AN APPRAISAL OF DEREGULATION AND LIBERALIZATION OF NIGERIA’S DOWNSTREAM OIL SECTOR: ITS IMPACT ON THE MASSES AND DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Abstract

Nigeria sovereign nation, more than anything else, the greatest obstacle to the nascent democracy is the neglect of abundant human and material resources for nation building, as evidenced by the current spate of armed robbery attacks and political assassination. Nigeria’s abundant wealth is sufficient to make it one of the effective states in the African continent. However, the excess resources, like the sugar in the blood stream of a diabetic patient, serve no positive purpose for the teeming population. Poverty and hunger are the principal characters of the Nigerian State with attenuated crises affecting the socio-economic well – being of the people.  While Nigeria ranks among the highest producers of crude oil in the world market, it also leads in the classification of countries in distress.  Corruption and mismanagement of the abundant resources, coupled with the insatiable appetite of the leaders to pillage the country of its potentials for rapid political and economic growth. We are in the days of debate. The somehow chaotic Nigerian political terrain has thrown up several challenges, has thrown up issues, many issues that are subjects of debate. Since the emergence of the nascent democracy in 1999, this nation has witnessed several deregulations of oil down stream for which few Nigerians has benefited from it and majority of others are languishing in abject poverty. Starting from January 1, 2012, the Federal Government has stopped subsidizing Premium Motor Spirit and jacked up the price from N65 per litre in 2012 to the present price of N591 and N640 in 2023. In some states, retailers dispense it at N670 per litre and there is already, widespread anger and resentment against the policy across the country. Therefore, any break in its chain of availability and price rationality, automatically follows a negative effect on the living standards of the citizens as their economic life shift downwards.  An increase in fuel price essentially leads to increase in the cost of transportation of both persons and goods, and the final consumer bears the brunt through the purchasing of domestic food items or necessities. The focus of this paper is to Appraise the Impact of Deregulation and Liberalization of Nigeria’s Downstream Oil Sector on the Masses with Developmental process in the 21^st Century  were brought to the fore while the objectives of the study were well spelt out.  Hypotheses were postulated and the Group Theory was used to explicate the works.  Data were obtained from both primary and secondary sources. From the primary sources, the survey method, that is, the use of questionnaire were designed and adopted. Data obtained from this method were analyzed with the simple percentage.. This paper discovered that this malaise was responsible for the failing status of the Nigerian State.