How illicit trade of adulterated lube oil worsens tough economic situation for vehicles and engine owners
Before last Wednesday’s (21/06/2016) discovery of two illegal factories manufacturing sub-standard and adulterated engine oil in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, the illicit trade had been booming while vehicles and engine owners in the state with biggest engine oil consumption rate in Nigeria were subjected to quiet economic persecution. Lubricants producers, marketers and their allied stakeholders have, in fact, vowed to deal with the escalating scourge of adulterated engine oil by those they called unscrupulous elements in the society.Clampdown
These stakeholders called on the DPR and their long-term prayers appeared to have been answered last Wednesday (21/06/2016) when the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) revealed that the two illegal engine oil manufacturing factories were uncovered at Ikugbayi Street, Marine Bridge and Raji Rasak Estate, FESTAC Town in Lagos. They were not branded but their modus operandi had been to secure the branded plastic packs of known brands, which are be-ing refilled with their substandard product for unsuspecting engine users.The DPR team, led by Mrs Sholabi Olanrewaju, Manager, Engineering and Standards Unit under Operation told newsmen that they discovered the factory during a routine inspection and monitoring in the state. “We visited these places with NCSDC and met some men actually dispensing the base oil. From our investigation, they are actually retailing ordinary base oil without addictive into a container of a well known brand like Total. “This is an illegal operation, the environment is unsafe and they are licensed to brand base oil,” she said. Olarenwaju said that the department would ensure that they get at those illegal lubricants in Lagos metropolis.
She explained that before anybody could engage in petroleum product business in Nigeria, such person must be licensed by the DPR. Manager, Retail Outlet and Marketing Department, DPR, Mr. Okechukwu Okoro, told newsmen after the exercise that the clamp down was as a result of series of complaints from the public. He said that the department discovered that there was high adulteration of diesel in the market.
“So, we have come to see if it is true and we have found out this to be real. “Many people who supply diesel at home gave them adulterated diesel, which is not from real source. “People should be wary of where they get their product from, they should ensure that they get from right source because these people mix other products in the name of diesel”. Security Corps’ connection The leader of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) officials on the DPR team,Ajayi Olaleye added that six workers from the first factory at Marine Bridge were arrested, while no arrest was made in FESTAC Town.
One of the arrested workers, Kehinde Atande, said that he brought oil with water to filter when he was arrested. He said that he did not know that what they were doing there was illegal. Producers of lubricants had earlier raised the alarm over the proliferation of adulterated and fake lubricant products in the Nigerian market, warning that the development portends danger to users and the nation’s economy and could cripple the local industry if urgent steps are not taken to arrest the disturbing trend.
The lubricant producers, who spoke at the Oil Trading Logistics (OTL) conference in Lagos, expressed concern over threat to the lubricant industry by indiscriminate importation of substandard lubricants and adulteration of member’s products. The situation, they said, has led to economic loss to consumers of such unwholesome products, which most often result in breakdown of machineries, environmental pollution as well as undue competition for local producers, as they come very cheap to unsuspecting customers.
Major producers’ pains
Managing Director of Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc, Tunji Oyetunji, said that Nigeria’s lubricant industry remained the only vibrant subsector of the oil and gas industry, which is still attracting investment despite the challenges facing the downstream sector. According to him, despite the huge investment in the sector, activities of adulterators of lubricant and base oil may cripple the lubricant’s efforts if not checked by the Federal Government.He said that in spite of the sub-sector’s contribution and potential to the nation’s economy, Nigerian lubes market is also a dumping ground for substandard and offspecifications imported lubes of questionable quality. Stakeholders at a forum with the theme “Combating Engine Oil Adulteration in Nigeria” held under the aegis of the Consumer Rights Awareness Advancement and Advocacy Initiatives (CRAAI) in conjunction with the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), unanimously agreed that a halt to what they described as embarrassing at this time of the nation’s history has become imperative.
Corroborating Oyebanji’s view, the CRAAI Chairman Mr. Moses Igbrude, noted that CRAAI’s desire in organizing the event is to provide a voice and platform for the consumers to express their views, interact and engage the producers, manufacturers of goods and services as well as relate with various governmental regulatory authorities in Nigeria. “One of our aims is to help the ordinary consumers by providing answers on how to indentify genuine lubricant from adulterated one, what makes a base oil different from a lubricant, how does an adulterated oil affect our machines, what are the cost implications on the consumers, producers and the Nigeria economy and what are the way forward,” Igbrude said.
He bemoaned the negative impacts of engine oil adulteration in the automotive industry and the threat to the consumers as well as the Nigeria economy. Igbbrude stressed that the involvement of all stakeholders in a continuous enlightenment, education and awareness creation is the sure way of addressing issues of substandard, fake and adulteration in the Nigeria economy.
Consumer protection council
Director-General of Consumer Protection Council Mrs. Dupe Atoki is not left out from throwing hard words at the manufacturers of counterfeit lube oil. She expressed fear about the crippling effect of adulterated oil on all strata of the society. Besides, she noted the infinite wide spectrum of its use that cuts across the domestic use for generators sets, cars, ships and boats in the marine sector, trains and even aeroplanes.As a body saddled with the responsibility of protecting the consumers through the elimination of sub –standard and hazardous goods and services from the market place, she said that the body can also carry out thorough investigation, arrest and prosecution of such manufacturers and purveyors of these product and the sellers. Speaking further, Emere said substandard and adulterated lubricants cause substantive damage to engines and equipment and subsequent failure of equipment and that the attendant consequences of adulterated lubricants are loss of man hours and machine time, loss of job, inefficiencies, environmental pollution, health hazards and loss of business and destruction of the source of livelihood of genuine practitioners in the industry.
The representative of Total Nigeria Plc Mr. Emmanuel Emere observed that the Nigeria lubricant market is enormous but stressed that effective realization will depend on the ability of the authorities to provide the enabling environments. He noted that there was need to fully equip the monitoring body that will ensure that lubricant standards are upheld by all manufacturers and/or marketers, curbing the activities of adulterators and counterfeiters, better public infrastructures and policies to ensure healthy competition(proliferation and influx of imported low quality finished leading to under-utilization of available local capacity).
“Genuine lubricants can be differentiated from adulterated and/or counterfeit ones through several means like the packaging, the content, price and source,” Emere noted.
Conclusion
The Federal Government should up its antics against producers of sub-standard engine oil given the economic sabotage it does to the country’s industrial and motoring industries including the economy.Source:News Telegraph
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