The streets of Abuja, usually teeming with the vibrant hustle of daily commuters, are now scenes of an unexpected standstill. The culprit? A sudden and severe fuel scarcity that has left motorists and commuters alike in a state of despair.
As dawn breaks, the city awakens to the reality of empty fuel stations and endless queues. Desperation echoes in the murmurs of the crowd; the need for fuel is more than a convenience—it’s the lifeblood of the city’s rhythm.
Some motorists get fuel at some retail outlets for between N700 and N,1200 per litre after hours of squabbles, others were not so lucky as many retail outlets were shut, with their excuses being supply challenges.
Voices from the Queue “I’ve been here since the crack of dawn,” says a taxi driver, his voice weary but determined. “This taxi is my bread and butter. Without fuel, my children go hungry.”
A mother adds, “I need to get my kids to school and myself to work. We’re all affected, but we Nigerians are resilient. We’ll get through this, too.”
The National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, PETROAN, Billy Gillis-Harry, blamed the fuel scarcity across the country on a supply challenge from NNPC Limited. Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s ‘The Morning Brief breakfast programme’ on Monday He said;
“So if they have some logistics issues, that will possibly be what is internal to NNPC. But as for us, PETROAN members, we can tell Nigerians for real that if we have petroleum products delivered to us, supplied to us upon payment for those same products, we will supply them to Nigerians.
“I would like to correct Nigerians that we, retail outlet owners or marketers as they generally call all of us, are not the reason for this. We do not have any reason not to serve the public and we are willing to serve the public.
“All that is required is for us to have petroleum products delivered to us from NNPC and we will make sure that our retail outlets are open, some of them are even open for 24 hours. The challenge of logistics is only relevant to the NNPC retail outlets,” he said.
The impact of the fuel scarcity is felt far and wide. Businesses struggle to operate without generators humming in the background. The cost of goods skyrockets, and the economy braces for the tremors of this unexpected crisis.
