Foil is up

I am expecting a little chaos these coming weeks. Why? Because for some crazy reason the price of fuel in Nigeria has shot up overnight. Incidentally, Nigerians for some reason pronounce the word "fuel" as "foil".

Petrol here in Nigeria is normally the cheapest in the world. Even so, people are constantly complaining even the slightest increase. They are always looking to blame the increase in food costs as a by-product of a 1 cent fuel price increase. Yet late last week petrol prices went up around 40%!

Why, I’m not entirely clear. But I think there were some government people saying something about keeping it in line with international norms, ra ra ra. Someone else told me its just a diversionary tactic. As in they increase it by that much then drop it down weeks later, but higher than the original price, so people don’t feel that the increase was so bad.

But already there was a rush to get to petrol stations and this week I am sure the price of EVERYTHING is going to go up as people start blaming fuel costs for all. There are a whole lot more arguments on the road as people can’t agree with bus conductors. I just hope that’s all the trouble it brings and nothing more serious.