Fuel queues thin out as cost of goods and services remain high

In Lagos today, fuel queues have started to thin out gradually.

Our correspondents who went round Lagos observed that the queues, which were very long in the morning in most part of the metropolis, had begun to disappear by afternoon.

This was observed in Ikeja, Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Obalende, Ketu, Agege, Abule Egba, Maryland, Ojota and other parts of Lagos.

For example, at the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation station on the Pen Cinema-Ishaga Road where the queue stretched for close to one kilometer in the morning, only few cars were there at about 3pm when our correspondent visited the place.

It was the same at the NNPC Mega Station on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi.

But as the queue thinned out, our correspondents observed that the cost of goods and services, which rose sharply in the wake of the increase in the cost of petrol, remained high.

This was mainly so with the cost of transport.

Along the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway axis, the cost of transportation between Oshodi and Cele Bus Stop, which used to be N50, remained at N100.

Cele Bus Stop to Okota was N50 before the increase in petrol cost.

Now it hovers between N80 and N100, depending on the time of the day.

Oshodi to Alausa, the seat of the Lagos State Government, was N150 this morning, whereas it used to be N120.

Barbing salon owners have also increased prices.

To have a haircut, men now pay N300 instead of the N200 charged before the withdrawal of subsidy on petrol.

The cost of foodstuff is also not coming down.

Food prices, including cooked ones, have gone up in most cases over 100 per cent.

As more reports come in from Lagos and other states, we will keep you updated.

And if you have news for us on how the increase in the cost of fuel has impacted on the cost of goods and services in your area, please send us a mail: dotunoladipo@yahoo.com.

This will be published as soon as we receive it.

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