FOR the past few weeks, Adams Makinde, a father of three who lives in Aboru area in Agbado Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area of Lagos, has stopped cooking at home. He now prefers to eat out due to the rising cost of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), popularly known as cooking gas.
At between N1,800 and N2,400 per kilogramme, he says cooking gas has become too expensive and unsustainable for individuals like him, especially those living in the cosmopolitan city, where there is little or no room for alternative means of cooking. Eating out, therefore, has become his ingenious way of surviving the hard times, a habit he hopes to maintain until the situation improves.
“I no longer cook because I find it hard buying gas for N2,000 per kilogramme. Sometimes it is even higher. So spending such an amount, all in the name of cooking, is rather too expensive for me.
“The point is that by the time I add whatever I would have used to buy gas to what I want to spend on food, I discover it is even cheaper to eat outside, pending the time the situation improves,” he said.
Interestingly, he does not have any issue eating outside since other members of his family live far away in Ifo, an Ogun State community, where they have the opportunity to use firewood for cooking.
Makinde’s case is not isolated. The pains and hardship caused by the increasing cost of cooking gas are being felt across the country, but Lagosians believe they are among the worst hit. Why? Over 95 per cent of households that use gas for cooking have limited alternatives because of the peculiar nature of the city.
Festus, his neighbour, does not enjoy the “luxury” of living alone. He and his family live together and must therefore cook and eat every day. What he has done, however, is to ensure that certain food items that take a long time to cook are no longer prepared with the expensive gas they buy.
“For now, it’s bye-bye to beans and other food items that take hours before they are properly cooked. Sometimes, if the craving for such food catches up with me, what we normally do is use charcoal to cook them,” he stated.
Speaking on the rising cost of cooking gas, another resident of the city and a mother of two, Mrs Teresa Mordi, who lives in Ikoyi, lamented that the price of cooking gas has become increasingly unaffordable for her and many households.
According to her, consumers in the area currently pay as much as N2,000 for a kilogramme of cooking gas, a development she described as a major burden on family budgets.
Mrs Mordi noted that while affluent residents may be able to absorb the impact of the continuous price increases, low-income earners are bearing the brunt of the hardship.
“The wealthy may not feel the pressure as much, but ordinary Nigerians are struggling seriously. For many families, buying cooking gas has become a difficult decision because of the rising cost of living,” she said.
When asked how low-income residents are coping with the situation, she explained that there are very few alternatives available.
“I don’t know about other areas, but here in Ikoyi, there is really no shortcut. Even charcoal, which many people used to rely on as an alternative, has become expensive,” she said.
She revealed that some residents have resorted to unconventional means of sourcing cooking fuel in order to survive.
“What some of us do is visit nearby building sites to collect pieces of discarded wood and other combustible materials that can be used for cooking. It is a very difficult situation, and many households are simply trying to manage the best way they can,” she added.
A similar situation was observed in the Ikotun area of Lagos, where residents are also grappling with high cooking gas prices.
Mrs Chinyere Ukah, a resident of the community, disclosed that the average price of cooking gas in the area is about N2,200 per kilogramme. However, she noted that a particular gas outlet sells the product at a relatively lower rate of N1,600 per kilogramme.
According to her, the lower price attracts a large number of customers daily, resulting in long queues and extended waiting times for residents seeking to refill their cylinders.
“The station that sells at N1,600 is always crowded because everyone wants to save costs. People spend hours in the queue before they can buy gas,” she explained.
Mrs Ukah stated that many families have been forced to revert to traditional cooking methods, relying on charcoal and firewood as cheaper alternatives.
She warned that the continued rise in cooking gas prices could undermine efforts to promote cleaner energy sources, as more households are being pushed back to the use of firewood and charcoal despite their environmental and health implications.
The situation is not different in Agbado-Ijaiye, Iju-Ishaga, Abule-Egba, Obawole and Haruna-Ogba areas of the state, where residents have strongly condemned the development.
They expressed deep disappointment with the government, questioning why the price of cooking gas has skyrocketed during such a difficult economic period when the general cost of living is already rising.
They argued that cooking gas should not be out of reach of ordinary citizens, as cooking is a basic necessity for everyone.
For Rasheed Ahmed, who resides in Agbado Oke-Odo, the fear of being told that the gas at home has finished is more terrifying than a death sentence.
“It’s scary to be told nowadays that cooking gas in the house has been exhausted since it costs a fortune to refill,” he stated.
He and his family also supplement their cooking with charcoal, but he complained that its price is gradually slipping beyond the reach of the common man as a result of the hike in the price of cooking gas and increased demand for charcoal among residents.
