The students’ association threatened that if the Minister of Petroleum Resources, President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited(NNPCL) fails to resolve the fuel crisis by allowing independent marketers to buy fuel from the NNPC through the provided RRR (Remita Retrieval Reference), it (NANS) will embark on what it described as ‘mother of all protests’ on Tuesday morning.
Nigerian students under the umbrella of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), JCC Oyo Axis, have given the government 48 hours to resolve the issues of fuel scarcity and its attendant price hike in the country.
The students’ association threatened that if the Minister of Petroleum Resources, President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited(NNPCL) fails to resolve the fuel crisis by allowing independent marketers to buy fuel from the NNPC through the provided RRR (Remita Retrieval Reference), it (NANS) will embark on what it described as ‘mother of all protests’ on Tuesday morning.
In a statement by its JCC Oyo Axis Chairman, Comrade Adeleke Quadri Abidemi, NANS while threatening to shut down the economy of the country and NNPC stations across Nigeria, starting from Oyo State, said, “Perpetual wickedness of NNPC Management, the Minister of Petroleum and Federal Government on the Citizens of Nigeria, most especially the Students in Oyo State is out of this world.”
The association lamented that the recent fuel scarcity and hike in fuel price have compounded the pain of Nigerian students in Oyo State who earlier suffered as a result of strike actions embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
According to NANS, the students who have just returned to campuses are now faced with another challenge that doesn't allow most of them, as well some of their lecturers, to attend classes as the fuel scarcity and its attendant price hike have translated to a hike in transportation fare.
The association said, “After a lot of findings and research on the causes of this ongoing fuel scarcity and price hike, it was discovered that the bulk of this evil act is from NNPC Management, Minister of Petroleum and Federal Government led by President Mohammed Buhari.
“The fuel scarcity and price hike are not from independent marketers but failure in the planning of the Federal Government towards the petroleum sector.
“The marketers had an agreement with the FG which is to load ten trucks of petrol and kerosine per month to every outlet as an allocation; 150,000 litrse for both petroleum and kerosine but since last 20 years, the agreement has been fading away while denial of independent marketers access to pay into NNPC account for about six months through the provisional RRR method led them to buy from private depots at high price and translated into the increase selling price.
“However, NNPC has refused to be selling directly to the independent marketers who have the majority of the filling stations, rather NNPC has been selling to private depots which is totally wrong because only the NNPC can import fuel to the country.
“It's shameful that the federal government couldn't build a standard refinery to cancel out the effect of international cost of exportation and importation of crude oil. There are five conventional depots in Southwest to which FG is supposed to distribute fuel on a monthly basis and NNPC has refused to supply these depots in Southwest, rather they are selling the product to private depots.”
The aggrieved students, therefore, added, “The Federal Government through the Minister of Petroleum should make an urgent mandate to NNPC to stop selling fuel to the private depots and allow the Independent Marketers to buy from NNPC through the provided RRR.”
“We are given 48 hours ultimatum to the Federal Government, Minister of Petroleum and NNPC to start selling to the independent marketers or face mass protest by NANS JCC Oyo on Tuesday morning, where millions of Nigerian students will be mobilised to the streets of Oyo State and Nigeria at large.
“We are going to shut down the economy of the country and NNPC stations across Nigeria starting from Oyo State,” the statement added.