The recent sharp increase in the price of cooking gas has again added to the hardship experienced by Nigerians.
From insecurity to high cost of petrol, poor infrastructure as evidenced in poor electricity supply, bad roads, poor health facilities and high cost of education, among others, as well as high cost of food items, the story is the same – lamentation everywhere across Nigeria.
Now, the price of Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG, commonly known as cooking gas, which has remained high and out of reach of many Nigerians for a couple of years, has suddenly jumped up again, further aggravating the pains of the masses.
Over the weekend, the LNG price per kilogramme jumped from N1200 to N1400 and N1,500 in some locations, pushing the price of a 12.5kg cylinder to N17,500 from N14,200.
A visit to some of the gas stations around Amuwo Odofin in Lagos State this morning, May 25, showed a frustrated group of people decrying their ugly situation but helpless and despondent. The people were seen in clusters discussing what Nigeria has become, especially in the last three years since the subsidy on fuel was removed by the current government.
In the past two years, the price of a 12.5kg cylinder has steadily risen from N900 to N10, 000, N11, 000, N12, 500 and most recently, N14, 200 from where it has jumped to N17,500 as of today, May 25.
The development has thrown many people into confusion as most people that were at some gas stations this morning to refill their cylinders couldn’t fill them. Some people who came with a 12.5 cylinder, ended up buying 8kg or 9kg as the case maybe because they were not prepared for the sudden increase.
However, there were others who came to refill 4kg cylinders, but ended up buying only 2kg while many others returned home without buying at all and hoping to fall back on charcoal for the time being.
Our reporter’s friendly chat with some persons at the gas station revealed an impending disturbing situation for the country if the government did not respond urgently to arrest this ugly development.
According to one of the buyers at a gas station on Festac First Avenue by First Gate, John Chukwuebuka, this astronomical increase would portend more danger in the country.
He believes that when the people can no longer afford the price of cooking gas, they would fall back to the use of firewood, which automatically means that more trees would be felled for that purpose. It also goes to show that the environment would be exposed to erosion and other disasters, which originally were prevented by the presence of trees in the environment.
He also argued that wildlife would be affected as some wild animals whose habitats are thick forests would be exposed to danger of being hunted down when the trees that provide shelter to them are felled for firewood.
He expressed the fear that returning to the era of charcoal for cooking, would equally constitute problems to the environment.
Another frustrated buyer, who gave her name simply as Morenike, wondered how Nigerians could allow APC to destroy the country.
She said: “This All Progressives Congress, APC, government is evil in every facet. Since 2015 when the APC government took over power, Nigerians have not known peace.
“Nigerians have been suffering since 2015, but the suffering became worse with this current Bola Tinubu government. Where do I even start?
“Is it the number of lives that are lost to bandits, terrorists and kidnappers on a daily basis? Is it the price of food? And now, ordinary cooking gas, we can’t afford it again and Nigeria is naturally endowed with crude oil? How can anybody explain this?
“And these people are busy campaigning to be reelected in 2027. When people are needlessly being slaughtered like animals and they do nothing?
“The other day, a teacher who was kidnapped in Oyo State was beheaded by his abductors who posted the gory picture on the internet for everybody to see, yet the government has not been able to fish out these evil men.
“The painful aspect of the whole thing is that they are not even doing anything about it, instead they are busy with how to win the 2027 elections.
“And now, we woke up this morning to see this kind of wicked increase in the price of cooking gas. What do they want us to do? I don’t even understand Nigerians. How can we allow one party to be inflicting this kind of pain on us and we all keep quiet? This is surprising and I just pray that Nigerians will wake up from their long slumber and take their destiny in their own hands,” she submitted.
Some other people are subtly calling on the government to address the situation with the urgency it requires, and not push the people to the wall.
However, many still blame the development on the fuel subsidy removal, which, according to them, has pushed up prices of virtually everything, including the cooking gas.
They believe that if the subsidy was not removed on fuel, the price of cooking gas would not have gone to the roof top.
Reacting to the current price hike on cooking gas, a public affairs commentator and analyst, Chief Rowland Adenuga decried the development, describing it as an unfortunate development to a people, whose majority depends on the use of cooking gas for survival.
He lamented that cooking gas which ordinarily should have eased the burden on the cost of fuel or energy generally, following the removal of subsidy on petrol, is gradually getting beyond the reach of an average Nigerian.
“Instead of maintaining and stabilizing the price of cooking gas, which Nigerians have seen as a solace to the fuel subsidy removal, the government has allowed its price to skyrocket to a point where ordinary Nigerians are crying blue murder; it is unfortunate,” he said.
