Nigerians in most parts of the country have resorted to using charcoal as the cost of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, otherwise known as cooking gas, continues to soar. This is even as the cost of charcoal has also risen owing to high demands, with some people switching to firewood; BENJAMIN SAMSON reports.
Findings by Blueprint Weekend in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and some parts of Nasarawa state showed that the average price of refilling cooking gas per KG is ₦1,300. This is against N700 to N800 in December 2023.
Lamentations
Some of the residents in separate interviews with this reporter lamented the hike in the price of cooking gas, which has forced them to resort to buying firewood and charcoal for cooking.
They urged the federal government to help them to reduce the cost of the product. According to them, it’s become unbearable for them.
A mother of four who simply identified herself as Sherifat told this reporter that she has made use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), also called cooking gas, for almost eight years. But she said had no choice but to stop, stressing that “it became unaffordable.”
Before making what she described as the “right decision” to completely abandon cooking gas, she first started using it sparingly.
“I would use the gas cylinder only in the morning during weekdays to cook for my children who have to leave for school by 7:30 am.
“Even though the cost of filling the gas had already increased a bit, I was managing to fill it because it is harder and more stressful to use charcoal to cook very early in the morning,” she said.
In spite of the extra stress, the middle-aged trader eventually resorted to using charcoal for all her cooking activities due to its affordability and the rising prices of cooking gas.
Mr. Nandam Goyat, a civil servant who resides in Mararaba in Karu local government area of neighbouring Nasarawa state, said, “When I can no longer bear the cost of N1, 300 per Kg of gas, I told my wife to return to charcoal, although it’s not convenient, there is nothing we can do since there is nobody to explain the high cost.”
Another resident, Mrs. Mercy Joseph, said she has now resorted to the use of firewood to cook her food rather than buying cooking gas since she can no longer afford it.
“Yes, firewood litters the environment and the smoke is unhygienic but we have no choice? Foodstuffs are very costly too, so we have to manage what we can afford to ensure the family eats,” she said.
Also, Mrs. Elizerbeth Alagbe, lamented that she had abandoned the kitchen for the open space just to use firewood which she said was not convenient anyway.
According to her, “Our pots now get so black and dirty unlike the cooking gas which keeps everywhere neat when cooking.”
Mr. Samuel Akinrinwa said he had to get a coal pot for his wife and buy charcoal for cooking instead of buying the costly cooking gas despite the unhygienic state of firewood and kerosene stove.
“We are groaning over a 14-year blackout in this area, foodstuffs are costly as well as cooking gas, I think the government needs to do something as life is unbearable for residents here,” he said.
A housewife, Mrs. Muinat Akeen, said she had gone back to the use of her kerosene stove since the gas prices began to rise, adding that the situation “is getting worse by the day.”
Firewood, charcoal sellers
Meanwhile, Mrs. Asabe Luka, a firewood seller, told Blueprint Weekend that many customers now patronise her since the price of cooking gas has risen.
She said, “We sell firewood from N200, and N300 to N500 and above, I used to sell for food and fish sellers before, but several housewives have joined my customers now.”
Mrs. Janet Mesioye, a charcoal seller, said that there was not much difference from what she used to sell before, observing that charcoal prices too were going higher.
“Charcoal price is getting higher now as the quantity we used to buy at N100, 000 now sells for N135, 000 and there is little difference from what I used to sell now compared to before,” she said.
An expert’s view point
In a chat with this reporter, an oil and gas expert, Dr. Dauda Garuba, said the consequence of people using an alternative means of cooking would not be palatable.
He said, “To ask what we can do about the high cost of cooking gas is to play innocent. What will happen is anybody’s guess. It is obviously not going to be palatable to the environment. We are going to be victims of deforestation and greenhouse gas emission. Temperature in the country is already hot with people talking of 41 degree Celsius in the North and 38 degree Celsius in the South.
“Never in the history of Nigeria have we been faced with this manner of economic hardship. The country is facing a huge energy crisis – from fossil fuel to electricity to cooking gas. The signs are ominous. Yet, energy is central to national questions and security. What is more fundamental is that power wielders are living a profligate life while asking the rest of the people to sacrifice for their luxury.
