Fuel scarcities, price hike deepen Nigerian frustrations
The Peninsula
Lagos: After sleeping overnight in a line of cars waiting for fuel, Nigerian taxi driver Oluwashina Ilesanmi had to calculate how much a sudden petrol...
Lagos: After sleeping overnight in a line of cars waiting for fuel, Nigerian taxi driver Oluwashina Ilesanmi had to calculate how much a sudden petrol price increase cut into his earnings.
For the former Lagos accountant, the hike in gasoline costs of at least 40 percent meant the sums no longer added up: his profits will all but disappear.
Already desperate with inflation, soaring food costs and a battered naira currency, Nigerians grappled on Wednesday with widespread fuel scarcities and a decision by the state oil company to increase pump prices.
For many, it was the latest measure to eat into their budgets as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's government introduces reforms aimed at reviving the economy of Africa's most populous nation.
"This increment is unbearable," Ilesanmi said. "We already have inflation and things are not affordable."
