FUEL MATTER

Reporting live from Lagos! Nigeria is currently facing its first fuel scarcity of the year, and I am here to live through it YAY (sikeeee). The fear buying started early last week, however the actual shortage did not start until this past Thursday and it is still ongoing. It appears as though the fuel that has been purchased by various oil business people have failed to be released at respective sea-ports as a result, FUEL NO DEY for Nigeria. A variety of things have come about as a result of the fuel shortage, including:

•  PRICE INCREASES: my taxi fare has gone up 500naira!!! Even the keke-napeps (tricycles) have gone up 50-70naira! Costs of fruit (it is mango season by the way) etc.  the overall gist is, scarcity of fuel = higher prices. Transportation has been throwing my budget out of whack, so I’ve been taking more tricycles and taking more walks of life, it is what it is :-P 

• TRAFFIC OF LIFE: Due to the absurd number of people crowding up and cars lining up for fuel at gas stations, traffic of epic proportions have resulted. The traffic has gotten so bad that this past Saturday, it took me a whole 43 mins to move less than a mile.

• FIGHTING!!!: At some of these fueling stations there are many sights to behold. Dozens of people crowd around with there Jerri-cans (containers gas is stored in) to get a chance to purchase some gas. Some people wait for hours in the heat, understandably some people grow impatient and tempers flare, Jerri-cans are busted over fellow citizens heads, pushing and shoving and the like as people battle for their share of fuel.

•  ILLEGAL INCREMENTS OF GAS PRICES: Nigeria is an oil-producing nation, and like many other countries around the world who also produce oil, there is a subsidy on the price of fuel. It was increased to 97naira per liter two years ago. However during times of fuel scarcity some fueling stations will illegally increase the price and sell their gas for 110naira and upwards. Not to mention BLACK MARKET FUEL. Only God knows what is in it, a mix of water, antifreeze, and whatever else they can add to reduce the amount of actual fuel they sale to customers on the black market. 

Electricity/Power is not constant in Nigeria; as a result many citizens depend heavily on the expensive use of generators. In order to use generators you need fuel! So without fuel, and no constant power, the average Nigerian remains in the dark, without electricity in their house. I have grown accustom to adjusting to the situation, when there is power I make sure to: 

• charge my phone and laptop
• blast the A/C in my room (even if I'm cold, so that the room can remain cool after the power goes out) 
• after having my bath, I immediately fetch water for my next shower (Water is pumped with the use of electricity in Nigeria, as a result, when there is no power, you can’t get water to run from your tap. It can be the worst if you wake up in the morning and you have somewhere important to go, but you can’t take your bath, because there is no water because there is no electricity!)

Usually when the electricity goes out, in about 3-5 mins you will hear the buzzing of generators that have been turned on by various residents in the neighborhood, but recently due to the fuel scarcity, when the power goes out, silence remains because people have been unable to get fuel.

Living through my first Nigerian fuel scarcity hasn’t been terrible, in the sense that I am blessed to manage through the ordeal, however it has been a bit disheartening to see the extra strife many citizens have to go through in an already hectic city due to the fuel scarcity wahala (problems). Altogether it has been a sober reminder of how the quality of life in cities like Lagos is in need of much improvement for the average Nigerian.

It is what it is.