Scarcity of petrol continues to inflict pains on Nigerians across the country. Our reporters, Olakunle Maruf, (Sokoto ) Taofeek Lawal, (Abuja) Adeolu Adeyemo, (Osogbo) Kingsley Alumona, Adedoyin Adebayo, Esther Benjamin, Hafeez Ogunremi, (Ibadan) Idahosa Moses, (Benin) Johnkennedy Uzoma, (Owerri) were at various petrol filling stations to ask Nigerians how the crisis is affecting them. Virtually all of them cried out that the pains inflicted on Nigerians by the scarcity of petrol was becoming unbearable. Some of the views are here:
Salami John, resident, Abuja
Getting fuel here is like the camel passing through the eye of the needle. To get fuel of N5,000, which is about eight litres, is like going through hell. You will spend five hours to get fuel, use it for less than three hours depending on your route and still come back again to queue for another five hours. Isn’t that crazy?
I learnt the President is the Minister of Petroleum. What is he doing about this or is he happy seeing Nigerians in pains? This is not what we asked for. To say I’m disappointed is an understatement.
Mustapha Usman, civil servant, Abuja
I have decided to park my car at home and resort to public transport. What I am spending on fuel is out of this world. I cannot cope. Coupled with that, schools just resumed and I have to take care of my family first. Nothing lasts forever. When things normalise, I pray, l will pick it up from where I stopped but for now, my family remains my priority.
Ifeanyi Elvis, cab driver, Abuja
I have been thinking of what to do now since this crisis started about two weeks ago. I have been operating at a loss. I am an Uber driver but the fuel I have been buying has not made up. I stay at Mararaba which is in Nasarawa State but I operate in the city centre and most times I shuttle between the city centre and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport and you know the distance. It has not added up for me. Even before the fuel problem, I’m most times away from home because of the distance and imagine now that the fuel problem is here. It has not been easy.
Harrison Sunday, Osogbo
I live here in Osogbo. I am a commercial driver. What we are passing through here is too much. I came here around 3:00 a.m. and this is almost 11:00 a.m. and I’m yet to get fuel to buy. As you can see, my wife just brought my breakfast. We want the government to help us in whatever way they can because the tension is too high now. If the government can make more NNPC outlets available in the states, I think it will ease the burden.
Afolabi Sheriff, motorcyclist, Osogbo
What we are facing before we get petrol at this NNPC filling station is not easy. It is now hard for us to make ends meet because we spend most of our days in the filling station due to the fact that I can’t afford to buy fuel at N1,000 or N1,200 being sold in some other filling stations.
We are appealing to the Federal Government to help us out. I have been here since 4:30 a.m. and it is not even sure I will get fuel. The government should save us from this hardship. Feeding my family has become difficult.
Tajudeen Kareem, commercial driver, Ibadan
This is becoming unbearable. We’ve been out here since early afternoon and we are yet to get fuel. It is night already. Probably, we would spend the night here because only God knows if we would be able to get fuel tomorrow morning if we decide to go home. Wife and children are at home waiting for our return while we are here struggling to get fuel. Transportation price is fixed based on what we buy. No one prays to run a business at a loss.
Olaiya Fatimoh, trader, Ibadan
It is a grievous setback to the nation’s already struggling economy if not urgently addressed. We are spending hours, queuing for fuel while our businesses are being abandoned. For the past two days, I’ve not been able to open my shop since I don’t have anybody to put there. I’ve been here for more than five hours now and I’m yet to get fuel. The queue is not moving at all. The Federal Government should please intervene because we are all tired.
Wasiu Oyegun, driver, Ibadan
The people are the major cause of our calamity. I’ve been here since morning struggling to get fuel. Only God knows if I would be able to get any tonight. The gate was locked around 4pm and they said they had closed. But this is Nigeria, where favouritism is the highest order of the day. I was not at all surprised when I saw them start selling again but this time, to familiar faces. This pain is becoming unbearable.
David, resident, Ibadan
The cause of the fuel queue and scarcity is still unknown. The situation here in NNPC has not been friendly at all. The queue is very long and they have stopped selling to random people but only to a selected few that they know and to the lucky ones who are with jerry cans. I also want to go and try my luck. We don’t even know the cause of the scarcity we are suffering from.
Okunade Kazeem, motorcyclist, Ibadan
I had to park my motorcycle when there is no fuel. The money I have spent on transport just to get fuel is enough to prepare a low budget soup. I am still not sure I would get fuel tonight. The Federal Government should please come to our aid. The suffering is too much.
