For some time now the cost of cooking gas in Nigeria has continued to surge beyond the reach of the ordinary Nigerian,a situation that has caused unimaginable hardship to the citizenry who are already grappling with the harsh economic weather in the country.
A product which sold between #1050 and #1350 per kilogram early this year, suddenly skyrocketed to an alarming dimension, forcing the price above #1800.
Development in recent times shows deliberate hoard of Liquified petroleum gas by marketers triggering papable fear of scarcity , and therefore raising concerns that the product may sale above #2000 per kilogram.
At 210.54 trillion cubic feet, Nigeria is ranked ninth by gas reserves in the world, according to the policy centre for the new south,based in Morocco.
It is therefore,so pathetic that a country richly endowed with gas resources should depend on imports for half of it’s cooking gas needs .
Data from the Nigerian Midstream and down stream Petroleum regulatory Authority indicate that daily local supply of cooking gas ranges between 3.300 and 4.500 tonnes .
Despite this volumes,Nigerian consumers still face escalating prices and growing fears of scarcity .
Consequently,the high cost of cooking gas in Nigeria forces low income households to ration meals or resort to the traditional fuels like firewood, charcoal,and kerosene for their daily cooking needs .
This drastically strains the nation’s clean energy gains,threatens environmental sustainability and saps family budgets amidst rising food inflation.
No doubt,the high cost of Liquified petroleum gas has far reaching effects on the masses who now take to traditional alternatives.
Aside,the public health concerns, and environmental degradation that mitigates climate change targets,
high cost of cooking gas has led to closure of some small businesses.
Restaurants, caterers and roadside food vendors face collapsing profit margin and are even forced to increase food price or shut down completely.
Small scale LPG retailers and distributors are equally not spared by this ugly development as they struggle to cope with rising operational and transport costs from the depot thereby, putting the informal sector jobs at risk.
In attempt to reduce the high cost of cooking gas in the country,the Nigerian government has ordered major crack down on hoarders and speculators ,while mandating all LGP produced in the country to be prioritised for local consumption.
However,this intervention even with increased local supply from the Dangote and Seplat energy is yet to ease the cost of cooking gas as the product still sales between # 1700 and # 1800 per kilogram across major towns in Nigeria.
It is therefore,evident that the bane of the problem is corruption in the oil sector and lack of political will by the government.
Otherwise,how can one explain this escalation in gas price even when there is obvious reduction in the price of the product in the global market.
Government must as a matter of urgency,rise up to it’s duties and save the poor masses from this unnecessary suffering.
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