He called on the Federal Government to pay attention to the plight of ordinary Nigerians instead of channeling all energies to the 2027 election.
“The way our politicians are going about the 2027 election is very annoying. How can they abandon everything about governance because of the 2027 election?
“In the midst of economic hardship and high insecurity in the land, why would this government allow the price of cooking gas to go higher again?
“Any way, it is clear that they are not interested in people’s votes, if not they won’t allow something like this to happen. This government has failed in all aspects. And I hope Nigerians will respond appropriately in 2027.
“The only way for Nigerians to demonstrate that they have been pushed to the wall is to vote out this government and ensure that their votes are protected,” he said
He is among those who have warned that if an urgent step is not taken by the government to address the high cost of cooking gas, it would force the people to use firewood and charcoal, which will also, in the long run, affect the forest.
He said: “Cooking gas prices should have been very low. In fact, if there is to be a subsidy, it should be on cooking gas, so that it will solve the problem of deforestation.
“Just move around the country and look at the volume of firewood and charcoal that are being sold. It is unnecessary. We are killing and destroying our forest because the cost of cooking gas is too high.
“Nigeria should actually subsidise the cooking gas. Let the price be as low as possible so that people will stop hacking our trees, creating deforestation and generating desertification, and killing a lot of things, including the fauna. It is not just the plant but even the animals are also endangered when the forests are attacked.
“That will also mean that we will be losing our forests more and more; leading to deforestation. This will, invariably, affect the whole ecosystem.
“The wild animals will find no place to rest, desertification will increase, and so many other backlashes will come to play. And of course, when the hardship becomes so unbearable for the people having been pushed to the wall, they will fight back.
“So, it is in the interest of the government to make the price of cooking gas cheap, so that people would not want to resort to buying firewood or buying wood for charcoal.”
However, an education right activist, James Hamilton attributed the latest development to rising inflation in the country.
“Inflation is affecting the price of everything in Nigeria, including cooking gas.
“Once there is inflation as we have today, you expect that the price of everything will go up.
“So, it is not only the price of cooking gas that has gone up; it is a general problem because so many other things are not normal. It is a trying period and all hands must be on deck to address the problem.
“Thank God the election is around the corner. The time for lamentation should be over by now. It is clear that this government cannot do anything to better the lives of Nigerians. Nigerians should get their PVCs and be ready to vote out this APC government in 2027.
“That is the only way to have a respite in this country, otherwise things will keep getting worse.
“You can’t give what you don’t have; that is exactly what is happening with this government. Otherwise, how can any sane government allow the price of cooking gas to even add a penny to the existing price that people are still struggling to pay?
“If anything, Nigerians were expecting a serious reduction in the existing price because many people were still struggling to meet up. But instead of that, what we woke up to see this Monday morning is more than 30 percent increase again. This is unbelievable, I must say,” he stated.
He lamented that the poor masses are always at the receiving end and warned that the government must avoid incurring the wrath of the masses by responding urgently and adequately to the problem.
“The government must look at this latest rise urgently because the moment an average man cannot cook in his house, not because the price of raw food is high but also because even cooking gas is a problem, then, you are likely to have the people revolt along the line.
“So, the government must look inward, come up with policies that will review the problem and address it as soon as possible. And this must be considered as a short-term solution because people cannot contain it.
“People cannot continue managing it the way it is going. So, the government must come up with something better as soon as possible,” he said.
But, for Prof Anthony Ugwu of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, the continuous rise in the price of cooking gas may not be entirely blamed on inflation as some other people have argued.
He believes that even though the LPG is produced in Nigeria, the production profile is not enough for the teeming population of Nigerians who scramble for the product.
He also drew attention to the fact that Nigerians now use it to run their generators, following the removal of subsidy on petrol.
He said: “The fact that the cost of cooking gas is rising and is almost hitting the roof top should not be a surprise to Nigerians. This is because most Nigerians no longer use it to cook only; they now use it as an alternative to fuel to operate generators following the government’s removal of fuel subsidy. So, that is a contributory factor to the continuous rise in its price,” he said.
He also warned that the fallout of the continuous rise is that people will resort to the local method of cooking, like the use of firewood and charcoal.
“And that is what people are doing currently. If you check, it is already affecting the prices of firewood and charcoal and that will also be disastrous.
“So, the government just has to do something very urgent to arrest this latest increase, at least, to soften the people’s heart against the 2027 election.
“If the government doesn’t respond urgently to this latest development, two possibilities are likely to happen. It is either the people express their frustration through the ballot in 2027 or they take to the street even before the election.
“The latter may not be palatable because it could lead to full blown revolution considering the tension in the country today. So, the government should just find out what caused the latest increase and address it urgently,” he cautioned.
