Enugu residents lament high cost of kerosene as yuletide approaches

As Christmas approaches, kerosene consumers in Enugu have called on the Federal Government to reduce the price of the product to lessen the burden of the common people.Some of the consumers, who spoke to newsmen said that the price hike would worsen the hardship of the common man.Mrs Philomina Nnamani, a food vendor at Ogui road, said that her business was not as lucrative as it used to be when the price of kerosene was lower.She said that the business was more challenging now that she had resorted to using coal as an alternative to kerosene.Nnamani said before the price increase, she used N1000 worth of kerosene to power her stoves.She said that she would require more than N1,500 worth of kerosene to be able to prepare the same volume of food daily.We find it so difficult because as we are cooking here now, every day we buy kerosene for N1000 and also I am using charcoal."We are selling a plate of food for N150 here because students are living this side and they are still crying at the rate of N150. If you sell a plate N200 now, some will run.``So, we do not know what to do, it is affecting us.''Mrs Martin Mbah, a house-wife, urged the Federal Government to reduce the cost of kerosene to enable housewives without jobs to afford it.``I have to tell the government to know wetin dem, go do about it because in Nigeria, everything is costly.``So let them remove the kerosene price to come down because of us that do nothing.''When contacted, Mr Chukwudi Ezinwa, the South East Chairman, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) i n a telephone interview that the price increase was as a result of the proposed removal of fuel subsidy.
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