Households in South-East Groan As Prices of Kerosene, Cooking Gas Hit the Roof
- The high cost of cooking gas has forced some Nigerian households to switch to using firewood, electric cooker and charcoal
- In the southeast region of the country, a 12.5 kg of cooking gas cylinder is refilled at N11,350 as against its old price of N2000
- This development according to many is gradually inflating the cost price of the alternatives like charcoal and kerosene in the domestic market
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The astronomical rise in the cost of cooking gas and kerosene in the country has subjected homes, particularly poor homes, in the South-East region, to more stress, in addition to the harsh economic realities Nigeria has already placed on them.
Vanguard reports that the situation has forced many families to resort to alternatives such as firewood and charcoal.
A housewife in Awka, Anambra state, Mrs. Eucharia Ezeamaka lamented that the high cost of cooking gas is causing so much tension in many families as husbands sometimes feel that their wives are deliberately wasting the product.
Source: UGC
Anambra resident
Narrating her experience, Ezeamaka said:
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“We were buying 12.5 kg of cooking gas at N1200. After some time, it went up to N2000 and it has been increasing such that few days ago, I filled the 12.5 kg cylinder with N11,350. My husband is always unhappy whenever we tell him that the gas is finished, but there is nothing we can do about it because there is no alternative.
“I contemplated cooking with electricity and discovered that gas is even much cheaper and so, I discarded the use of electricity.”
A student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, laments
A student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Miss Odinaka Okoli said because of the high cost of cooking gas, she has shifted to the use of electricity to cook, which, according to her, has turned out to be much cheaper than cooking gas and kerosene.
She said:
“When the cost of cooking gas became so high, I decided to buy hot plate for cooking while gas serves as a support. Since we live in a house where the landlord included electricity bill as part of the rent, I found cooking with electricity much cheaper.”
She wondered why the cost of cooking gas is so high when the product is being flared ceaselessly in the Niger-Delta.
Enugu resident
A civil servant in Enugu state, Mrs. Gladys Igbokwe told the newspaper that she has resorted to using firewood for cooking.
She lamented that as a salary earner of N30, 000 minimum wage, she could not afford to buy gas at N700 per kilogram.
Charcoal is an alternative but expensive
A painter of charcoal which can only help you prepare a pot of soup is now sold for N500. "The problem we mothers are having after buying the food is what we will use to prepare it.” The widow and mother of three children lamented that government has made life unbearable for them.
Umuahia residents lament
A cross-section of housewives who spoke to South-East Voice in Umuahia said they now use charcoal, firewood and electric stove for cooking whenever electricity is available.
It was gathered that cooking gas now sells for as high as N750 to N800 per litre in Abia state.
The situation has made it difficult for average families to continue to use cooking gas for cooking.
Narrating her own experience, a university lecturer, Mrs. Onyi, lamented that cooking gas “is now taking a big chunk of the family’s resources,” lamenting that 15kgs of gas she previously bought at between N3,750 and N4000, now sells for N9,750. "It is really not a good time for most families.”
Mrs. Onyi appealed to the federal government to come to the rescue of families by declaring a state of emergency on cooking gas and kerosene.
Imo state resident
In Owerri, the Imo state capital, a housewife, who simply identified herself as Mama Daberechukwu, lamented that the cost of living was getting unbelievably unbearable for most families.
Her words:
“The cost of living is getting unbelievably unbearable for most families.
"The cost of virtually all goods and services in the country has become extremely high and our leaders do not appear to care. Cost of foodstuffs, cooking gas and kerosene, have hit the roof. Only God will save us.”
Similarly, the chairman, citizens for righteousness and social justice, Bishop Kenneth Obi, who addressed newsmen in Owerri, blamed the plight of the citizens on “the inability or unwillingness of the people to speak out.
Of particular interest here is the prevailing high cost of virtually all the petroleum products in Nigeria. It has sadly worsened the economic situation in the country.
Transportation sector affected
The transportation sub-sector is also badly affected by the cost of fuel. Apart from the fact that people now pay through their nose to move from one point to the other, the issue of insecurity also stares the citizens in the face,” he lamented.
According to the cleric, “sadly enough, the hardest hit by this ugly development are the people considered as ordinary Nigerians, whose wages have not experienced the necessary upgrade.”
A commercial driver, who simply identified himself as Mathias said:
“Our leaders and government officials can afford to pay for the petroleum products, despite the cost and that is why they are not speaking for the masses. Government should please realise that there is an elastic limit to everything under the sun.”
Viral video shows people in Lagos queuing to buy cooking gas, Nigerians react to new prices
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had earlier reported that a video supposedly showing people in Lagos state as they queued for cooking gas has gotten many reactions on social media.
Posted by Tunde Ednut on Instagram, he claimed the incident happened in the state earlier in the week.
In the clip, buyers were at a gas filling station with their different sizes of cylinders to buy the product. Some of them even sat on the containers as they awaited their turns.
Source: Legit.ng
