Rising Kerosene Misery Index..
Kerosene is largely the preferred domestic energy supply for the lower class in Nigeria, mainly for cooking.
The landmark deregulation policy has led to a steady rise in pump prices which was the consequence of persistent scarcity. As at last week, the retail price had reached about N220 per litre in Lagos and as high as N300 in many parts of the country.
The rising cost is attributed to the scarcity and high cost of foreign exchange, which came as a result of the deregulated forex regime.
The poor who utilise this product have stayed glued to it despite the option of switching to gas, which has now become cheaper. They will clearly be better off if they make the switch, but old habits die hard.
What is government’s policy strategy for kerosene supply in view of the larger proportion of Nigerians relying on it for their daily living? Our interactions with distressed consumers in the long queues for kerosene reveal a state of helplessness and confusion.
Some of them would have liked to switch to gas but couldn’t due to initial cost and uncertainty of the price regime between the two. It is pathetic to hear that most of them couldn’t even afford to buy gas cylinders before thinking of buying the gas itself. They are that poor
. On the cost of gas itself, they still feel that if the price of kerosene had moderated to about N200, it would have been more economical to stay with it than incurring the cost of a switch to gas.
Many of them also cited the safety concern of managing the combustive nature of gas cooking. In fact, some of them say their landlords wouldn’t even allow them to use gas cookers due to the same safety concerns where a lot of families co-habit. They are really forced to stay with the increasing cost of kerosene.
Against this backdrop we are worried that government seems not interested in this downtrodden product line. Government’s indicative retail price of N83 post-deregulation is now a mockery of pricing with regard to the real market price.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu has, unfortunately, made no definite pronouncements on the crisis. The Federal Government needs to remove bottlenecks in the supply of this product which affects the lives of the already battered common Nigerians.
Steps should be taken to curb the activities of the middlemen, and if possible moderate the impact of market forces on kerosene and similar products that have a direct bearing on the lives of low income groups.
More Nigerians should be encouraged to switch to cleaner and cheaper options such as gas. It is a matter of public enlightenment.
