Fuel queues returned to Nigerian cities last week Monday as motorists scrambled to get petroleum products hours after President Bola Tinubu announced that the government would put an end to the fuel subsidy regime.
In his inaugural address at Eagle Square, Abuja, on Monday, Mr Tinubu declared that there would no longer be a petroleum subsidy regime as it was not sustainable.
The pronouncement was trailed by panic buying and gridlock across filling stations in many parts of the country, even as regulatory bodies called for calm amid the chaos. The attendant consequences were reflected in the skyrocketed prices of goods, essential services, and food items. He explained that transport fares along the Mile 2-Iyana Iba route cost N200 before the government announced subsidy removal, but the bus fare now costs N300.
A ginger seller who identified herself simply as Mama Haliya said that she was hopeful that the new administration would do better and put smiles on the face of the masses, but the reverse has been the case. “They said Tinubu has been sworn in, there ought to be a positive difference, but now people aren’t even coming,” she quipped.
A PREMIUM TIMES reporter found that transport fare from Wuse Zone 2 to Wuse market that was previously N300 shot up to N600, while the fare for a trip with others in a cab from Aco Estate, Airport Road, to the secretariat that was N250, rose to N500.“Normally, a cab from the front of my house to the market will only cost me N300. Now you have to beg to get a N600 drop to Wuse market that is here,” Dera Ejeh, a resident in Wuse Zone 2, said.
Checks by PREMIUM TIMES at the weekend showed that prices of pepper and other foodstuff are relatively stable, but a kilo of goat meat sold for N3,200 in Wuse market now sells for N3,700. Another trader at Omida market, Kemi Kareem, said the people would soon stage protests as foodstuff prices become unbearable. “Since this thing started, five litres of oil is now being sold for N6,900, up from N5,800.”
“Our business is towards weekends. Sometimes, I do 14 to 15 vehicles daily, which has reduced. Truly, the fuel has slowed down business, and I pray everything gets better soon.”In Kano, Nazifi Muhammad, a tailor in the Fagge area of the metropolis, said he does not have the financial capacity to fuel his generator as pump prices rise.
Although the queues have disappeared at filling stations in the city, fares for intrastate and interstate commuting increased significantly as pump prices shot up to N540 per litre. Meanwhile, PREMIUM TIMES found that Kano Line Transportation hiked its fares on various routes across northern Nigerian cities amid uncertainties over the petroleum subsidy removal.
Although the state government directed the State Transport Authority not to increase fares, commercial motor parks in the state have raised transportation fares by at least N1000. “When you look at the site where some of my staff repair car air conditioning system, it’s almost empty because people no longer use A.C. in their vehicles. The number of people using cars and even motorcycles has reduced,” Mr Sani said.
Idowu Akinola, on her part, said: “The cost of transportation due to the fuel subsidy removal was the reason for the high cost of most foodstuffs in the market now.”Bimbo Ogunsina, a foodstuffs seller, said, “Since the beginning of this problem called subsidy, things have never remained the same. There is a meagre turnout of customers compared to before. It’s like people are now trying to manage their income.
Enwongo Ikot, an Electrical Engineering student at the University of Uyo, also lamented the fuel price hike and its effect on transport fares. According to him, transport fares from the Town Campus, located along Ikot Ekpene Road, to the institution’s main campus, located along Nwaniba Road, have increased from N80 to N150.Otobong KenJoshua, who runs a shop in Afaha Ube, told PREMIUM TIMES the condition is worsened by the current power outage in the city.
Mr Nwachukwu said since the subsidy removal was effected, he would return from a trip only to realise that he had spent nearly the whole money he made from passengers on buying fuel even as attempts by some drivers to increase the fares forced a drop in patronage.A petty trader in Enugu, Okey Ugwuja, said the impact of the subsidy removal on his business had been minimal mainly because he was yet to make new purchases which would make him spend on transportation.
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