Worried by the rising cases of fake and adulterated lubricant products in Nigeria, lubricant manufacturers, under the auspices of the Lubricant Producers Association of Nigerian, recently embarked on a programme of enlightenment aimed at alerting the public and the regulatory agencies to the menace posed by the trend to the poses to the economy and human existence.
In pursuit of the programme, the body has adopted a multi-dimensional approach to the execution of the programme. For instance, it began with a public engagement through the press in form of statements on the dangers of patronising fakers.
Besides, LUPAN has also been crying out to the regulatory agencies, including the Department of Petroleum Resources, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria and Nigerian Customs Service, through executive engagements by ways of courtesy calls on the chief executives of the bodies in order to alert them to taking urgent steps through appropriate regulations to check the influx of these fake and adulterated lubricants into the market. These visits to the regulatory bodies started months ago. Burdened by the increasing brazenness of the perpetrators, the body recently starting expressing the view that the regulatory agency appeared to be sleeping over the matter, as no visible move had been made by either DPR or SON to show that they were ready to take steps in check mating those engaged in this nefarious act.
On the part of the producers and manufacturers of lubricants, low tariff on raw materials will also lift the local industry. The body, therefore, called on the Federal Government to urgently take steps to protect the lube manufacturing industry to safeguard millions of jobs across the country.
LUPAN said the call was particularly informed by what it described as indiscriminate importation of oil lubricants, resulting in cheap, poor quality and substandard products, as well as the unwholesome activities of producers of fake and adulterated lubricants in Nigerian market.
In a communiqué signed by LUPAN's Executive Secretary, Emeka Obidike, the association appealed to the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, review downwards to five per cent, the import duty tariff on base oil, which is the chief raw material used in the manufacturing of lubricants.
In the same breath, the body demanded higher tariff regime for imported lubricants in order to protect local producers as well as remain competitive in the market. They also asked the regulatory bodies, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria and the Department of Petroleum Resources to be more firm in terms of ensuring compliance with standards by imported lubricants in order to check the influx of poor quality and substandard lubricant and also to protect consumers.
“More worrying is the import duty tariff of 10percent which is the same for imported lubricants and for base oil which is the major raw material used by lubricant producers in Nigeria. This is surely not an incentive to encourage producers and keep them in business as well as keep millions of their employees in their employment,” Obidike said.
LUPAN, in a recent statement, said it was worried because investments worth billions of naira had been made by its members in production plants as well as research processes, which could go down the drain if some people continued with the act of faking their products.
Lubricant oil products are not only used by automobiles but also by factories for their machine lubrication, and if fake or substandard lubricants are used, they will certainly lead to machine damage. According to LUBAN, all these have negative ripple effects on the economy.
On the extent of losses, Lube Operations Manager, MRS Oil Nigeria Plant, Mr. Ayobami Odetola, said had been losing N200bn to fake lubricants yearly in recent time on a continuous basis.
He said, “Nigeria's economy loses over N200bn annually due to influx of adulterated lubricants and the fact that most people patronise road-side engine oil dealers.”