“Aside from the recognition of LPG by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a clean cooking solution to reducing exposure to household air pollution, especially in low-income households, further research has shown that it is poised to deliver substantial health, economic, and social benefits.
“Due to its low carbon-to-hydrogen ratio, LPG – a mixture of two hydrocarbons, butane and propane – contributes little to global warming. In 2019, Nigeria’s ministry of petroleum resources said the LPG Penetration Programme is a component of the country’s intended nationally designed contributions under the Paris Agreement for reducing annual greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
“However, due to the incessant rise in its cost, which creates an affordability gap, Nigerians have no choice but to embrace cheaper alternatives for cooking, primarily through kerosene, firewood and charcoal.
“The problem with these alternatives is that they increase the emission rate of greenhouse gasses and drive deforestation among other environmental disasters such as desertification, loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, and loss of wildlife.
“For example, firewood, which serves as the primary cooking fuel for 72 percent of Nigerians, is derived by cutting trees illegally. Before now, 50 per cent of the country’s landmass was covered by trees but today, 90 per cent of these trees have been removed. About 36 percent of these trees were removed in the last 20 years.”
Similarly, an environmental activist, Tunde Awosika, in a chat with this reporter, said the effects of deforestation on the environment range from soil erosion and loss of biodiversity ecosystems to loss of wildlife and increased desertification.
“The risks from deforestation are huge. Forest loss and damage is the cause of around 10% of global warming. There’s simply no way we can fight the climate crisis if we don’t stop deforestation,” he said.
He noted that the illegal use of firewood for cooking has negative health and environmental implications.
“If there is any need to cut one tree, you must arrest the situation by planting two or more trees as a replacement,” Tokunbo said.
NCCC’s take
Likewise, in a chat with this reporter, the convener of the coalition, the National Coalition on Climate Change (NCCC), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Mustapha Agwai, has said aside from the dangers of deforestation and climate destruction, use of firewood and charcoal for cooking has direct effects on the health of women.
Agwai, however, said the coalition through the federal government was partnering with a German non-profit organisation, Atmosfair, in the production of Stove80 which will reduce cost of cooking energy, improve women’s health and protect the environment.
He said, “One of the heaviest activities of man that is responsible for releasing the gases responsible for global warming and climate change is dependence on firewood for cooking.
“In an attempt to reduce this dependence on fire wood, we partnered with Atmosfair to bring this stove that is called Stove80 so that more women would access it.”
The way out
To stop the incessant hikes in the price, Bala Zakka, an oil and gas analyst, said the nation’s leaders must accept that internal refining and domestication of refineries is the only sustainable way forward.
Zakka said, “The refusal to accept this is the principal reason why Nigeria is experiencing all these.
“When you refine, the first product you get is LPG, known as cooking gas. If we refine internally, the first thing that would happen is that there would be self-sufficiency in terms of cooking gas. Because we are not refining internally, citizens are now using firewood.”
Speaking on the internal pricing model which affects local prices, Zakka maintained that the NLNG is a consortium that does not belong to Nigeria.
“It is only what belongs to Nigeria that we can have the flexibility to determine what happens. The LNG’s target is the international market right from day one.”
He noted that without refining locally, the only other option is to continue to import LPG to meet the local supply gap. “But the only real solution is to refine internally. We already know our problem. It would also save us from foreign exchange pressure,” the public affairs analyst said further.
FG’s reaction
Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Energy, Mrs. Olu Arowolo Verheijen, has attributed the high cost of cooking gas foreign exchange and the market forces of demand and supply.
She stated this while fielding questions from journalists during the 4th edition of the ministerial briefing organised by the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation in Abuja.
She, however, said the federal government is working hard to put measures in place to bring down the price of cooking gas.
“On the price of cooking gas, the president introduced some initiatives around last Christmas around November, and we saw a decline in prices. Significant of our (liquefied petroleum gas (LPGs) are imported, we are price takers not price setters.
“However, because the president was concerned about the cost of living, he approved a fast-tracking of fiscal incentives to enable more investments into the LPG space with the hope that if we achieve scale we can bring down cost, and we saw a deep in prices, unfortunately foreign exchange and the market forces moved against us and those prices increased.
“We are going to continue to work and look at more opportunities to improve supply and scale up and enable more LPG into the market at affordable prices. This is a top priority of this administration,” she said.
