X-RAYING THE IMPACT AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE CURRENT SKYROCKETING COST OF COOKING GAS ON HUMAN CAPITAL AND ACHIEVEMENT OF THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS IN NIGERIA [current concerns 2-025]

 

7 November 2025 / current concerns 2-025

 

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

 

by Dr. Uzodinma Adirieje, FAHOA

 

 +2348034725905 (WhatsApp) / EMAIL: druzoadirieje2015@gmail.com

 CEO/Programmes Director, Afrihealth Optonet Association (AHOA) – CSOs Network and Think-tank

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Nigeria’s recent surge in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices is not just an economic inconvenience — it is a governance crisis with deep implications for the country’s human capital and its ability to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In the past year households have faced repeated spikes and bouts of scarcity in cylinder supply, driving many families back to charcoal, kerosene and firewood. These shifts reverse public-health gains, increase gendered burdens, squeeze household budgets, and slow progress on multiple SDG targets.

 

The health consequences are immediate and severe. Clean cooking with LPG sharply reduces household air pollution compared with solid fuels; when families revert to biomass and kerosene the incidence of acute respiratory infections, chronic lung disease and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) rises — especially among women and young children who spend most time near stoves. The World Health Organization (WHO) highlights household air pollution as a major global killer, linking it to millions of premature deaths and a large burden of disease that undermines productivity and learning. The short- and long-term health costs translate directly into lost school days for children, lower cognitive development and higher health expenditures that crowd out investments in education and nutrition.

 

Time and opportunity costs compound the damage to human capital. Collecting and preparing biomass fuel takes hours each week — work overwhelmingly performed by women and girls. When LPG becomes unaffordable, women spend more time sourcing fuel and tending slower fires; girls are more likely to miss school or drop out altogether to help at home. These repeated, gendered time losses cascade across lifetimes: reduced schooling and fewer labour-market skills translate into lower lifetime earnings and weaker contribution to national development. The gendered nature of energy poverty means SDG 4 (quality education) and SDG 5 (gender equality) are directly threatened by sustained fuel-price shocks.

 

The nutrition and poverty channels are equally concerning. As cooking gas prices rise, many households reallocate scarce resources away from nutritious food, health care and education to meet immediate energy needs. That reallocation increases food insecurity and heightens the risk of childhood stunting and impaired cognitive development — outcomes that are difficult and costly to reverse. At the macro level, the substitution back to polluting fuels also elevates household expenditure volatility and increases the risk of slipping back into poverty, jeopardising progress toward SDG 1 (no poverty) and SDG 2 (zero hunger).

 

From a governance perspective, the LPG shock exposes weaknesses across policy design, market management and social protection. Fuel price dynamics reflect a mix of domestic supply constraints (processing and distribution), exchange-rate pressures, and regulatory gaps in pricing and competition. A governance response must therefore be multi-layered: short-term relief for vulnerable households (targeted cash transfers, LPG vouchers or emergency cylinder subsidies), coupled with medium-term measures to stabilise supply and reduce transaction costs (investment in domestic processing, storage and distribution infrastructure, streamlined licensing and improved market oversight). Over time, prudent subsidy design and strategic public-private partnerships (PPP) can anchor a smoother transition to affordable, clean cooking at scale.

 

Coordination across sectors is essential. Clean cooking is not merely an energy problem; it is an enabler of health, education, gender equity and climate outcomes. Ministries of Energy, Petroleum, Health, Education and Social Welfare must work with local governments and civil society to prioritise clean-cooking interventions — integrating LPG access into school feeding programs, maternal and child health services, and livelihood schemes. Better data systems are needed too: rapid household monitoring and price-tracking will allow policymakers to target relief to regions and demographic groups most at risk, preventing blanket policies that waste scarce public resources.

 

Finally, the crisis should sharpen Nigeria’s longer-term strategy. Despite vast gas reserves, Nigeria’s clean-cooking transition remains incomplete; the energy transition plan identifies LPG as a near-term stepping stone toward cleaner, homegrown solutions. Strengthening domestic value chains — from gas processing to local cylinder-refilling networks and affordable financing for stoves — will reduce exposure to international price shocks, and creates local jobs. Investing in resilient, inclusive clean-cooking markets is an investment in human capital to ensure healthier children, more productive adults, and a stronger trajectory toward the SDGs.

 

Eventually, the skyrocketing cost of cooking gas is a governance problem with human-capital consequences. Left unchecked, price shocks will hollow out gains in health, education and gender equality and slow progress across the SDGs. The policy imperative is clear: protect the most vulnerable now through targeted social protection, fix market and infrastructure failures in the medium term, and invest in resilient, inclusive clean-cooking systems that lock in human-capital gains for the long term. The health of the nation — and Nigeria’s SDG trajectory — depend on it.

 

About this Writer: 

Dr. Uzodinma Adirieje is an environmental health researcher with Afrihealth Optonet Association (AHOA), focused on linking ecosystem health and human well-being in Nigeria. He is a global health practitioner, development expert, and civil society leader whose work sits at the critical nexus of biodiversity, health, and climate change. He serves as the CEO of AHOA, a pan-African and global South civil society network advancing sustainable development through advocacy, policy dialogue, and grassroots interventions. With over two decades of experience, Dr. Adirieje has championed the understanding that biodiversity is essential for human health - supporting food security, disease regulation, clean water, and resilient livelihoods. His leadership promotes integrated approaches that address environmental degradation, climate change, and poverty simultaneously. Through AHOA, he leads multi-country initiatives on climate change, ecosystem restoration, renewable energy, universal health coverage, and climate-smart agriculture, while advocating for stronger governance and inclusive community participation. At national, regional, and global levels, Dr. Adirieje engages with governments, international organizations, and civil society to drive policies linking health and environment. His work underscores that safeguarding biodiversity is not only an ecological necessity but also a cornerstone of global health and sustainable development in Africa and the Global South.