Most people are finding it harder to power their generators at home given the recent orders by the authorities to the marketers and filling stations to desist from selling fuel in kegs in view of the scarcity of the Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, otherwise known as petrol, to avoid hoarding.
With the yuletide celebration at the corner and given the constant power outages, consumers have to look for alternative sources to light up their homes.
Disturbed by the perennial scarcity of fuel and with no clue on how long the prevailing situation will last, Nigerians, across the country, are already preparing themselves for a very low key Christmas celebration.
As consumers experience long queues at the filling stations and the pump price of fuel rising to N250:00 per litre from N185:00, the citizens expect life to be more difficult in the days ahead.
Prices of goods and other commodities have risen exponentially and transport fares have equally spiked.
In a swift move to ameliorate the effect of the fuel scarcity on the people, the Oyo State Commander of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence, Commandant Adaralewa Michael, in a meeting with petrol dealers and marketers on Thursday, appealed to the dealers and marketers of petroleum prpducts to desist from diverting the fuel and avoid hoarding of the essential commodity.
The State Commandant also made it known that officers and men of the Anti Vandalization unit of the Corps will start a routine check on all the filling stations in the State and anyone found hoarding the product will be dealt with as enemy of the State.
He said, “Government is doing everything possible to make life easy for it’s citizens and we all need to support the government by doing the right thing at all time”.
Other states appear to be following suit as most filling stations in Lagos on Thursday, turned down people with kegs and refused to sell fuel to them.