This is yet another fuel scarcity thread but I thought I create one to make a point on a topical issue. In previous posts, I have noted what I see as a fundamental misdiagnosis of Nigeria's problems: the notion that Nigeria's difficulties stem mainly from corruption. In my view, Nigeria's primary challenge is policy ineptitude, corruption ranks a distant second. The present fuel scarcity crisis, caused by the foolhardy policy of fixing fuel prices by government fiat, illustrates this vividly.

Like we have had with the collapsing Naira until rising oil prices bailed us out, the government's insistence on fixing the pump price (a supposedly people-friendly idea) has resulted in a scarcity of the commodity whose price the government is regulating. This is not a corruption issue but a classic illustration of the downside of command economics.

The rise in oil prices, whilst good in stabilising the Naira, requires that fuel marketers sell fuel at a higher price, or the government increases the subsidy it provides.

This is what happened in 2011 as rising oil prices meant that the government faced an escalating subsidy bill. Unfortunately, Nigerians with a penchant for morality-based analysis saw the issue then as a simple corruption story. Today, we are faced with paying more for fuel than was contemplated in 2011 and 2012.