Commuter Chronicles: The Pricey Plight of Getting Around
Written by Adeola Ibrahim on May 2, 2024
Nigerians are currently walking through fire, to survive daily life in the country. The recent hurdle is the hefty price to move from home to workplace as fuel prices continue to rise, putting added strain on wallets.
Many a transport worker have had to rely on black market sellers to acquire the fuel required to go about their daily transport business. Which in leaves the commuters to bear the brunt of exponentially increased transportation fares.
A Lagos-based businesswoman, revealed that she now spends over N1, 500 commuting from her home in Ikotun to her shop in Egbeda, Lagos of State. A commute that would usually cost her N600 before the fuel scarcity.
As expected, transportation is not the only thing affected. The fuel scarcity-induced high cost of transport has also added to the cost of living crisis that Nigerian households are presently facing. Over the weekend, it was reported that certain local markets have started to sell 4 small pieces of scotch bonnet (rodo) at N200 in Ibadan.
Another witness, a HR expert, shared that he had been forced to rest his vehicle after buying fuel this weekend from black market dealers at N1,000 per litre. Adding that he used to spend N10,000 every day to fuel his car when the pump price was N650 per litre but with the recent fuel scarcity he spends up to N15,000 daily, which is not sustainable, given his monthly salary.
He said he has jettisoned his vehicle to board the Lagos mass transit known as BRT from Berger to CMS, which is a lot cheaper, especially during this period of petrol scarcity.
Transporters are equally affected as the scarcity is taking a toll on them too. Many of them have rested their vehicles for not being able to buy fuel.
“On Sunday, I spent 4 hours in the filling station with the hope of getting fuel but I was disappointed that the petrol station stopped selling when it took five cars to reach my vehicle,” said Kayode Kazeem, a commercial bus driver.
He confessed to being discouraged after spending 4 hours with nothing to show for it and being unable to work on Monday. He was however compelled to buy from the black market on Tuesday at N1,000 per litre in order to work and he had no option but to increase transport fare to recoup the money lost to buying high-cost of fuel.
