Wednesday 08 April, 2026

Petrol cost N699 a litre on January 1.

It costs N1,275 today.

Dangote's refinery adjusted its price nine times between January and the end of March. Six of those were increases. Three were reductions. Every single movement tracked one thing -- the price of Brent crude on the global market.

The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Brent crossed $100 a barrel within days. The Strait of Hormuz closed. The refinery that was built to give Nigeria supply security -- and genuinely has, there are no queues, no shortages, no import delays -- now also gives Nigeria something else. The fastest transmission mechanism in the country's history for turning a foreign war into a transport fare increase.

The number to carry: 82%. That's how much more petrol costs today than it did at the start of the year.

Nobody in Nigeria started a war in the Middle East.