'People no longer buy like before': Enugu cooking gas seller laments the cost of rising prices

• Rising LPG prices are forcing many households in Enugu to reduce gas use or switch back to charcoal.

• Cooking gas sellers say customers are buying much smaller quantities, while charcoal dealers report increased demand.

• Industry groups warn the trend could reverse years of progress toward cleaner cooking fuels unless prices fall.

For many households in Enugu State, the simple act of cooking has become a much more troubling financial calculation. As the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas climbs to levels many cannot sustain, residents are abandoning their gas cookers and cooking gas sellers are feeling the squeeze on both ends.

Retailers in the state say business has slowed dramatically. One seller described watching longtime customers reduce their purchases from five kilogrammes to two, not out of preference but necessity. He says he buys from suppliers at around N1,600 per kilogramme and sells at roughly N1,850, a margin so thin he has had to cut it further just to keep customers coming, yet sales remain a fraction of what they once were.

A colleague in the trade echoed the frustration, noting that prices that once sat between N400 and N500 per kilogramme have now crossed N1,000 in many locations, with some outlets charging as high as N2,000. Both sellers are calling on the federal government to step in at the supply level, arguing that any meaningful relief must start upstream.

Their experience reflects a nationwide crisis. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows cooking gas prices have surged by 335 per cent over the past decade, climbing from N400 per kilogramme in 2016 to N2,000 in 2026. The average price of a 5kg cylinder rose from N7,655 in March to N8,706 in April alone, a 13.73 per cent jump in a single month.

Analysts point to a structural imbalance at the heart of the problem: despite Nigeria holding Africa's largest proven gas reserves, over 62 per cent of the country's gas output in the first two months of 2026 was exported, leaving only 38 per cent for local consumption.

For residents in Enugu, that reversal is already happening. A secondary school teacher who used to buy seven kilogrammes at a time says she can no longer afford to. She is now buying less, stretching what she has, and hoping the government acts before she is left with no choice at all.

That choice, for a growing number of people, is charcoal. A local dealer says demand at his stall has risen sharply in recent months as households priced out of LPG look for something they can still afford. 

A bag of charcoal now fetches between N8,000 and N8,500, and while the price has held relatively steady, the dealer notes that transport costs from sourcing areas like Eha-Amufu in Enugu State and parts of Benue and Kogi are the main pressure on his margins.

Financial analysts have urged the federal government to consider temporary relief measures, including targeted LPG subsidies, to prevent more households from permanently abandoning cleaner cooking fuels. 

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