Respite may have come the way of Lagos
residents as eight vessels with various types of
petroleum products arrived Lagos ports
yesterday lending credence to Federal
Government’s assertion that marketers are
holding Nigerians to ransom over refined
products.
One would be wondering how the vessels would
be arriving Nigeria two days after the
government
paid N156 billion to marketers when it would
naturally take weeks or months to bring in such
cargoes from overseas.
But according to a bulletin by the Nigerian Ports
Authority (NPA), the petroleum products that
came in include base oil, kerosene and petrol. The
publication further revealed that three other ships
also arrived with rice in bags and containers.
It said that NPA was expecting the arrival of 27
ships to the Lagos ports between May 4 and 30.
The publication said 13 of the expected ships are
to sail in with containers, while eight others are
expected to arrive with food products. The food
products, it disclosed, include rice, bulk sugar,
bulk salt, frozen fish and bulk wheat. General
cargoes are to be brought in four ships, while
one
ship each would will sail in with vehicles and
kerosene.
Nigerians have for over a week been jolted by
petroleum scarcity, which reportedly arose from
the strike embarked upon by oil marketers
protesting over N156 billion debts owed them by
government. But only last Thursday, the Finance
Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, paid the said
debt while urging the marketers not to hold
Nigerians to ransom. Even as at the weekend,
there were still controversy over the actual debts
outstanding in their favour.
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