speaker_notes Use of English (JAMB 2002)

Which of the following statements can be deduced from
the passage?

PASSAGE II

Those who have been following the arguments for and
against the deregulation of the oil industry in Nigeria may have
got the impression that deregulation connotes lack of control or
indifference on the part of the Government. But there is nothing
so far from official quarters to suggest that deregulation will
cause the Government to relinquish its control of the oil industry
because the absence of direct control does not mean that it will
surrender all its rights to the entrepreneurs who may want to
participate in the industry. Yet the opposition expressed so far
against deregulation stems from the fear that the Government
would leave Nigerians at the mercy of a heartless cartel who
would command the heights of the oil industry and cause the
pump price of fuel to rise above the means ofmost Nigerians.
As a result of such fears, manyNigerians have become
resentful of deregulation and, in fact, the Nigeria Labour
Congress (NLC) has threatened to ‘deregulate’ theGovernment
if it should go ahead with the deregulation plan. But Nigerians
have not fared any better with the economy totally in Government
control. Until recently, themost important sectors of the economy
were in the hands of the Government. Today, the deregulation of
some of these sectors has broken its monopoly and introduced
healthy competition to make things a little easier for Nigerians.
A good example is the breaking of the stifling monopoly of
Nigeria Airways. Today, the traveler is king at the domestic
airports as opposed to the struggle that air travels used to be
under Nigeria Airways monopoly. Before, it was almost easier
for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for travellers
to board a plane.
Following from this, the apostles of deregulation rightly
heap all the blame for the problems associated with petroleum
products distribution in this country squarely on the
Government, which owns all the refineries and which sells fuel
to local consumers through its agency, the Nigerian National
PetroleumCorporation (NNPC). In the sameway, theGovernment
argues that if the current NNPC monopolywere broken with the
introduction of entrepreneurs to the refining and sale of
petroleum products in the country, the Nigerian people would
be all the better for it. It stands to reason that once theGovernment
continues to fix maximum prices for petroleum products in this
country, the deregulation of the oil sector should bring some
relief to the people by ensuring that wastage, corruption and
inefficiency are reduced to the minimum. Consumers will also
have the last laugh because competition will result in the availability of the products at reasonable prices. This appears to
be the sense in deregulation.

An appropriate title for this passage is