Kerosene

Some residents of Bwari Area Council of the FCT on Monday said they stopped using kerosene as alternative means of cooking because of its persistent high cost.

The residents, who spoke in Abuja, said health hazard was also a major setback to the use of kerosene.

Miss Hannatu Baya, a student, said that kerosene was too expensive and out of the reach of ordinary Nigerians, adding that most times, the product was unavailable for people to buy.

According to her, struggling to get the product made her search for alternative means of cooking.

She said: ” I have a 5kg gas cylinder that takes me almost a month before refilling, and this is because I alternate with an electric cooker once there’s power, it is better for me than a kerosene stove.”

Baya also said that using the product became outdated to her at some point because of the availability of other alternate means.

Madam Charity Okonkwo, who sells charcoal and firewood said that she once sold kerosene but stopped after the product became too expensive.

” We used to go and queue at the filling station for days before the product was made available.

”When it will finally come, we will fight; it was a struggle, yet, we will buy it at a high cost to sell at a higher cost too.

“After a while, people started to use charcoal, which does not need much kerosene to light up, so the demand for the product from my customers dropped.

“That was how I changed to selling charcoal and firewood and the patronage has been better,” she said.

Okonkwo added that although, both firewood and charcoal were not as cheap as they used to be in the past, it remained an option to some residents in the local communities who cannot afford cooking gas or kerosene.

She also said that kerosene presently costs about N1,180 per litre at the filling stations and is being sold by retailers in the community from N1, 250 to N1,500 per litre.

Mrs Grace Ishaya, a housewife and mother of five, said that she stopped cooking with kerosene for over four years after one of her children accidentally inhaled the emissions from the cooking stove while sleeping.

“I don’t know if the kerosene was adulterated with something else,  but the flames brought out so much black smoke that filled the kitchen and extended into other parts of the house.

“I tried to regulate it but to no avail, until one of my children ran to tell me that they had been trying to wake their brother who was sleeping, to play football, but he was not responding.

“My neighbors heard the chaos and came to help and one of them took us to the general hospital where they confirmed that my son had inhaled so much smoke in his system.

“We thank God because at the end of the day, he was resuscitated.

“Since then, I prefer to use cooking gas and charcoal, even though they both are expensive, we manage to buy according to our means,” Ishaya said.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), says the average retail price of Household Kerosene (HHK) paid by consumers in October was N1, 041.05 per litre.

The NBS stated in its “National Household Kerosene Price Watch” for October 2022 that the average price was a 9.90 per cent increase over the N947.30 per litre recorded in September 2022.

“On a year-on-year basis, the average retail price per litre of the product increased by 145.87 per cent from N423.42 recorded in October 2021.”

On state profile analysis, the report showed that the highest average price per litre of kerosene in October 2022 was recorded in Cross River at N1,304.17, followed by Enugu at N1,300.00 and Lagos at N1,294.44.

Conversely, it said the lowest price was recorded in Borno at N783.33, followed by Rivers at N804.17 and Bayelsa at N805.67.

The NBS said that analysis by zone showed that the South-East recorded the highest average retail price per litre of Kerosene at N1,191.14, followed by the South-West at N1,142.60.

It said the North-East recorded the lowest average retail price per litre of kerosene at N905.18.

The report said the average retail price per gallon of kerosene paid by consumers in October 2022 was N3,516.87, indicating an 8.67 per cent increase from N3,236.27 recorded in September 2022.

” On a year-on-year basis, the average price per gallon of kerosene increased by 126.46 per cent from N1,552.96 recorded in October 2021.”

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), says on a year- on-year basis, the average retail price per litre of Household Kerosene (HHK) increased by 98.76 per cent in July 2022.

This is according to the NBS National Household Kerosene Price Watch for July 2022 released in Abuja on Friday.

According to the report, the average retail price per litre of the product rose by 98.76 per cent from N397.34 in July 2021 to N789.75 in July 2022.

The report said on a month-on-month basis, there was a 3.68 per cent increase of the product in July 2022 at N789.75 compared to N761.69 recorded in June 2022.

On state profile analysis, the report revealed that the highest average price per litre of Kerosene in July 2022 was recorded in Enugu with N1,003.68, followed by Ekiti with N989.58 and Osun with N949.12.

On the other hand, the lowest price was recorded in Bayelsa with N643.06, followed by Benue with N654.76 and Rivers with N655.24.

The report said that analysis by zone showed that the South-West recorded the highest average retail price per litre of Household Kerosene with N900.90, followed by the South-East with N892.40 and North-Central with N761.92.

“While the South-South recorded the lowest with N727.07.’’

In addition, the average retail price per gallon of Household Kerosene paid by consumers in July 2022 was N2,886.41, showing an increase of 7.98 per cent from N2,673.04 in June 2022.

The report said while on a year-on-year basis, the increase indicated a 121.60 per cent increase from N1,302.56 in July 2021.

On state profile analysis, Abuja recorded the highest average retail price per gallon of Household Kerosene with N3,600.00, followed by Enugu with N3,500.75 and Ekiti with N3,450.00.

On the other hand, the report said Zamfara recorded the lowest price with N2,430.57, followed by Borno and Gombe with N2,500 and N2,530 respectively.

Analysis by zone showed that the South-West recorded the highest average retail price per gallon of Household Kerosene with N3,186.93, followed by the South-East and North-Central with N3,130.76 and N2,924.73 respectively.

The North-East recorded the lowest average retail price per gallon with N2,597.04.

Similarly, the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Cooking Gas) Price Watch for July 2022 revealed a 105.35 per cent increase of refilling 5kg of the product on a year- on –year basis.

According to the report, on a year-on-year basis, this rose by 105.35 per cent from N2,141.59 in July 2021 to N4,397.68 in July 2022.

The report said the average retail price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of cooking gas increased by 4.25 per cent on a month-on-month basis from N4,218.38 recorded in June 2022 to N4,397.68 in July 2022.

On state profile analysis, Adamawa recorded the highest average price for refilling a 5kg cooking gas cylinder with N4,966.67, followed by Plateau with N4,650.00, and Kwara and Gombe with N4,625.00 each.

On the other hand, the report said Kano recorded the lowest price with N3, 981.25, followed by Yobe and Bauchi with N4,000.00 and N4,071.03 respectively.

Analysis by zone showed that the North-Central recorded the highest average retail price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of Cooking Gas with N4,552.62, followed by the North-East with N4,456.88.

The report said the North-West recorded the lowest with N4,218.27.