Cooking Gas: Price Hike Punishes Small Businesses As Nigerian Government Looks Away

The hike in the prices of cooking gas has forced many women into harmful alternatives such as using firewood and charcoal for cooking, the third greatest killer of women and children in Nigeria, according to the World Health Organization.

The spike adds to the profound challenges women and children face in the country.

Before the increase, a 6kg gas cylinder was refilled for N1,800, but it now goes for between N4,200 and N4500.

Up from N1,200, now a 3kg cylinder goes for N2,100, an increment of N900.

Meanwhile, the 12.5kg cylinder increased from N3, 600 to N9000, depending on the vendor. The price has changed at least thrice in the last few months.

Prices differ across the states.

The average price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of cooking gas also increased by 8.23 per cent month-on-month and by 21.42 per cent year-on-year in September, Nigeria’s statistics bureau said.

Likewise, the average price for the refilling of a 12.5kg cylinder for cooking gas increased by 36.55 per cent month-on-month and by 49.97 per cent year-on-year in September.

Cooking with firewood has several implications for human health, experts said.

Data from the International Centre for Energy, Environment, and Development (ICEED) show that 98,000 Nigerians die annually as a result of smoke inhaled while cooking with firewood, with women and children as the most affected persons.

In November, the federal government said it was difficult for it to bring the price of cooking gas down as the product is not subsidised by the government and its price is determined by international market forces.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said the government can only adjust aspects of the pricing within its control, without saying when that will happen.

-Premium Times