Ibe Kachikwu: 'Oil prices will rise again,' Minister hints

Kachikwu gave the hints while rendering a poem on oil during the sixth African Petroleum Congress in Abuja.

Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, has hinted that the prices of oil would rise again.

Kachikwu, a onetime publisher and fiction writer, said this on Monday, March 14, while rendering a poem on oil during the sixth African Petroleum Congress in Abuja.

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He said: “I was asked by an ephemeral subject being whose name is oil to say a few words on its behalf.

“My name is oil, the very kind people who are kind to me call me black gold. The ones who hate me call me crude.

“I worry for my future; everyone now talks down on me. Even farmers who trembled at the sight of my name are now strategizing against me.

“And all my beneficiaries, me have they abandoned. All because the producers have lost their tracks. But I would rise again, and when I do, I will take no prisoners.

“I would new technologies control, I will new technologies control. I will my supremacy confirm. I will my respect regain.

“And my pricing, not too low, not too high, but I would not allow prices to humiliate me. All of you in OPEC, APPA, GCEF and all such bodies who have shown me no respect recently, soon, you’ll eat your words.”

Meanwhile, the fuel scarcity, which was triggered by workers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) who shut down nationwide operations last weeks, is far from over.

Nigerians had believed things would get better this week but many are disappointed as petrol is yet to be abundantly available nationwide.

In the wake of Monday, March 14, motorists and commuters still faced the same hardship as last week - long queues at filling station and hike in transportation fares due to increased in pump price.