Ironically, Muhammadu Buhari, the longest-serving petroleum minister in the nation's history, presided over the worst petroleum industry performance in Nigerian history.
Even more amazing is the fact that Buhari's tenure as petroleum minister during the previous eight years was not his first; he had held the position during the military regime of Olusegun Obasanjo.
Experience didn't seem to matter, either, as all important metrics fell off throughout Buhari's eight years as president and minister of petroleum.
In fact, during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, Nigeria reached its maximum production output of 2.486 million bpd in November 2005. But more than seven years into Buhari's term as president and petroleum minister, the nation's production peaked at 1.015 million bpd in September 2022.
Average production was 2.199 million bpd in 2015, the year Buhari took office. The next year, it dropped to 1.898 million bpd, hitting a low of 1.015 million bpd in September 2022.
Additionally, it has been asserted that it dropped below a million bpd at some time prior to Buhari's hasty resignation last month.
It wasn't much better in the downstream industry during Buhari's eight years as minister.
The situation was not much better in the downstream sector since throughout the eight years Buhari served as minister, he was unable to restart any of the four refineries, which allowed for the importation of goods, which in turn encouraged corruption and reduced the nation's foreign exchange reserves.
While some might argue that it is pointless to lament spilt milk now that Buhari is gone, problems resulting from his indecision have become a trap for the replacement Buhari was forced to accept by fate.
The past president set up several booby traps for his successor, including the division he stoked, a poor economy, and a sense of insecurity, among other things. However, Buhari's ambiguity on the pricing of petroleum products is the first booby trap that has sprung against President Tinubu.
The Petroleum Industry Act was signed into law in 2021, however the former president and petroleum minister refused to follow the law's text on the downstream market's deregulation.
Days after Buhari's resignation, Mele Kyari, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum business Limited, NNPCL, revealed that the Buhari administration had failed to provide the business with the subsidy money put aside since Buhari took office.
In fact, the Buhari administration's disclosure that it had made provisions for subsidies through June 2023 was the first sign that something was amiss. Please ask whatever administration would place a new one in such a tough position to make important decisions about subsidies that it itself was unable to take for eight years out of concern for the success of the successor.
As of Friday afternoon, NLC leaders were meeting in Abuja to discuss how to take President Tinubu to task for making the ill-advised claim that subsidies are no longer available on Inauguration Day.
The subsidy drama is, of course, nothing new. The same arguments have been used repeatedly since 2012, when Tinubu, Buhari, and other members of the current administration fought against the elimination of subsidies, but no one has been brave enough to address the basics.
In 2012, Tinubu fought against President Goodluck Jonathan's idea to eliminate subsidies.
Even though Buhari said in 2015 that subsidies were unmatched, his administration went on to implement the greatest subsidy payments in the history of the country.
However, it is regrettable that the fundamental problem of local production, which typically should have been the main concern of the previous regime, was overlooked as the government supported a hazy importing system that depleted the nation's foreign exchange reserves.
It was even more repugnant that Buhari turned around to praise both himself and Alhaji Aliko Dangote for building a brand-new refinery in just six years when he was unable to handle refineries left to him by the public.
Regardless of what anyone may think about President Tinubu's rise to power, it is our duty to guide him through the perilous minefields and booby traps Buhari has set up for him, at least for our collective goods.
We all know that petroleum is an ignitable substance that not only has the potential to physically catch fire but also has the potential to rip apart the social fabric of our country, so organised labour and the private sector must respond to the issues at hand realistically.
To get out of the booby trap Buhari set up while he waited to see his dentist in London during the final days of his better-forgotten administration, we must all pay a price.