By Deborah Hassan
The Nigerian government should be commended for the move to import fuel from Niger Republic, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has said.
He also said Nigerians should be proud that the present administration is encouraging sub-regional trade between neighbouring countries.
The federal government came under fire after it announced on Thursday that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with neighbouring Niger Republic to import petroleum products from Soraz Refinery in Zinder, which has a refining capacity of 20,000 barrels per day, compared to the nation’s 5,000bpd domestic requirement, leaving an excess of 15,000 barrels per day.
The excess is what Nigeria has agreed to buy.
Mele Kyari, group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), signed the MoU on behalf of Nigeria while Alio Toune, the director-general of Niger Republic’s National Oil Company, Societe Nigerienne De Petrole (SONIDEP), signed on behalf of Niger.
Following the announcement, many Nigerians queried why the government would take the decision when three refineries are still being funded and maintained from the national treasury without yield.
But Sylva said in an appearance on Channels Television that the development should make every Nigerian proud and not be seen as a thing of shame and embarrassment to the country, adding that it is also a means of encouraging intra-regional trade.
“I don’t see that as an embarrassment at all. As a country, Nigeria is a big market, we need products, even if all our refineries were functioning, we will still need extra products,” he stated.
Furthermore, he added, “Niger Republic produces oil and they are landlocked as a country. They have a refinery that produces in excess of what they require as a country and they offered to sell to us in Nigeria because this is a bigger market.
“In the spirit of regional cooperation, regional trade development, we decided to buy from them. I don’t see anything wrong with that. If your neighbour is producing something that is required in your country and you buy from him, why is that a big problem?
“So, we agreed with Niger to buy the excess of what they don’t require in Niger because this is a big market.”
“Nigerians should be proud that we are doing that to encourage sub-regional trade because we have been talking about sub-regional trade for a long time and this is how it should be between neighbouring countries. Niger should import from us what we have and we should be able to import from Niger what they have. Let us encourage intra-regional trade and this is one good example of trading within West Africa,” he added.