Posted by By Paul Dada on
An average Nigerian housewife or mother knows that she cannot afford to buy the preferred gold or silver, neither is she rich enough to buy life's luxuries. But the common product, kerosene, which she knows she could easily get with her little money is now out of her reach.
An average Nigerian housewife or mother knows that she cannot afford to buy the preferred gold or silver, neither is she rich enough to buy life's luxuries. But the common product, kerosene, which she knows she could easily get with her little money is now out of her reach.
For some months now, kerosene has become a very scarce commodity in Nigeria. When it is available, it is sold at high prices. And there are long queues at the selling points.
A 26-year-old man, Matthew, revealed his ordeal when he wanted to buy the product at KJ Filling Station along LASU-Igando road. He says: 'They claimed they had reduced their price to N80, but to my surprise, when I got there, they were not selling and people were just on the queue. After waiting long for nothing, I decided to leave.'
A woman in Abeokuta, Bola Shodeke, last week, went to several fuel stations for kerosene having exhausted her stock. Shodeke, a teacher, has resorted to using firewood. But, not satisfied, she kept searching for kerosene. Last Saturday, after much struggle, she counted herself lucky to have bought four litres of kerosene at N1,500 from an old woman selling from a surface tank.
Despite the fact that the official price per litre of kerosene is N50, fuel stations on many occasions sell between N130 and N190. Those who sell from surface tanks sell at the rate of N200. Although AP has been selling the product for N50, it is unavailable at its major stations.
The scarcity of kerosene and its high prices have forced people to use sawdust, chacoal and firewood as alternative means of cooking. But this has done little to ease the pains of consumers, even as the prices of the alternatives have increased due to high demand for them. A bag of charcoal, which was sold for N700, now costs, N1,500.
Nigerians have been reacting to this situation. Mrs. Idodalo Esosa, a Benin resident, said, 'I've resorted to using charcoal for my cooking, but for my lantern, I do buy from black marketers and hawkers.'
Another woman, Mrs. Enobaifo Magdalene, a widow with nine children, said her business has collapsed because of this situation. The hunger that ensued, according to her, has made her send her children to the village.
What factors are responsible for the scarcity? The situation has been traced to two factors. One of which is the poor state of the nation's refineries. The refineries are operating at a low capacity and have not been able to meet the need of consumers. It is said that importation as an alternative has largely been a means through which importers exploit the consumers.
Another reason for the scarcity is alleged sabotage by marketers. An official of the Department of Petroleum Resources, (DPR), Patrick Emadi, recently described some depot owners in Lagos as saboteurs. 'We have conducted painstaking investigations, after which it was discovered that these people were sabotaging government's effort regarding domestic kerosene.'
AP's Chief Operating Officer, Tunde Falasinu, does not agree with Emadi. He said, 'since the Federal Government had been subsidising the product, there was no reason for hike in its price. 'Any excess above N50 is illegal, government subsidises kerosene, either from the refinery or through importation. As long as they collect subsidy, they don't have any right to sell above N50. So those that are selling above N50 are making illegal profit and ripping off Nigerians,' he said.