GOVERNANCE: X-RAYING THE IMPACT OF THE CURRENT SKYROCKETING COST OF COOKING GAS ON HUMAN CAPITAL AND ACHIEVEMENT OF THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS IN NIGERIA

 

24 October 2025  /  friday Blues 1-014

 

GOVERNANCE: X-RAYING THE IMPACT OF THE CURRENT SKYROCKETING COST OF COOKING GAS ON HUMAN CAPITAL AND ACHIEVEMENT OF THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS IN NIGERIA

 

by Noble Dr. Uzodinma Adirieje (KSJI)

 

+234 80 34 72 59 05   /   druzoadirieje2015@gmail.com

follow Dr. Uzodinma Adirieje on Facebook by clicking on this link <https://www.facebook.com/uzoadirieje> to receive more posts.

'Like' and comment on my posts to receive other people's responses.

This article is also available at the following link

 

 

Nigeria’s recent surge in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices is more than a household nuisance — it is a governance stress test with direct consequences for human capital development and progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Between mid-2024 and 2025 many households experienced steep increases in the cost of refilling household cylinders (for example, 12.5 kg refills rose sharply year-on-year), forcing families to reallocate scarce incomes and often to revert to cheaper, dirtier fuels. This price shock risks reversing years of modest gains in health, education and gender equality.

 

First, the health channel. Clean cooking with LPG dramatically reduces household air pollution compared with wood, charcoal or kerosene. When LPG becomes unaffordable, many low-income families revert to biomass, increasing indoor smoke exposure that raises rates of acute respiratory infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pregnancy complications and childhood stunting. These health shocks reduce learning time for children, increase school absenteeism, and sap caregivers’ ability to work — all of which erode human capital accumulation. The World Health Organization and sector studies have long identified cleaner household fuels as important public-health interventions — the current price spike therefore threatens both lives and productivity.

 

Second, the time and opportunity cost channel. Switching back to wood or charcoal means households — disproportionately women and girls — spend more time collecting fuel and tending slower stoves. That time cost reduces hours available for schooling, income-generating activities, childcare and community participation. Over time, these lost opportunities compound into lower educational attainment and diminished labor market readiness — precisely the components of human capital that underpin several SDGs (SDG 3 health, SDG 4 education, SDG 5 gender equality and SDG 8 decent work). Empirical work from Nigeria shows household energy choices are tightly linked to socioeconomic status and vary with fuel prices, so sustained price rises will deepen existing inequalities.

 

Third, the nutrition and expenditure channel. Higher LPG prices force households to reweight budgets toward cooking fuel and away from nutritionally important items, healthcare and education. Where food budgets are squeezed, children face dietary shortfalls that impede cognitive development and growth. Health shocks from smoky fuels add medical expenses, pushing vulnerable families further into poverty. This dynamic undermines SDG 1 (no poverty), SDG 2 (zero hunger) and SDG 10 (reduced inequalities). Recent national price reports suggest year-on-year LPG cost inflation measured in double digits, amplifying these risks across millions of households.

 

What does this mean for governance? First, fuel pricing and supply are policy outcomes. Price shocks reflect domestic supply dynamics (refinery operations, distribution bottlenecks), exchange-rate pressures, and subsidy or tariff regimes. A resilient governance response must combine short-term social protection measures with medium-term market and infrastructure fixes: targeted cash transfers or LPG vouchers for the poorest households; streamlined LPG distribution and storage to reduce bottlenecks; and policies to stabilise pricing while incentivising domestic LPG production and local cylinder refilling networks.

 

Second, cross-sector coordination is essential. Ministries of Health, Education, Energy and Social Welfare must treat clean cooking as a development priority, not merely an energy market problem. Investment in community-level behaviour change, clean stove financing schemes, and school feeding programs that use clean fuel can preserve human capital gains even while energy markets adjust.

Third, equity-focused data and monitoring are needed. Governments should deploy rapid household surveys and leverage existing administrative data to identify which regions and demographic groups are most impacted, so relief and policy adjustments are precise and effective. Civil society and local governments have roles in monitoring price trends, reporting supply failures, and protecting vulnerable households from exploitative market practices.

 

Finally, meeting the SDGs requires recognizing energy as an enabler, not an isolated sector. Clean cooking contributes directly to targets on health, education, gender, climate and poverty. Allowing a sustained LPG price shock to push households back toward polluting fuels risks a multi-dimensional development setback. Governance must therefore act at pace: short-term social protection to preserve human capital, medium-term market fixes to stabilise supply and prices, and long-term investments in domestic LPG value chains and clean alternatives that reduce vulnerability to international price swings.

In sum, the skyrocketing cost of cooking gas in Nigeria is a governance challenge with tangible human capital consequences. If left unaddressed, the shock will deepen health burdens, curtail education and economic opportunities — and slow progress across multiple SDGs. The policy response must be rapid, equitable and coordinated: protecting the poorest today while building a more resilient, domestic and inclusive clean-cooking future for tomorrow.

 

Noble Dr. Uzodinma Adirieje is a distinguished and multidimensional communicator whose work as a writer, columnist, blogger, reviewer, editor, and author bridges the intersections of global health, sustainable development, human rights, climate justice, and governance. He is the Chief of Protocols of the Abuja Grand Commandery of the Ancient and Noble Order of the Knights of St. John International, and has attained the Noble (highest) degree of the Order. He has been honoured as ‘Ezinna’ CMO of St. John of the Cross Parish, Amaruru, Orlu Diocese, Imo State; and ‘Ezinna’ CWO of St. Martin Parish, Lugbe Abuja. He holds a number of chieftaincy titles including ‘High Chief Ugwumba I of Amaruru clan’, and ‘Ahaejiejemba Ndigbo Lagos State’.