Recalling his secondary school days, Nwachukwu Emereonye, a Lagos-based medical consultant, will never forget how often Desmond Abonta, his Chemistry teacher, will always tell them to keep their lanterns lit, in order to make good grades in their exams and succeed in life.
Many of those who listened to Mr. Encyclopedia, as they used to call him, in keeping their lantern lit, are successful in major science professions today, Emereonye noted.
Then, apart from provisions and books, lanterns and kerosene are compulsory items for students returning to boarding schools.
Today, students hardly use lanterns again, and where there is one, there is no kerosene to keep it lit.
But if the only need for kerosene is to lit the lantern, many households, especially low-income earners, will not be worried today.
Of course, for many years, kerosene was a major source of cheap energy for many households that depended on stoves for cooking, until recently when its skyrocketing price drove them to alternative sources.
As at today, a litre of kerosene hovers between ₦1300 to N1500 at petrol stations across the country, reflecting the deregulation of the product by the government.
Despite the price, which is always increasing, the product is often scarce at many petrol stations due to low patronage.
Sadly, the high price and low patronage are resulting in a gradual phasing out of stoves by many households,
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particularly those residing in rural and semi-urban areas who previously relied on kerosene-based cooking stoves.
“The times are really hard. Some people are now turning to firewood and charcoal for cooking because they cannot afford kerosene.
At N1,350 per litre, it is more expensive than fuel, diesel and even cooking gas. It is also scarce.
So, stoves are no longer in use in many homes today,” Margaret Okwo, a business woman, noted.
As well, food vendors, especially those that operate under makeshift outfits on street corners, are now turning to cooking gas as the high cost and scarcity of kerosene have caused them to abandon their stoves.
“Before now, I used stove to cook noodles, fry eggs and boil water for tea for my customers, but when kerosene became expensive and also scarce, I borrowed money from my soldier brother to buy a cooking gas cylinder. I have finished repaying the loan, but my food is now more expensive and I cannot cook beans because I am using gas,” Sule Muktar, a food vendor, noted.
Taking a critical look at the issue, Edna Igho, a banker and mother of two, argued that with cooking gas being cheaper, readily available, and leaving less stains on cooking pot and kettle, no reasonable person will use a stove, except as an emergency measure when cooking gas finishes at an odd hour.
“Yes, kerosene is less inflammable than cooking gas, but today’s kitchens are modern and they need cooking gas and not kerosene stoves that will leave hard-to-wash stains on the pots. Even, your house helps will abandon the kerosene stove and the pots for you to wash because of the stress of cleaning them,” Igho said.
But Kemi Alatise, a food vendor, noted that firewood and charcoal leave more stains on cooking pots, but some people are turning to them as an alternative energy for cooking because they are cheaper and readily available than kerosene and cooking gas, hence more people are abandoning their stoves today.
“I know that you will need detergent and energy to wash your pot after cooking with firewood and charcoal, but kerosene is more expensive and scarcer. Even if cooking gas is relatively cheaper than kerosene, the empty cylinders are very expensive,” she further noted.
As well, a survey conducted by BusinessDay among some new employees and young couples revealed that none has stoves as part of crucial house items for starting life, rather gas cylinders and cookers.
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“It is laughable to buy a stove in this era. Nobody buys a stove, and again, if you do, where is the kerosene and time to wash the hard dark stains?
“For me, the stove is becoming extinct and even if the price of cooking gas triples, many will still use gas because the dealers are ingenious now. There are many sizes of the cylinder and you can buy any amount and kilogram your money can afford,” Julie Ekong, a telecoms worker, stated.
Considering that a litre of kerosine in Aba, Abia State, goes for ₦1,500, while a bag of charcoal is ₦10,500, Mama Ada, a food vendor at Eziama Aba, has long abandoned her stove for both domestic and commercial cooking.
Though, switching to cooking gas, following the high cost of firewood and kerosene, was the least she desired, that is the only alternative that is cheaper and more available, according to her.
“I switched to cooking gas, because it is cheaper at ₦1,300 per kilogramme, cleaner and also lasts longer.
“People in my area are now selling their stoves to Aboki because they are no longer useful. But I am keeping mine just for keeping sake, at least I have a big space to contain it,” she noted.