Ifiok Taiwo, resident, Ibadan
Well, queuing has been an experience we Nigerians are used to, but the situation where we can’t get enough money to buy the expensive fuel is the sad part of the experience. However, we can’t continue to move with the trend. Truth be told, we are in a country where nothing is working but we are still hoping for the change they promised us.
Olugbo Samuel, resident, Ibadan
First, the fuel attendants of this station only sell petrol to those queuing with their vehicles while the okada men are given only just one spot at one of the meters at the station for them to buy petrol. Those that came with containers are left out. As you can see that the ones with their jerry can are restricted from entering the filling station. You really have to know someone prominent there to get fuel with your jerry can.
Opeyemi Taiwo, tricycle (keke NAPEP.) rider, NNPC filling station, Oke-Ado, Ibadan.
I bought fuel on Wednesday at the a filling station at New Garage at N1,100 per litre. On Thursday morning, at another, fuel was sold at N950 per litre. The cost of transportation has become so high because of the fuel situation and the difficulty in getting the commodity. If I get fuel to buy at almost the normal price, there is no need for me to increase what I charge passengers.
Thomas Abolaji, okada rider, NNPC filling station, Oke-Ado, Ibadan
I bought fuel on Wednesday at a filling station, before the High Court, at N1,000 per litre. On Thursday, fuel was sold at N950, N1,000, and in some cases, above N1,100. Since I am buying fuel at a higher price, after wasting time in the queue, I have no option than to increase what I charge my passengers.
Mrs Yinka Oladimeji, a widow, Akure
I did not experience this while my husband was alive as it was not my duty to source for fuel for my car and the generator. I have to look for fuel desperately now because I need to distribute some goods and unfortunately for me I was introduced to some people who sold adulterated fuel to me by the roadside. I never suspected anything until I got home and put some of the fuel in the generator which lasted for less than 20 minutes before the generating set stopped working. We fought with it to no avail that night. The second day, when I was about to go out, the car engine started smoking heavily like a chimney and it took the intervention of my mechanic to rectify it. The engine of the generator got knocked and we could do nothing about it. I am presently sourcing for money to buy a new generator for my house because we cannot continue to live in darkness, no light, no fuel.
Aderanti Akanni, journalist, Akure.
I was coming from Ibadan and running out of fuel around Ile Ife. I parked at a certain junction where a filling station was selling fuel but the crowd of people there struggling to buy fuel was unimaginable. A man emerged from the bush near the fuel station and offered to sell a 10 liter fuel to me and I gladly took the offer only for him to bring the keg of petrol and tell me “Oga, it’s N20,000 for the 10 liter keg”. Before I could gather myself to calculate the price at N2,000 per liter, another stranded traveler offered to pay. I had to fight and argue to buy it in order to continue my journey. I never experienced such in my life. It never occurred to me that a ten-liter petrol can go for N20,000.
Monday Oshodin, Benin
There is no light, and there is a surge in transport fares and price of foodstuffs and services in general. In order to buy fuel here, we sometimes queue for about one hour or more and the thing is worrisome. I am tired of this fuel issue.
Onome Aluyor at NNPC, Mega filling station along Sapele road Road, Benin
I have been on the queue waiting to buy fuel for my car for the past one hour. The annoying part is that the electricity distribution company in the area barely brings light. Upon that, there is fuel scarcity. So, most people cannot afford fuel and they sleep even in darkness.
Edwin Obi, Owerri (Driver)
As you can see, there is no queue here in Owerri. The problem is not about fuel scarcity but fuel price hike. A litre of fuel is N750 in some places and N800 a litre in other filling stations. Our problem is not fuel scarcity but high cost. That is why there are no queues. Only those who can afford it are the people buying.
Haruna Abdulazeez, a businessman, Maiduguri Road, Sokoto
I bought a gallon of petrol from a roadside black market seller at the rate of 10,000 naira when I closed for work to go back home a few days ago. Two days later, when I went to drop my family at a social function along Sokoto Cinema, I had to buy another gallon, 5 litres for 8,000 naira. As of today in Sokoto, the few major marketers that sold at N740 and N760 per litre, most of them are already out of stock. The independent marketers that have the fuel steadily sell a litre for between N1,100 and N1,200 in Sokoto metropolis. It is horrible!
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