By Ayodimeji Falade
Cooking gas has over the years served Nigerians better in terms of its quick cooking time and health benefits.
But it has gone beyond the bearable price point for average Nigerians.
National Bureau of statistics report showed that the cooking gas price rose 70.62% from last year’s price.
This has serious implications for street prices. Gas prices stood around #800 per kilogram against #250 per kg as sold in 2021.
Considering the lingering inflation and economic hardship on Nigerians, the need to find a sustaining alternative to cooking gas is needed more than ever.
Ikejabird looks at basic alternatives to cooking as December draws near.
1. Coal pot
This is the first option for many households when battling expensive gas prices.
The Coal pot, popularly known as charcoal pot is a cheap and cost-efficient cooking apparatus.
It is fabricated from car rims, or metal and used to house the coal.
Basic coal is being sold around #150 per pack, which can serve a household much longer like a gas cooker.
Coal pot serves as an alternative and saves more on prices than gas cooker.
2. Sawdust Cooker
The sawdust waste is also a good cooking apparatus. Although it’s an old style of cooking, it serves the purpose.
Get a big iron tin, cut out the little opening that house the wood pebbles, mound in the sawdust using a bottle to create a hole in it.
Once it’s mounded, remove the bottle and insert the small wood pebbles through the cut-out space. Ignite the sticks and start cooking.
This comes with little or no cost at all, as many of this sawdust are waste found on wood milling factories.
3. Electric cooker
Although Nigerians have experienced poor power supply for so long. Yet households manage to have 2-3 hours average power supply.
This electric cooker stands as another alternative, and is being sold at average prices of #2000 – #4000.
This apparatus uses no gas nor fuel, which would save a lot of money for households.
4. Kerosene stove
This is also expensive to buy, but it’s much more affordable than gas.
Kerosene is sold at the rate of #200 per bottle, which is cheaper compared to gas prices.
This would still save costs for households and ease the pain of spending more on gas during this December period.
5. Woods/pebbles
The oldest and cheapest form of cooking, yet it can’t be underrated.
Placing three foothold stones and putting sticks around their middle and then ignite the sticks to start cooking even at larger forms.
This would save a lot of cost as sticks can be fetched in bushes around.
Ongoing Ukraine/Russia war and global financial crises is a major cause of high gas prices.
Powerful countries such as the United Kingdom, United States of America and France have their fair share of this global gas prices issue and are looking for alternatives to gas.
