The Double Whammy: Nigerians Fuel Scarcity and Power Crisis Cripples Economy and Citizens
Across Nigeria, citizens are grappling with a brutal one-two punch of acute fuel shortages and unreliable electricity supply that has disrupted daily life and economic activities. From the bustling metropolis of Lagos to the arid landscapes of Sokoto and everywhere in between, long queues have returned to petrol stations as the scarcity of premium motor spirit (PMS) takes its toll.
Commercial and vehicular operations have ground to a halt nationwide as the fuel crisis paralyzes transportation networks. Travelers and commuters find themselves stranded at bus stops and motor parks, unable to secure transportation as desperate motorists line up en masse attempting to refuel their vehicles at the few operational filling stations.
In Lagos, many fuel stations simply did not open amid dwindling stocks, forcing those that did to gouging prices as high as 900 naira per liter – a 50% markup from previous rates around 600 naira. The situation is even more dire in Sokoto, where some stations audaciously charged up to 1,500 naira per liter, while black market hawkers capitalized on demand by selling at rates between 2,000 and 3,000 naira per liter.
With few alternatives, many motorists and consumers have reluctantly turned to these unscrupulous black market operators selling fuel from jerrycans. Transport unions, seeking to offset the inflated operating costs, responded by hiking fares by 100% in many cities. In Lagos, commuters reported paying 2,000 naira for routes that previously cost 1,000 naira, while others saw fares double from 500 naira to 1,000 naira.
The fuel scarcity has also triggered sharp price increases for basic food commodities, with pepper and other produce seeing costs skyrocket due to transport bottlenecks. One Lagos resident, Adedeji Abiodun, lamented, “Sellers have been complaining about the hike in the cost of transporting their goods. My experience this week due to the scarcity has been terrible.”
A former commissioner in Sokoto placed blame squarely on petroleum marketers for allegedly hoarding supply to create artificial scarcity, calling on authorities to revoke their operating licenses if substantiated.
Compounding the economic disruption, Nigerians also face persistent power outages lasting hours or even days with only sporadic electricity supply in many areas. This one-two punch has forced many households and businesses to rely on expensive diesel generators, which have become increasingly difficult to fuel and operate due to the parallel petrol crisis.
The dire situation prompted angry outcry from residents. An Abuja football entrepreneur, Ese Onayomake, described the scenario as “tough” after losing all perishable food items like produce, meat, and fish due to the prolonged blackouts. A Lagos restaurant operator, Doris Ndukwe, said she nearly shuttered her business after losing 40,000 naira worth of meat when power was unavailable for three weeks straight in her area.
Aisha Mohammed, another Abuja resident, resigned herself to trekking two kilometers after transport costs consumed the limited funds intended for a motorcycle ride near her home. “This is unbearable,” she pleaded about the compounded burdens of high fares and power outages.
Despite promises to enhance electricity availability after raising tariffs by 300% for some households, the reality has fallen drastically short. According to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the tariff hikes intended to reduce 2.9 trillion naira in expected annual subsidy costs as the government could no longer bear that fiscal burden.
However, analysts warned that removing subsidies from economically strained citizens while simultaneously raising taxes creates counterproductive headwinds for economic development. With Nigeria already ranked as having the lowest electricity access globally – 92 million of its 200 million population completely off the grid – these policy decisions have only amplified public outrage.
The national power grid has collapsed three times already this year, causing generation to plummet over 30% from peak levels. Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) now face conflicts with aggrieved consumers amid the tariff increases and unreliable service delivery.
Recognizing the public’s pain, the Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) issued a seven-day ultimatum demanding the federal government reverse the electricity tariff hike, decrying it as “unethical to force Nigerians to pay higher rates for non-existent electricity.”
The fuel scarcity crisis may not resolve quickly either. The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN) warned the situation could persist for over two weeks due to inadequate in-country supply as European refineries undergo seasonal maintenance turnarounds.
The supply crunch follows President Bola Tinubu’s decision to stop subsidizing petrol prices upon taking office in May 2023, causing prices to spike from 185 naira to 800 naira or higher per liter. Findings revealed pumps now charging between 900 and 1,300 naira per liter nationwide – an unsustainable burden in a country where the National Bureau of Statistics estimates 133 million of over 200 million Nigerians live in multidimensional poverty.
With limited job opportunities and high inflation already straining household budgets, the petrol subsidy removal has only exacerbated economic precarity pushing more citizens into destitution. “We are simply paying for darkness,” lamented one Birnin Kebbi resident named Mustapha about the combination of high power tariffs and unreliable supply.
In a grim manifestation of losing all faith in the nation’s crumbling power infrastructure, many households and businesses have opted to bypass the utility system altogether by investing in solar energy installations. While an expensive upfront cost, the long-term calculus appears more economical than continuing to pay inflated estimated electricity bills while receiving little or no actual energy supply from the grid.
For Malam Bako, a resident of Aliero Housing Estate who utilizes a prepaid meter, his frustration reached a boiling point upon being charged the higher tariff rate despite belonging to a lower-tier billing band that should have been unaffected by the hike. He promptly engaged solar installers to minimize future utility costs since his salary could not sustain the new rates.
According to one solar installation agent in Birnin Kebbi named Umar Yalli, his company had deployed over 300 household solar systems just in the weeks since the tariff increases as public demand surged. He projected reaching one million residential solar users across the state if the poor grid supply and rate hikes persisted.
The combined blows of fuel scarcity and erratic power have effectively crippled economic productivity and upended ordinary living standards for countless Nigerians. Stranded commuters unable to afford transportation saw their work disrupted, in turn hampering business operating revenue. Civil servants found their full salaries consumed just in the process of getting to and from their jobs. Families suffered through sweltering nights with no electricity for fans while also failing to keep perishable food supplies refrigerated.
For poorer households already teetering on the brink of economic despair, this cascading national crisis proved the final intolerable indignity. “I have been reduced to nothing,” lamented Ambassador Onoja of the Next Generation Youth Initiative in a cry of anguish about his inability to work or even buy food. Dr. Victoria Daor, head of the Elohim Development Foundation described the convergence of deprivations as “very trying on my mental health.”
At the industrial level, factories and production facilities idled their operations due to lack of fuel and power, achain reaction that rippled through sectors. The president of the Osakwe Industrial Cluster in Anambra State portrayed the situation as making “Nigeria look like a cursed nation” with severe negative impacts on all aspects of citizens’ lives.
While long-suffering Nigerians exhibited remarkable resilience in absorbing the economic shocks, analysts cautioned that persisting nationwide paralysis could profoundly shake faith in the new Tinubu administration’s ability to uphold its promised “Renewed Hope” policy agenda of economic revival and inclusive prosperity
Having championed itself as a triple-engined aircraft of governmental reform, the administration’s failure to promptly stabilize fuel supply chains, reinforce electricity generation and distribution, or provide substantive relief to struggling citizens raises existential concerns about its capacity for effective governance and systemic reform.
Just one year after Nigerians invested their hopes in Tinubu to reverse years of stagnation under the previous regime, the harsh realities of this deepening fuel and power crisis have cast a pall of bitter disappointment over the national psyche. If mounting desperation turns into civic unrest and loss of federal authority, it could mark Tinubu’s downfall before his reform agenda ever got off the ground.
Recognizing the risks, Tinubu and his team have few choices but to demonstrate crisis leadership by intervening with all stakeholders
Reference
Fallout of Petrol Scarcity: Prices of pepper, foodstuff rise published in Vanguard