really need this account, these same people accuse me of not having saved.”

    Poor woman. How could they have forgotten those lofty schemes that political opponents dismissed as scams? The SURE – P, You Win I win and the icing on the cake, Rebasing – the one that catapulted Nigeria’s economy from the depth of mystery to which its former managers had dumped it to the peak of affluence, the best in Africa. All by the mere ingenuity of our dearest minister who just adjusted the figures and put us where we rightly belong economically. Doesn’t she deserve a trophy?

    At a point the fuel problem bred some tragedies. An expectant woman was delivered of her baby as she walked for hours. In Lagos, a Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) officer shot dead two persons at a filling station. One, an 18-year-old boy, was accused of hawking fuel, a charge he vehemently denied. Unsatisfied by his pleas to allow him go, the officer fired a shot that killed the boy, simply identified as Ikechukwu.

    As the poor boy fell, the officer and her colleagues fled the scene, shooting into the air. Three people were injured.

    The situation also witnessed a massive exhibition of the fecundity of the Nigerian mind. Laughter became the fuel of life. A fellow recalled: “After Buhari won the presidential election, people started to trek for him. We thought they were insane. We never knew they saw the future; they were being prophetic. Now, everybody is trekking. Now it’s mass trekking for Buhari.”

    The sarcasm was as biting as the situation it was meant to illuminate. The fellow adds a Pentecostal clincher: “Not to worry, the children of Israel trekked to the Promised Land from Egypt. Be of good cheer, fellow Nigerians. Tell your neighbour, ‘I will get there before you’.”

    The story is told of a man who goes to a filling station throbbing with people. Some, fagged out and dozing, have their heads on their steering wheels. Others have their power generators, mostly the tiny ones derisively called I better pass my neighbour, on their bare heads. There are also those holding jerry cans of various sizes – all waiting for the long-awaited sales to begin.

    Suddenly a voice rings out: “They have started o! They have started o!”. As the fellow runs across the road, still screaming “they have started o”, many leave the queue and start running, some also crying “they have started o”. A few kilometres away from the filling station, a motorist and one of the first to run after the screaming man catches up with him, grabs him by the collar of his shirt and asks: “What have they started?” The fellow replies: “El Classico. Barca versus Real Madrid.”

    Of all the rib-ticklers on the Nigerian situation, including a man’s Facebook announcement that he has bought a horse to finally settle the fuel problem, none is as striking as this, part of which appeared on this page a long time ago.

    “Some former leaders died and went to hell. The British leader asks the devil to allow him make a phone call to London to know the welfare of his people. He spends five minutes. Satan bills him $5000.The United States leader makes his call for eight minutes and Satan bills him $8000. The Nigerian leader calls Abuja and spends two hours. He is briefed about the fuel trouble, Boko Haram, kidnapping, budget brouhaha and the anti-corruption war.

    “After his call, he asks Satan, ‘How much is my bill?’ Satan replies: ‘Your bill is $1.’

    Surprised, the Nigerian leader says: ‘How come my own call is cheaper than the other two leaders’? I stayed longest on the phone.’

    Satan, smiling, replies: “What’s the difference? Calling hell from hell is not expensive; it’s a local call.”

  • Fuel queues end weekend, says PPMC

    Fuel queues end weekend, says PPMC

    The Managing Director, Pipelines and  Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Mrs. Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue, yesterday assured fuel queues will disappear from petrol stations across the country by this weekend.

    She apologised to Nigerians over the harrowing experience they had been subjected to over the past two week or there about, adding the Federal Government shared their pains.

    “We have people trucking out (fuel) from Port Harcourt, Warri, Ogarra, Calabar as alternative sources for Lagos. So, all efforts are being made to ensure that by weekend, all these would be a thing of the past,” the PPMC chief said.

    On the causes of scarcity of the petrol across the country, she said: “It happens when there is any issue or breach at any point in the value chain and when the reaction did not take immediate effect, it reflects almost immediately.”

    Acccording to her, there was sensitisation of the public a few weeks ago about the probable situation.

    Mrs. Nnamdi-Ogbue who spoke with reporters in Abuja, said the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and all its agencies such as the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPRA) and the Petroleum Equilisation Fund (PEF) now have a Taskforce comprising their officials to help address the problem.

    She said efforts were being made to ensure that “while we are trucking out efficiently, approvals and all necessary documentations are done effectively to make sure that there is no delay in the process of trucking out and distribution and that things are effectively done.”

    According to her, the PPMC was also working in collaboration with the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and major marketers to ensure that the queues fizzle out.

    “We are getting their cooperation to make sure that all their members’ trucks actually arrive as scheduled, so they also do their part in monitoring products supply. We also work in collaboration with the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) and they have been most supportive in efforts to bring the situation under control,” she said.

    She pointed out that the company now uses about 400 intervention trucks in order to service marketers to ensure that the filling stations are sufficiently wet, especially in Abuja and Lagos where they consume about 60 per cent of daily national consumption figures.

    “Right now, we have about eight vessels coming in, each of which ranges between 30 to 40 thousand metric tonnes capacity and these should be more than enough to ensure sufficiency. On Wednesday alone, over one thousand trucks were loaded and trucked out by the majors and PPMC,” she said.

    “Basically, we have the supply of an entire cargo per day, a cargo consists of about 40 million litres of fuel which is the estimated national consumption volume per day in Nigeria. We are hopeful that this will soon be a thing of the past and we are making efforts to ensure that it never happen.

  • Queues return in Ogun

    Fuel scarcity has returned to Ogun State, with  filling stations in Abeokuta, the state capital, Sagamu, Ijebu – Ode and other towns shut yesterday.

    The scarcity, which began on Saturday, peaked yesterday as the number of both vehicles plying the roads thinned out.

    In Abeokuta, Mao Filling Station and Ayomide Filling Station in Ijaiye, sold the product briefly yesterday. There were long queues as anxious buyers made frantic efforts to buy fuel.

    Commuters were stranded, even as some of the marketers jacked up the pump price to N100 per litre.

    At Mimololuwa Petroleum on Saje-Federal Housing Estate Road, motorists said they bought fuel at N100 per litre.

    The State Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers (IPMAN), Adeleke Dada, said he was in Lagos.

    Many motorists appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari and other stakeholders to find lasting solution to the seemingly intractable crisis in the petroleum sector.

    “This exploitation must stop. Filling stations like this Mimololuwa Petroleum should be confiscated by Federal Government for economic sabotage,” they said.

  • Fuel queues lengthen in Lagos

    Despite restoration of the Line 2B pipeline, a major product distribution pipeline last month, which was vandalised at Arepo in Ogun State, fuel shortage continued in Lagos yesterday.

    The situation has remained worse since the Yuletide when many vehicles were on the road to convey people travelling to various parts of the country for celebration. The glimpse of hope raised by the reparation of the Arepo pipeline was dashed with the vandalism and explosion of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipeline at Ije-dodo in Ijegun, Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State last week.

    A monitoring of filling stations in Lagos yesterday showed that more filling stations are getting dry and the few that opened had very long queues. Some retail outlets that were selling collected extra money from the customers. Fuel attendants that were courteous in their approach would casually tell the customer: “N200 after selling to you, do I continue?” Some collect theirs before selling to the customer.

    Our correspondent, who monitored filling stations in Ikeja and Lagos Island, including Victoria Island and some suburbs of Lagos such as Iyana-Ipaja, discovered that few filling stations in the metropolis were selling, with many marketers claiming lack of supply for closure of their stations. The retail outlets in the suburbs sold above the pump price of N97 per litre. Some were selling at N110 per litre.