Some residents of Jos and environs in Plateau have said that the increase in the pump price of fuel would make the commodity more readily available to motorists.
They said on Thursday said that the step, announced on Wednesday, would also check smuggling of petrol to neighbouring nations.
Details of the new price regime showed that the highest price of a litre of petrol will be N145.
Mr Ferdinand Ade, a lecturer with the Plateau State Polytechnic, described the new price regime as “very painful, but very necessary in view of current realities”.
“I think Nigerians have the right to feel bad that the price is this high, but it is the same Nigerians that bought fuel at N300 per litre or even beyond.
“Two weeks ago, I bought a four-litre gallon of petrol for N2000; that translates to N500 per litre.
“With the rise in the official pump price, the tendency to divert the commodity to black marketers will reduce.
“We are also aware that some marketers smuggled the commodity to other nations where it is costlier. If the local price is attractive, that attitude would be discouraged,” he said.
Mrs Vick Anthony, a banker, also described the price increase as “a very painful necessity”.
“Things are hard and no one will want to embrace any situation that will task their pockets, but if this increase will make the commodity available and minimise the exploitation, we should accept it.
“Clearly, the motorists have been victims of all manners of abuse, but we figure that this bold step will attract the marketers to sell through their filling stations,” he said.
Mallam Adamu Haruna, a staff of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru in Jos, advised the Federal Government to improve on its surveillance to force marketers to sell at the filling stations.
“Government must take more stringent steps to force the independent marketers to comply with the new tariff.
“I have just bought fuel at N170 per litre at a filling station where I bought a litre at N120 just yesterday.
“I rushed this morning to buy thinking that they may not have adjusted the price to the N145 new price only to find that the pumps had been adjusted to N170.
“Government should try to help the poor because it is the situation of the poor that will be used to determine the success or otherwise of every policy,” he said.
Mr Amine Peter, a journalist, advised government to guard against formation of cartels by oil dealers who would fix arbitrary prices.
“Government should keep its eye on the PMS dealers; their greed can be wild and if left alone, they will want to continue to exploit the helpless masses.
“Personally, I think the increase is very high, but it is good to remember that we often bought the commodity for much higher than this,” he said.
Peter advised the Department of Petrol Resources (DPR) to always be on the alert and continue their raids on filling stations to ensure strict compliance with the new order.
NAN
