Price of kerosene, cooking gas worsening hardship among Nigerians

No time in the history of Nigeria has the pump price of Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK), popularly known as kerosene, hit an all-time price hike of between N550 to N600 per litre, depending on location.

But that was at the cost that over 30 million households, who depend on the product for mainly cooking, are being compelled to pay for the product.

The alternative to its use includes: firewood, charcoal and dry grasses, which experts say are harmful to the environment.

Any sign that the situation would soon be over is yet to present itself, as housewives in urban cities and those in rural say they could not afford buying the item at its present price.

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Before this year, kerosene was selling for between N150 and N200 per litre, which was also said to be above the officially subsidised price of N50 a litre.

However, even the privileged ones who are known to use gas cookers have also cried of a sharp rise from N2, 500 per 50 kg to between N3, 500 and N4, 000.

The Nigerian Liquefied Petroleum Gas, which had earlier promised making cooking gas available at affordable price, has pointed at the current crisis in the Niger Delta as a factor making it difficult to source the product.

But marketers blame the kerosene saga on the inability of the NNPC to put back on track the refinery meant solely for DKP, a situation that makes full importation of the commodity unavoidable.

They also said that the matter is not helped by the fact that kerosene and jet fuel are nearly identical in every way except for a few additives.

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