Blaming the high cost of food at eateries on high energy cost, she decried that in Aba, a plate of ‘Mama-Put’ rice with a small cow meat, is now ₦1,500; a portion, she said, would barely feed a baby.
“If there are cheaper alternatives as kerosene used to be, the price of our food will come down because we also factor in the cost of cooking gas, firewood or charcoal in our daily pricing,” she noted.
For Ogechi Anamauwa, managing director, Debs Healthy Foods, Owerri, Imo State, there is really no cheap source of cooking energy again as the high and rising costs of kerosene, charcoal and firewood are impacting negatively on the overall cost of living, especially for low-income households and businesses that rely on cheap energy.
“Eateries and food vendors need to recoup their capital and make profit, which in turn affects the cost of food and other essential goods.
“The last time I purchased charcoal, it cost ₦10,500, and I prefer it to firewood, which has also gone beyond the reach of the common man,” she decried.
However, there seems to be no respite soon, as more households are abandoning kerosene cooking stoves for cheaper energy sources.
According to data collected by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), from July 2015 to October 2023, there has been a dramatic increase in kerosene prices, which climbed from N225 per litre in August 2017 to N451 per litre in February 2022 and then surged to N947 per litre by September 2022. By October 2023, the price reached N1,300 per litre, marking a 200 percent increase within 20 months.
The price has been increasing since then to about N1500 per litre as at August 2024.
The consistent upward trend over the last decade, according to Kenneth Ebimoh, an economist, highlights the volatility and significant inflation in kerosene prices over the period.
In view of the above, Ebimoh regretted that the price of kerosene will rather increase than come down in coming years, implying that more households will go for cheaper cooking energy alternatives, while kerosene stove will definitely be obsolete in the near future.
Well, that reality is upon many now as many kerosene stove dealers have long switched to cooking gas cylinders as demand keeps dwindling each day.
“Stove will soon be like the 1960s box television set that is obsolete because nobody is buying them again. Our Gen-Z cannot cook with stove, new wives want cooking gas and old ones do not want any stress too. Everybody wants easy cooking and that is why I am selling gas cylinders now.
“Buying an empty cylinder and also refilling it are both expensive, but the different size options make the market boom for us,” Dikachi Ekwuribe, an empty cooking gas cylinder dealer, enthused.
The dealer can hardly remember any tenant in the six flats where lives at Bucknor in Ejigbo, Lagos, that uses a kerosene stove.
“Instead of stove, some tenants will use charcoal, especially for large cooking and for party food. Even if President Tinubu reduces kerosene price today, these Gen-Zs will still not use stove because they see it as being stressful,” he noted.
Moreover, fuel stations are not helping the matter as many longer sell kerosene due to the high price and low patronage.
At an AP branded fuel station in Ibadan, the manager will rather get diesel at any price from suppliers in Lagos because drivers of big trucks and lorries transporting goods to the northern part of the country will always buy, same as petrol, but not kerosene.
“I can hardly remember when we last sold kerosene here because it is not profitable like diesel and petrol.
“I am also working on the instructions of the owner who is abroad, to retail products that are in high demand in order to be profitable, or he will shut down the filling station. So, if I depend on kerosene sales, we will close shop because there is low demand and the product is often scarce,” Jimoh Munir disclosed.
In Lagos, Mukaila Adigun, a filling station owner, noted that many dealers are diverting their kerosene to the aviation sector, where demand is high and price is better.
“There is no need to dump kerosene here when you can hardly finish selling a 30,000-litre truck on time. Instead you buy diesel or petrol (PMS), which are in high demand because you need to pay your staff, pay levies and taxes to local and state governments and other agencies. You also buy your own diesel to power your generator and pay electricity bills too.
“People think filling stations are all about gains and ripping customers off, what about the huge daily expenses,” Adigun complained.
So, with the look of things, many believe that the era of kerosene as a major source of domestic cooking energy is gone, and that also signals the gradual exit of kerosene stove in kitchens, and imminent extinction in the near future.
It also implies that households in rural areas that upgraded to stove, will return to firewood as a major source of cooking energy because of its cheaper cost and availability.
