It is often said; “Necessity is the mother of invention.”. This adage is apparently being practiced in Nigeria as business operators, especially small scale businesses, employ certain means to survive the current economic hardship, occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
It started as just a social media post that many might not believe, when a user posted a picture of generator connected with a cooking gas cylinder. The picture was followed with a caption that it is a new way of powering generator to save cost.
Majority of social media users doubted the truth of the post until it became real that generator can be converted to using Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, from Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, otherwise known as petroleum.
Indeed, the astronomical rise of price of petroleum after the subsidy removal has threatened small scale businesses as the operators are counting losses daily within just few months, forcing them to employ certain means to survive the lingering economic turmoil.
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While the Tinubu administration said it is up and doing to fix the economic challenges caused by the subsidy removal, and even approved initiative to aid conversion of vehicles to Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, business operators on the other side are striving for relief.
This time around, it is a paradigm shift as gas cylinders are seen connected to generators instead of cooker, aimed at saving businesses from collapse.
In a bid to make their businesses survive, small scale business operators have begun to bid farewell to petroleum and welcome cooking gas to power their generators.
Sani Lurwanu, a popular tailor of women cloth in Fagge Local Government area of Kano state told BizPoint that he has swiftly embraced the innovation as he was counting losses instead of gains since the removal of petroleum subsidy.
According to Lurwanu, since converting to gas, he has now been able to save money, adding that he has now begun to recoup the money he lost in buying the costly petroleum after the removal of subsidy.
“I have come to know about this new way of using gas on generator about two months ago, not long ago with the removal of petroleum subsidy.
Sani Lurwanu working at his tailoring shop
“Honestly speaking, i am enjoying this change because i have been able to save some money, unlike when i was using petroleum. I decided to change to gas as i cannot afford this exorbitant price of petroleum,” he said.
Lurwanu said before the new innovation, a gallon of petroleum would not be enough for him to work at full time,that is according to him, 10am – 10pm, He adding that with the change in petroleum to gas, with just 3kg, he would work for 15 hours.
“Before, if i buy a gallon of petroleum, it would not be enough for me to work all day long. But with the coming of this new innovation, i have found ease. With 3kg of gas, i will on my generator and work all day long and continue the next morning before it finishes. In fact, it lasts for over 15 hours before the 3kg of the gas finishes, while with a gallon of petroleum, it hardly lasts for 7 hours,” he said.
The tailor said he spent just N17,550 to convert to gas, which according to him, is cheaper and more efficient and profitable.
“I spent N17,550 to change to the gas. I bought a 3kg cylinder at N8,000, pipe, N2,500, refilling N2,050 and I paid N5,000 for labour. The generator is stronger and more efficient with the gas than the petroleum.
“With this new change, i cannot tell you how much i make everyday because in tailoring, we make money based on the coming of customers. Defending on the coming of customers, i save at least N2,000 in a set of cloth. With petroleum, i was sometimes at a loss because if i buy a gallon of petroleum to sew a set of cloth that i charged a customer N5,000, i may end up getting no profit. However, with this gas, i am able to save some money,” Lurwanu explained.
He lamented that, due to economic hardship, the turnout of his customers has drastically reduced as, according to him, he used to have at least five customers bringing their cloth to sew in a day, adding that “but now we hardly get 5 sets in three days. But, let me reiterate that i save some money using the gas.”
A generator connected with a gas cylinder at Sani Lurwanu’s shop.
He further explained;” For instance, i was spending N3,000 to buy petroleum for my generator to sew a set of cloth that i charged N10,000. But now, a 1kg of gas, costing less than N700, is enough for me to sew same set of cloth that i charged N10,000.
“And this gas is safe. When it is working, the cylinder gets cold and sometimes brings out water in its body. It is safe and cheaper. I am enjoying it that I can no longer go back to using petroleum on my generator except if it price crash to N100. But, even if the price of petroleum is reduced to N200, I will still be using this gas on my generator,” he said.
Another business operator that is practicing the new innovation, ABDULLAHI ADO, expressed delight with the coming of what he described as paradigm shift.
Residing in Kano Municipal, Northwestern Nigeria, Ado sells recharge card, mobile phone accessories and offer phone charging services in his kiosk situated by the roadside near the Emir’s palace.
Ado told BizPoint that he had accepted the new innovation as soon as it was introduced to him as he was already tired of buying petroleum at N617 per litre.
Like Lurwanu, Ado said he is running his business profitably and saving some money after incurring losses before.
“Since the removal of subsidy, i got tired of buying too expensive petroleum. I was searching for a way to get cheaper power supply, just came this new method.
“I am now profitably running my business. I am able to save some money. Before this change, I had to buy two gallons of petroleum to use my generator for full time. My full time is from 10 am to 10pm.
He explained, “ Now, with 2 or 3kg of gas, i work full time for two days. This made me save up to at least N3,000 in buying fuel everyday. It is more profitable because, if i make N5000 a day, using the petroleum, i will make N10,000 a day using the gas and it will remain to be used the next day.
“I make at least N5,000 a day, depending on the turnout of customers that bring their mobile phones for charging. I make up to N10,000 a day. In a nutshell, i make N5,000 to N10,000 a day.
To switch over to gas, Ado said he spent N36,000 to buy the carburetor at N15,000, 12.5kg cylinder- N17,000, 4 yards of pipe- N2,000 and paid the mechanic that did the work for him N2,000.
On why he decided to change to gas petroleum, Ado said “I changed to gas because petroleum is too expensive for me. If petroleum was still at N195 to N200, i wouldn’t have changed to gas.
The increment in the price of petroleum is what forced me change to gas.
“I am now enjoying this change as it is profitable. I don’t think I can go back to using petroleum unless if the price is reversed to its former rate. I am now getting more money than the time i was using petroleum because i am now able to save net N3000 a day.
BizPoint has understood that not only business operators, people are now dumping petroleum for the cooking gas to power generators at home as the price of PMS has become unaffordable.
