You have not suffered until your generator is out of fuel, your car is out of fuel and you are basically stranded. If you can’t fuel your generator and nepa no bring light, how you wan iron? how you wan pump water? how you wan microwave food? how you wan even store food for your freezer? In Nigeria we are grounded without power.
Whenever people talk about fuel scarcity in the past I look on, because I never had to drive…but with this current scarcity, I hear ween!
Last Friday my gauge was already blinking the red light so I parked my car and used a taxi for my activities over the weekend. It was EXPENSIVE! Taxi fare is not cheap, add fuel scarcity to that and it skyrockets. So I decided that nothing will stop me from getting fuel on Sunday, my house is quite a distance from work, I nor fit enter taxi to and fro everyday and I am not in the mood to enter molue or BRT or anything, so I got introduced to blackmarket, 25 litres of fuel cost about 7000 naira, I accepted it with open arms. At least that would serve me for 2 days abi?
Early mo-mo on Tuesday I was at the fuel station by 5:30 am…shuo, I dey hurry dey think say na me go first reach there, come and see queue by the time I arrived…Lagosians do not sleep at all. People were gathered in small groups, some abusing Goodluck Jonathan, others arguing about why there should be scarcity in a country where we are blessed with so much oil…another group of men were of the opinion that it was Jonathan’s enemies that were causing the scarcity, while others focused on the Boko Haram. Me I was just nodding like agama lizard and looking from group to group…what was on my mind was how to get that fuel.
By 7:30 am I was fed up, what is taking so long for these people to open the pumps and sell fuel to us? Some people had already started fighting, lol, I don’t blame them, even me my body dey hot, if pesin just do anyhow, na slap e go collect from me that early morning. Few minutes later they decide to start selling, it was a mad rush, I quickly ran to my car to move it forward naim one LASTMA guy stop me, “we will tow this car” he bellowed, gesticulating crazily, “Tow kini”, Oga don’t let the devil use you this morning. Of all the cars why my own? One other tiny LASTMA guy walked up to me and said “fine sister, see as you fresh…let me be your boy na, in a Christain way”…kini katikati….
Ehn, as a sharp babe I just begged him that see his big-bellied LASTMA colleague is disturbing my car, what could he do about it? so he said he will stand by my car and make sure I buy fuel before he leaves me…I said OK. The next 45 minutes he spent toasting and I had to be nice, if I nor want make dem tow my car. However, I had an interesting conversation with him, at one point he wanted to be my guy, at another point he begged to be my driver…he said his current salary was 35000 naira, ONLY. I wish I could afford a driver, I for employ am. But I told him, IT IS WELL and prayed he would get better opportunities.
By 9:00 am it was finally my turn to buy fuel, I was within TOTAL and they shut the gate behind to contain the crowd: I was sweating profusely, one of the TOTAL managers now said I should shift my car because TVC car wants to buy fuel, I said ok, I moved for them to enter. The next thing I knew, another manager came and asked why my car looked as if it was out of the queue, I explained what happened, he just said, abeg move to the back of the queue. Move what? I should move like 10 cars down? I almost burst into tears. That’s like another 1 hour of waiting, e jor oh. I pleaded with this TOTAL manager, he nor gree. I begged the woman in the other car beside me, I was ahead of her previously before I was told to move for the TVC car, I thought she would understand, she just lock up. Instead it was another man that allowed me back on the queue before I could finally buy fuel… God bless him.
As I was driving out of TOTAL, one bros just blocked my car with his, wound down and was like “I’ve been looking at you since early morning, can I get to know you better?”…See this one, you mean you have been here since I’ve been hustling for over 6 hours to buy fuel, he could not even tell me wa gba petrol? Taaa! Be gone!
How are you guys coping with this scarcity?
