Dr. Timothy Aikor, is an Associate member of The Chartered Institute of Supply Chain Management (ACISM),
By BARBARA KALU, Owerri –
The Federal Government has been called upon to immediately consider investing the savings from fuel subsidy in making Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) usage a common energy commodity in the country so that it becomes a matter of choice to use gas or petrol.
A senior lecturer with the Department of Supply Chain Management in the School of Logistics & Innovation Technology, Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Dr. Timothy Aikor, made the call in a press statement on Wednesday.
In the statement made available to NATIONAL ACCORD, Dr. Aikor noted that the implementation of the fuel subsidy removal had come with devastating consequences on the cost of living, as fuel is a common usage commodity in the country. This is capable of causing social uprising of unimaginable magnitude.
He explained that it became necessary, therefore, to advocate for the shift of attention by the Nigerian Government to an alternative commodity of commensurate usage “which is cheaper.”
According to the university don, “as long as we continue to import fuel and naira continues to fluctuate higher against the dollar, fuel prices will continue to increase until a local production measure of crude oil is achieved in Nigeria.”
“To convert your car from use of petrol to gas, the kits cost between N200, 000-N300, 000 per car (depending on the type and condition of the vehicle). The federal government can use the savings from subsidy removal to subside this one-off cost by paying each verified car owner 50% of the cost of conversion or alternatively provides public conversion points at subside rates for those who want to convert their vehicles from gas to CNG to do so,” he said.
Dr. Aikor, who is an Associate member of the Chartered Institute of Supply Chain Management (ACISM), also suggested that as a long-term measure, the federal government should equally put plans in motion to collaborate with the private sector to introduce the production or supply of solar powered vehicles in Nigeria.
Since the announcement of the decision by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to halt the contentious fuel subsidy policy, the pump price of petrol in the country as more than doubled, as from N194 per litre as at May 29, a litre of the product now sells for between N617 and N700.
