Fuel scarcity bites harder, fares up by 50% in Lagos, Ogun

There is no end in sight for the ongoing fuel scarcity in the country. From all indications, the incoming administration of Muhammadu Buhari will inherit the crisis as petroleum products importers are said to have resolved to stay action on further importation.
And as the out-going Federal Government seems to look away from the pain Nigerians are facing as a result of the crisis, most operators of filling stations in the Lagos metropolis say they have totally emptied their tanks, and that they were not sure of getting supply anytime soon.
In filling stations that sold yesterday, queues resulting to gridlock was the order of the day, as motorists spent hours on hold up. As usual, Apapa, notorious for congestion, was particularly blocked as petroleum tankers continued to make their way to the area in search of fuel.
The worsening fuel situation, coupled with desperation by consumers, has resulted in petrol being sold at between N150 and N200 per litre at some filing stations as against N87 official price.
But the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the regulatory agency of the downstream sector, has been unable to do anything.
Going to about a month, motorists and commuters making their way to Apapa in Lagos, either through the Mile 2-Tin Can axis or Surulere-Ijora bridge are daily held down for hours as tankers heading for Apapa tank farms continue to block the roads. Workers, whose offices are located within Apapa, have also been forced to spend nights at work places.
As the scarcity continues, hundreds are forced to leave their homes as early as 5:00a,m to queue up at filing stations with many roaming from one filling station to another with kegs in search of fuel. Black marketers and filling stations operators including fuel attendants who are profiting from the scarcity have turned themselves into “thin gods”.
In Lagos and Ogun, frustrated consumers and motorists are seen always amusing, begging, cajoling fuel attendants to sell to them.
“I have been in this queue for three hours now without being able to buy. If eventually I’m lucky to buy, I might be spending another three hours in the hold up before getting home”, said a man who identified himself as Maxwell Eke at the filing.
He told BusinessDay that the situation was not only frustrating, but also impacting negatively on the economy and the health of the citizens,” adding, “This is very sad for me”.
Also, transportation fares have gone up drastically. Travel from Abeokuta to Lagos which ordinarily costs N800 (cab) and N600 (bus) now costs N1,200 and N900, respectively, just as a journey from Abeokuta to Ibadan which hitherto cost N600 (car) and N400 (bus) now costs N900 and N600, respectively.