Gas Price Hike: Anambra Residents Resort To Firewood, Electric Cookers

In Awka, the state capital, and many other areas of the state, 1 kg of cooking gas sells for between N900 and N1,100, according to Gistlover research.

Many Anambra State residents claim they have turned to utilizing firewood and an electric burner commonly referred to as a “hot plate” as an alternative due to the rising cost of cooking gas known as liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the state.

A resident, who simply identified herself as Mrs. Happiness, told Gistlover that she used both firewood and electric hot plate as an alternative as she found it difficult to buy gas because of the high price.

“The last time I bought gas, which was in the last two weeks, it was N950. I cook always because I have children. So, I don’t have money to buy gas at such a high price.

“I have an electric hot plate but I also buy firewood. Any time there is no light, I use firewood to cook. It saves the gas for me.”

Also, another resident, Mrs Rita said she did not have an electric hot plate but “I have been cooking with firewood because buying gas at N1000 per 1kg is not funny for me.”

“I don’t make enough money from my business and my children are going to school. It is not easy to handle and now, price of gas has become as high as N950 for 1kg. I have been cooking with firewood, while sometimes I cook with gas. I can’t kill myself.”

For Mama Chinaza, “I don’t have any alternative. I had an electric hot plate that I used to use to cook but I stopped using it since we started using a prepaid meter in my compound.

“As I speak with you, I buy 12kg of gas every two weeks because I have a large family. I don’t cook with firewood. Things are tough because we don’t have any option but to manage and hope that the government will take positive action to reduce the price of cooking gas.”