Citizens Lament Over Fuel Shortage, Epileptic Power Supply

The erratic power supply and the lack of petroleum products in the country's major cities during the past few weeks have angered the populace of Nigeria.

Residents of Calabar, the capital of Cross River, expressed their outrage at the state of affairs when contacted by the NAN on Monday, claiming that although petrol stations were closed and not selling fuel, black marketers were thriving.

The lack of petrol, which Nigerians would have used to help themselves, was a further aggravating factor, said Juliet Uka, who also bemoaned the extremely poor electricity supply in the city.

“Look at me, I had to leave my house early this morning in search of fuel and I was praying because I was aware that what I had in the car was so small and could be exhausted anywhere leaving me by the roadside.

“The power supply at home has not helped matters; it has been terribly poor, my phones are dead and we cannot power the generating set because there is no fuel, this is terribly frustrating.

Emmanuel Udoh, a bus driver, claimed that many of the passengers accused them of artificially boosting the cost of transportation in the city because they refused to acknowledge that the cost of fuel had increased by more than 100%.

He said he was aware of how difficult life was for city dwellers but added that until things improved, they would not return to the previous transit costs.

“I don’t like the way things are but I am not the cause, we cannot keep on collecting the old transportation fares and go back home with nothing at the end of the day.

“You are not even sure of how much fuel will be sold tomorrow as we have seen a steady rise in the price of the product since this problem started.

"Today it is sold for between N340 and N350 per litre for those willing to sell.

“You may come out tomorrow morning and it is N400 per litre, you will have no option other than to buy it that way to do your business, it is clear that no one is regulating anything anymore."

According to NAN, the manager of one of the selling petrol stations was unavailable to comment on why the price of the goods was so high, but an attendant commented dismissively that sales were determined by how customers paid for the product.

The cost of transportation and other goods and services in the state has increased as a result of the country-wide constant increase in the price of petroleum products and the state's recent inadequate power supply.

NAN reported that only two of the city's six fuel stations in the Atimbo neighbourhood were now pouring petroleum products, and they were charging N330 and N340 per litre, respectively.