A survey across the Agbado-Ijaiye–Iju-Ishaga axis revealed that retailers on the streets sell one kilogramme of the essential commodity for between N2,000 and N2,200.
Meanwhile, the same quantity goes for between N1,700 and N1,800 at gas plants and filling stations, depending on the location.
However, only a few residents can afford the long trek required to patronise these stations.
Visits by Saturday Tribune to some outlets selling cooking gas in the Aboru area of Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area also revealed inconsistencies in pricing. While some outlets sell as high as N2,200 per kilogramme, a few others sell between N1,800 and N2,000.
A gas seller, who did not want her name in print, attributed the development to supply challenges, adding that getting stocks replenished had been difficult in recent weeks. She also linked the disparity in prices to the source of supply.
However, when further probed on the latest development, she expressed optimism that the situation was improving.
“A few days ago, I was selling this at N2,200 per kg; now it’s N2,000. We pray that in the next few days things improve,” she stated.
But no explanation would assuage the feelings of Madam Josephine Demilade, a resident of Jankara-Ijaiye.
“The 4kg of gas I bought last week within the neighbourhood cost N8,800,” she complained.
“I was furious to learn about the new price because the one I bought just three weeks earlier was N1,400 per kg, which I even considered high then.
“How does one explain a N600 increase within 21 days? We complained bitterly back then that N1,400 was too expensive, and now we do not even know how to describe the current price,” she stated.
Mrs Demilade, a mother of three, pointed out that kerosene stoves and firewood are no longer viable alternatives.
According to her, kerosene is equally expensive, while firewood poses serious health and environmental hazards. She urged the government to intervene urgently and find a lasting solution to the crisis.
But while the challenge is being felt across the country, Makinde believes what makes the Lagos situation different is the city’s peculiar nature.
“For instance, while those in other communities can easily resort to the use of firewood, charcoal and even hot plates for cooking, such options are not readily available in Lagos. As it is today, only very few landlords will allow the use of charcoal stoves on their properties, while it is also rare to find any that will permit tenants to use firewood. And for those who still enjoy a few hours of electricity, some landlords will not allow the use of hot plates, especially where tenants are on shared prepaid metres,” Makinde stated.
The charcoal challenge
As the price of cooking gas continues to rise, Saturday Tribune’s checks revealed that the development has also pushed up charcoal prices, creating further hardship for residents seeking alternatives.
“The quantity that used to sell for N100 now costs as much as N200 to N300. So charcoal itself is gradually becoming a no-go area for the average Lagosian who wants to abandon cooking gas for now.
“What people do now is first put stones in the charcoal stove before placing a few pieces of charcoal on top of them to make whatever quantity they bought last longer. It sounds strange, but that is how people have been surviving,” Makinde stated.
Marketers’ defence
Refuting allegations that marketers are thriving on the present crisis, the President of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM), Mr. Edu Iyang, blamed the development on a shortage in LPG supply. He lamented that marketers now pay as much as N30 million, depending on location, for 20 metric tonnes of cooking gas.
He observed that the crisis has brought untold hardship to millions of Nigerian households, small businesses, food vendors and low-income families who rely on LPG for daily cooking and livelihoods.
He warned that if the situation is not immediately addressed, citizens may direct their anger at owners of gas-filling stations.
Besides, he said the crisis could trigger broader consequences, including accelerated food inflation, the collapse of small-scale LPG retail businesses, job losses, reduced investor confidence and a significant setback to Nigeria’s clean-energy and climate commitments.
As a way out, Iyang called for immediate measures to improve the availability and accessibility of LPG nationwide, urging the government to increase domestic LPG allocation to the Nigerian market.
Federal Government intervention
Meanwhile, the Federal Government said it has directed the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to intensify engagement with producers, marketers and other stakeholders to sustain supply and enhance market stability.
According to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, marketers have also been urged to increase import volumes to complement domestic production.
The minister said the recent price adjustments were driven largely by prevailing market realities such as foreign-exchange volatility, rising logistics costs, infrastructure constraints and fluctuations in international LPG prices.
However, he stated that the commencement of LPG deliveries from the new Seplat gas facility in July would significantly boost national supply.
The minister also confirmed that no producer is exporting LPG volumes designated for the domestic market, as regulatory measures remain firmly in place to prioritise local needs.
“The outlook for LPG supply remains positive, and the Federal Government will continue to pursue measures that enhance availability, affordability and long-term energy security for Nigerian consumers,” the minister said in a statement.
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