Need to regulate the unstable price of kerosene

In Nigeria, kerosene is known to be the product for the poor as most of the disadvantaged people in the country use it while the rich ones use gas due to the fact that it facilitates and make cooking faster than kerosene. The high cost of kerosene and its unstable price is now a serious […]

In Nigeria, kerosene is known to be the product for the poor as most of the disadvantaged people in the country use it while the rich ones use gas due to the fact that it facilitates and make cooking faster than kerosene. The high cost of kerosene and its unstable price is now a serious issue of national interest and something should be done fast to stabilize its price and make it affordable for the sake of the poor in the country. The information gathered from different states of the nation concerning the multiple prices and high cost of kerosene have shown that within two weeks, one liter of kerosene is sold at the rate of N215, N220, N230, N250, N300, N350 and N400. The price rises quickly but drops slowly, contributing to the hardship and frustration.

 

Notwithstanding, aside its high fee and vacillating (Unsteady) price, it is also unavailable in many places in the country and that has pushed majority of the citizenry into the use of firewood and charcoal to cook their foods. 

 

 It is very unfortunate that kerosene’s price has never been stable even in the previous administrations (President Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan’s administration) but the worse of it all is what Nigerians are experiencing now as its price hike and oscillation (fluctuation) has gone far beyond what was obtainable in the previous regimes. The investigation has shown that it all began shortly after the removal of the fuel subsidy in the country and it is now escalating to an imaginable state of too much. It is possible that if action cannot be taken now to deal with this unbecoming speed price of kerosene, one day, one liter of it will be sold for one thousand naira (N1000).

Therefore, this issue is what is affecting the majority of Nigerians and need to be treated promptly by the concerned bodies. The government should know that Nigerians are going through hard time and anything that can be done to help ease or lessen their burdensome has to be done in earnest and urgent without politics of selfish interest. One don’t have to argue that the president Buhari’s administration mean well for this nation but at the moment, the nation is not well and the high cost of kerosene and its rickety price has contributed to the ill-health of the nation.

Nevertheless, kerosene is not the only thing with the unnecessary elevated and fluctuated price, almost everything in the country has drastically increased in price and it is not good for the country. Unfortunately, the underprivileged people who are the poor in the country are always the victims of the negative effects of government policies, while the rich ones remained untouched and even favoured by the decisions that have negative effects on the underprivileged.

Taking action that can help to remedy the problem of the kerosene’s hike, its fluctuating price and its scarcity is not negotiable. The Nigerian government should quickly begin to take steps towards resolving the kerosene’s problem so that it would be affordable, available and stable in price. This should be done with all seriousness.

 

Awunah Pius Terwase, Mpape, Abuja.