NIGERIANS have continued to lament scarcity of kerosene, with the product selling for between N220 and N400 across the country.
This came as strong indications that scarcity of the commodity may persist for a while, as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and marketers shunned importation of the product.
Many residents of towns in Kogi State, as a result of the scarcity and high cost of the product, have, however, devised other means of cooking.
Findings in the towns showed that some of the major marketers sold the product for between N220 and N250 per litre, while independent markerters sold it for N270 per litre, with other retailers/local markerters selling for N350 per litre.
Many people were seen using coal pot and fire wood, while others resorted to the use of sawdust for cooking.
Some of the local women that spoke with the Nigerian Tribune said the product had gone out of reach and, therefore, they could not afford it again.
In Kano, the scarcity forced consumers to resort to using coal and firewood for their daily cooking.
In Kano, the situation had deteriorated in the last one week, forcing residents who could afford to buy the product at exorbitant prices to resort to using coal and firewood for cooking.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the situation was compounded by non-availability of the commodity at most filling stations in the metropolis.
Some of the retailers told NAN that for the past one week, no filling station in the metropolis sold the product.
One of the sellers at Tarauni market, Malam Mohammed Aminu, said even those with old stock had raised the price by about 200 per cent due to its scarcity.
A consumer, Malam Annas Abba-Dala, said a four litre gallon of kerosene now go for N1,600 as against N800.
Another customer, Malam Garba Ahmad, said he had since switched to the use of charcoal until the situation improves.
In Calabar, Cross River State, kerosene sold for between N350 and N400 per litre, according to NAN.
NAN survey on Sunday showed that the product was not available in any filling station in the state capital and its suburbs.
However, the product was available only in surface tanks in parts of the city, where dealers sold it at N350 per litre.
The survey revealed also that the itinerant retailers sold the commodity between N380 and N400 per litre, depending on the area.
Mrs Grace Nja, who resides in Ikot Efanga area of the city, said she bought the product at N280 at a filling station early last week.
Nja alleged that petrol product marketers in the state sold their consignments wholly to some middlemen from neighbouring states, instead of the consumers within the state.
The commodity was also scarce in Ogun State, according to news gathered by Nigerian Tribune.
Most of the filling stations within Abeokuta, the state capital, had no supply of the commodity as of Monday.
It was gathered that a bottle of kerosene sold for N250, while a litre sold for N300.
Speaking with Nigerian Tribune, Rahman Olufowobi, a manager at a filling station at Obada-Oko area, said he could not remember the last time his station was supplied with the commodity.
It was the same story in Delta State, as a black market seller sold the product for between N250 and N300.
A consumer, Akpos Ighogho, said, “I bought four litres of kerosene last in December for N1,000. Since the scarcity began, I have switched to gas. I am begging the government, we don’t want to experience scarcity.”
Another consumer, Margaret Oyibo said, “the last time I bought from a black market was N260 per litre.”
The scarcity of the product in Ondo State forced many residents to turn to charcoal, cooking gas and firewood as alternatives.
Survey carried out by the Nigerian Tribune indicated that the product was sold for between N300 to N380 per litre in some of the filling stations as against the N83 official price.
Lamenting the scarcity of the product, a food canteen operator, Roseline Odunayo, said few filling stations in the Akure metropolis sold the product at the rate of N200 per litre before the last Christmas, but said the price had increased to N350.
“We have resorted to using gas and charcoal as alternatives to kerosene. Charcoal is less expensive and I cannot use a bag of charcoal sold for N1,800 for a day, while we use at least N2,800 kerosene in a day.
“Apart from this, the product is not even available, if you have the money you cannot find the product in the market. The black market is not available too and we have to find a better alternative to keep the business moving,” she said.
An octogenerian, Madam Lydia Akingboye, a kerosene retailer in Ayedun area of Akure, said she had been forced out of business by the scarcity, saying she had visited almost all the filling stations in the Akure metropolis with none dispensing the product.
Chairman of the Independent Petrol Marketers in the state, Bayo Olowookere, said there was a lot of demand for the product with less supply.
He disclosed that most depots in the South-West were not supplying kerosene at the moment, saying “we only have DPK in Port Harcourt and the volume being loaded per day is not enough to satisfy the whole nation. The demand is higher than the supply.”
Efforts to speak with officials of the Department of Petroleum Resources by Nigerian Tribune was not successful as the spokesman was said to be away on an official assignment.
In Kwara State, residents had resorted to the use of other means of cooking.
Abu Hanafi at Odota area of Ilorin metropolis said that his family had stopped using kerosene since it became N260.
“I now use coal pot for our cooking. We could no longer cook beans with kerosene. The cost of living is quite high. A big bag of coal is N1,400 and three of us had to share it,” he said.
Investigation conducted by Nigerian Tribune in Osun State indicated that a litre of kerosene sold for N280 in some filling stations, while a few others dispensed the product at the rate of N300 per litre.
As a result of the high cost of kerosene, some residents of Osogbo now use charcoal and firewood to prepare their foods.
In the neighbourhoods such as Ogo Oluwa, Alekuwodo, Jaleyemi, Oke-Baale, Owode, Oke Ijetu, among others, a bottle of kerosene sold for N300 or N320.
In Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, many families said they had long resorted to the use of charcoal for their cooking.
A tailor in Bashiri area of the town, Mrs Ayodeji Ojo, told the Nigerian Tribune that she had switched to charcoal “for months now.”
She said in Bashiri area of the town, kerosene sold for N200 per bottle “but we used to get it for N180 in some places when we go to town.”
Mrs Ojo, who shares a shop with her husband, also a tailor, said “since we moved to our own house, we haven’t been cooking with kerosene. We use charcoal because it is cheaper and we get the same result.”
A trader at Okesa area, who chose to be identified simply as Kenny, said kerosene sold for N215 per litre.
“It is no longer fashionable to buy in gallon as we used to because of the high cost and in this harmattan period, we use electric heater when electricity is restored in the early hours to heat water for bathing. We have to wise up.”
Speaking with Nigerian Tribune on Monday, the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Ndu Ughamadu, said the corporation imported kerosene and supplemented it with what the refineries produced locally.
According to him, “we had a meeting with major marketers and depot owners last week and we discussed technical issues and I believe these issues will be resolved soon.
“As part of the resolution, we agreed and appealed to marketers to pick up importation of kerosene because it seems they have been shying away from it and now focus on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise called petrol.
“GMD personally appealed to them to import kerosene and also utilise the window provided by CBN to access foreign exchange.
“On our part, we import kerosene and supplement it with what we get from refineries locally. During scarcity of aviation fuel, NNPC imported two ships to supplement whatever the major marketers are doing.”
With respect to kerosene scarcity, he said “you will observe that consumption of kerosene is higher than aviation fuel. NNPC, as the last supplier of petroleum products nationwide, has been importing these products, including petrol, kerosene, diesel, aviation fuel, from its own resources. NNPC isn’t CBN, we are also marketers. We sourced for our foreign exchange to import products.”
He said the scarcity would be over “as soon as marketers begin to import to complement whatever NNPC is doing.”
However, because it takes at least three months between when logistics are put together to import petroleum products and the time of discharging the products, kerosene scarcity may persist for months before scarcity will be finally over.
Efforts to speak with the Executive Secretaries of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA), Femi Olawore and Femi Adewole, respectively, failed, as both did not pick calls put through to their respective telephone lines and neither did they reply text messages sent to them.