Most households in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital have resorted to firewood in place of kerosene and cooking gas that has gone out of the reach of the poor and average families due to skyrocketing prices, checks by Tribune Online has revealed.
Aside from the major marketers including the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) filling stations that sell the scarce product at normal price, independent marketers sell kerosene at between N400 and N450 per litre, while outlets sell at N500.
At the NNPC, Mobil, Total and other major outlets, the normal price of kerosene were seen on the neon display board, but the attendants would only reply “no kerosene”, upon enquiry.
They blamed it on the crises occasioned by “planned petroleum subsidy removal by the Federal Government and the politics of fixing the collapsed refineries as creating chaotic distribution and cut-throat price regime.”
However, affected residents, who lamented the crises in the sector that led to the inflationary regime in the system, said they had to resort to firewood as the plausible source of fuel for domestic cooking.
“Yes, firewood is a bit cheaper, and I have to patronize it because the high cost of kerosene has forced sharp practices in the sector with cases of kerosene explosions because of adulteration,” Mrs Abigail Ekong, a civil servant laments.
“Our income can no longer support this harsh climate of inflation in Nigeria, so we make room for nearest alternative, firewood, though it creates the problem of washing your cooking utensils at all times, it is relatively better,” she added.
For Effiong Bassey, a petroleum products dealer in Uyo, “the state government should make good its promise to build depots and tank farms in the state.”
“This will safe the cost of transporting the products from the neighbouring Port Harcourt, Rivers State to Akwa Ibom, and the cost of selling the products to end-users will automatically be reduced,” he stressed.
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