The fuel scarcity nightmare seems unending as Nigerians are still waiting to wake up to reality of petrol abundance.

Speaking in an interview session with CEOAfrica, Mr Bayo Ashimolowo, Managing Director of Asbay Golden Oil asserted that the government gets the blame for the fuel scarcity crisis. Giving his opinion, he said they used to buy for #133.28k, but that it goes for a higher price now.

 Mr Bayo lamented that the price has now risen to 150/160 naira, especially when transportation of the fuel tankers and other expenses are calculated to the costs incurred in the process of getting petroleum products.

When asked about his take on  Refineries, Mr Bayo said that “the solution to fuel scarcity in Nigeria would be the creation of refineries in the south west and other parts of Nigeria, in order to boost productivity”

 Assessing the state of the refineries in the country, he complained that they are not working properly. He said he heard in the news sometime ago that Dangote had built a  refinery in Epe, Lagos. He believed if there were more refineries, the issue of fuel scarcity will become history.

When asked to choose between maintaining the present refineries or building new ones, he chose the latter. He was of the opinion that the cost of maintenance would be more expensive than the amount needed to build new ones. 

 He was further asked to review the year 2017 especially for the petroleum marketers;The manager reviewed the year 2017 and said it was nothing to write home about, especially in his line of petroleum marketing. He complained that the year was not favourable to his oil company, Asbay Golden, as there were complications. In good spirit, he hoped for a good 2018 for himself and everybody.

Mr Bayo Ashimolowo has been in the business of oil marketing since 1992 and had worked with several oil companies, before owning Asbay Golden Oil Ltd. Aside being an independent oil marketer, Mr Bayo is a farmer of cocoa, plaintain and other crops. He intends to devote more time to his farming and wished he had started earlier. He however encouraged youths/entrepreneurs to diversify and not to rely solely on one job or business.

Packaged by Joy Nzei for CEOAfrica