Chidiebere Nwobodo
As a media enthusiast, I read newspapers religiously daily, from online to hardcopy to keep myself updated on the latest developments across board. On 5th of July, 2021, during my routine media review, I stumbled on a lead story published in one of the newspapers with the title: “Market glut as EFCC goes after petrol kings”. My curiosity was aroused and I began reading the “exclusive story”.
The publication dwelled on how market glut had emerged in the supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), as a result of EFCC’s onslaught against smugglers under “Operation White”. Knowing the negative impact of petrol smuggling across Nigerian borders by suspected unscrupulous dealers and how it has raised the nation’s daily consumption of petrol to a staggering 103 million liters, in the month of May, according to NNPC report, with its attendant hike on subsidy, to N210 billion monthly, my interest in the newspaper story became keen.
The story stated explicitly that EFCC had already “quizzed” some of the suspected smugglers, and the fear of the anti-corruption agency had sent jitters down the spine of these alleged smugglers, of which made the rate of smuggling of petrol across the borders to nosedive and subsequently created a glut in the market. While in the middle of the story, I was starting to feel a sense of relief with the development. At least, the monstrous menace of petrol smuggling would soon become history.
In the foregoing context, I was already commending the reporter of such an “investigative” story and his corresponding courage, until putrid of innuendoes, prejudices and biases of which instigated the story in the first place, began to ooze out of the malicious publication as I read further. In one of the paragraphs, the story stated:
“For instance, in the month of May, A.A RANO Nigeria Limited with less than 100 filling stations lifted Nigeria’s highest petrol of 169.7 million litres, while Total Nigeria Plc, the only international oil in Nigeria’s downstream sector with an extensive distribution network of over 570 service stations nationwide, lifted 17.2 million litres of petrol.”
By making this unprofessional cum unsubstantiated comparison between A.A RANO Nigeria Limited and Total Nigeria Plc, especially as related to the quantity of petrol lifted from the depot within the period under review vis-a-vis numbers of filling stations run by these companies, the report inadvertently insinuated that A.A RANO Nigeria Limited might be lifting quantity of petrol its filling stations would not accommodate, thereby surreptitiously roping in A.A RANO Nigeria Limited as a potential suspect in the cross-border petrol smuggling.
This is very unfortunate and disgustingly misleading.
Come to think of it. A.A RANO Nigeria Limited does not have “less than 100 filling stations” as the vile propaganda inferred. The petrol retailing Company has over 120 active filling stations across the country. This is not even the catch. Capacity of a company in this type of business is not measured only by the number of filling stations across the country, but, also the number of pumps per filling station juxtaposed with the capacity of its tank farm, haulage strength and network of distribution.
Any discerning Nigeria will agree with my line of thought. Some marketers have four-to-six pumps per filling station, while some like A.A RANO Nigeria Limited, have more than twenty-five to thirty pumps per filling station. If you put these facts into proper perceptive, it is like having five-in-one filling stations; multiply by over 120 filling stations. So, you can see how flawed and illogical it is to draw hasty conclusion on the comparison made between A.A RANO Nigeria Limited and Total Nigeria Plc. It is like comparing apples with oranges.
Newspapers are free to do their investigative reports and run their exclusive stories without being biased, malicious, inciting and injurious to the image of corporate organizations. Such prejudiced stories as this, can be seen as a premeditated attempt by a media platform to gaslight a Company for onward persecution and public opprobrium, especially in a nation where fake news travel faster than the speed of light. My consolation is that lifespan of a propaganda is shorter than falsehood.
I am still flabbergasted that a newspaper could extrapolate and insinuate that A.A RANO Nigeria Limited could engage in cross-border smuggling just because it “lifted Nigeria’s highest petrol of 169.7 million litres” in the month of May, 2021. It is on record that this Company is one of the petrol major marketers that sell cheapest in the country.
I remember when price of petrol was first increased to N162 per liter, A.A RANO Nigeria Limited was selling at N160 per liter even when some marketers were exploiting the masses by selling as high as N180 per liter. Occasionally, A.A RANO Nigeria Limited still opens its filling stations to give out free petrol to motorists and some of its committed customers. A Company that is this patriotic and philanthropic, what then will be the motivation to engage in smuggling? this is the million-dollar question.
• Chidiebere Nwobodo wrote in from Abuja via chidieberenwobodo@yahoo.com.
