By Akinwale Kasali
In a space of three weeks, the price of Cooking Gas has soared from N850-N1,200 per kilogram. This development has generated concerns for Nigerians who are lamenting and groaning over the hike in the commodity.
There are also fears and concerns that the product may continue to skyrocket if not addressed earnestly by the Federal Government, as scarcity of the product looms in certain areas in the country.
Before Monday 9th October 2023, some areas in Lagos State were still selling the product at the rate of N1,000 to N1,050, but the sudden increase in the product by Monday sent jittery and fear into the spine of consumers who lamented the non affordability of the product and how it is having a toll on their lifestyle and feeding.
It was gathered that the hike in the price of the product is as a result of its scarcity.
Findings also revealed that at Retail Stations and Gas Stations, cooking gas is sold for N12,000, with a kg sold for N1,150 and N1,200 in Lagos outskirts like Mowe, Ibafo and Magboro, among others, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Ogun State.
Mustapha Ilori, an entrepreneur who has a family of four stated that the price of cooking gas is killing as he has resolved to be using firewood to make meals for his family.
“How much am I making from my small business that I will be buying a KG a cooking gas for N1,200, it is killing, the Federal Government needs to look into this issue and address it holistically before it gets out of hand”.
Ifeoma Onyewuchi, a trader said that it is frustrating the way things have turned out in this country, stressing that since the hike in the price of cooking gas, she has been wondering how she would sustain her family.
“I don’t know where we are going in this country, a bottle of Kerosene is sold for N800, funny enough, if you purchase the kerosene to cook with your stove, before you know it, it will dry off.
“Gas is N1,200, how can we afford it. We are told to stop using firewood to cook that it is harmful to our health, what kind of country is this.
“Charcoal price has also skyrocketed, what do they expect us to use to cook, aren’t we going to die of hunger “, she queried.
It would be recalled that when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy during is inaugural speech, the prices of cooking gas dropped to N600-N650 per KG.
Few weeks later, the prices began to skyrocket till this exorbitant rate that isn’t at the reach of the masses leading to this outcry.
Meanwhile, vendors attributed the hike in cooking gas to the high cost of transportation occasioned by the high cost of diesel.
The hike in the price of cooking gas is nationwide, prompting the Kano State Secretary of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Retailers of Nigeria, LIPGAR), Muhammad Omede, to air his view on this development, stressing that poor road network also attributes to the hike in price of the commodity.
Omede also blamed “the difficulties usually encountered by transporters due to poor road network, especially the Lagos-Kano road as a major cause of the hike.
Muritala Babatunde Balogun, CEO Zainny Weighing Solutions said that the scarcity in the product is basically as a result of the Russia-Ukraine War, as Russia who is the highest exporter of Gas all over the world has ceased from selling and distributing Gas to other countries leading to the scarcity the nation is experiencing at the moment.
The scarcity of the product is also said to be as a result of the weak Naira, limited bulk storage and scattered terminals among other factors has led to this present situation.
A visit to some Cafeteria, Fast Food Joints and Eateries showed that the prices of their goods and snacks has also skyrocketed, and the reason is not far fetched according to a supervisor of one of the Fast Food Joint, is due to the price in cooking gas, purchase of foodstuffs in the markets that has increased drastically, transportation and other factors.
The president of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers, NALGAM, Oladapo Olatunbosun had call on the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu led federal government to be proactive in checking the price increase.
He blamed the scarcity of gas in some parts of Lagos on supply disruption, saying the vessel that was supposed to offload in the state had not done so.
“Information at our disposal reveals that Nigerians are facing hard times getting the product,” he noted.
He warned that the price of 12.5kg of cooking gas might soon hit N18,000 if the federal government failed to check the rising cost.
He said the volume marketers used to buy for N8 million is now sold for N14.5 million.
Olatunbosun said the price would continue to go up as long as marketers are buying the product at an exorbitant rate.
He said there must be concerted effort to ensure the product remains affordable to the common man.
“Go to the North and the far East and see what people are facing. In some places, they are buying at N1,300 per kg because the cost of buying at the terminal has gone up at a very high rate. As of today, terminals are selling for N14.5 million what used to be about N8 million and N8.5 million.
“The supply has also been somehow epileptic. The vessel from NLNG went to Port Harcourt twice and that is the reason why there is delay in Lagos. The vessel came back to Lagos two days ago. They just offloaded it and the quantity it brought was not that substantial. We are expecting it back in about a week.
“So, we are using this opportunity to call on the Federal Government of Nigeria, particularly the new Minister of Gas, to pay attention to LPG. LPG is a product that can serve all Nigerians, both the young and the old; everybody who needs gas.
“And for the fact that the fuel subsidy removal is biting hard on people, electricity is not regularly supplied, people do not have any other means to cook than gas; it is now becoming what they cannot afford and it therefore means our forest will suffer for it.
“So, we need to look into the supply, and what is the price that is coming to the market? What prices are they selling at? What is really behind the hiked price and what role can the government play? Is it the role of intermediaries? Is it the role of the middlemen? What is actually causing the high price?
According to him, while some people blame the hike on the forex crisis, there is an element of profiteering in it.
“This is where the government has to beam its searchlight and caution all the players and also have a regular meeting with the terminal operators and off-takers on how we can protect Nigerians.
“The poor Nigerians are suffering; gas is getting out of the reach of Nigerians and it is not making life easy for anybody.
“We are not happy about that. As businessmen, we are suffering the cost of buying and the cost of doing business has also gone up. And the product is not all that available.
“So, while the government is tackling regular supply, it also needs to work on the major suppliers, the off-takers, so that a little of profiteering should be downplayed now to protect the poor Nigerians so that gas can be affordable.”
An official in the Office of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas) told Daily Trust that there was little the government could do about the hike in the price of cooking gas as the sector was deregulated.
Daily Trust Newspaper disclosed that an official with the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd, NLNG, who claimed anonymity stated that the government is Rampling up domestic supply to bring down the price.
“The sector is purely deregulated. Though the suppliers are trying their best, it is a combination of a lot of factors, mostly deregulation. I know the government is working with the NLNG to see how to increase supply domestically,” he said.
