THE IMPERATIVE OF MARKETING IN THE MANAGEMENT OF DEREGULATION: A STUDY OF THE NIGERIAN DOWNSTREAM OIL SECTOR

The management of the regulated Nigerian downstream oil sector has been everything but transparent. In order to ensure transparency in the management of the downstream oil sector, government decided to liberalize the sector which was hitherto managed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on behalf of government. The goal of government in adopting the principles of liberalization in the downstream oil sector is influenced by the successes of other countries in doing the same. However, at issue is the stiff resistance which the policy has encountered from Nigerians of all classes, thusmaking it sound like a hard sell. We believe that the discipline of marketing could help in the management of the resistance to deregulation of the downstream oil sector. Managing and subsequently neutralizing the resistance, through the instruments of marketing, is the main thrust of this paper.