Kwara residents face hardship as cooking gas prices soar to N2,200/kg

Residents across Kwara State are experiencing significant hardship due to a sharp increase in cooking gas prices, with Liquefied Petroleum Gas reaching up to N2,200 per kilogram in some areas. This surge is impacting households and small businesses, forcing many to reduce consumption or consider returning to charcoal and firewood, despite health and environmental concerns. Residents like Abdulganiyu Obanguru, Aishat, Rafat Kolawole, and Ruqoyat Ayelabowo describe the rapid and unpredictable price hikes as unbearable, with some reporting prices jumping from N1,150 to N1,750 per kilogram, or from N1,300 to N2,000 per kilogram within days. Food vendors, such as Mrs. Kafilat Ibrahim in Offa, are seeing their profits shrink as they cannot increase meal prices to match the rising cost of gas. Industry stakeholders attribute the increases to rising foreign exchange rates, higher importation costs, and transportation expenses, noting that a 20-metric-tonne truck of LPG now costs between N25.2m and N26.2m. Experts also point to the depreciation of the naira and difficulties in accessing foreign exchange, which increase the cost of importing and distributing cooking gas despite Nigeria's large natural gas reserves. There are warnings that these sustained price increases could reverse progress in clean energy adoption, as more households may revert to traditional cooking methods.