Tinubu's answer to ₦1,000 petrol arrives in two to three weeks. The crisis is already here.

Petrol crossed ₦1,000 per litre. Transport fares moved the same week. One Abuja commercial driver raised his fare from ₦400 to ₦700 in a single week just to stay above water.

The government's response came Tuesday. Tinubu directed the immediate deployment of 100,000 Compressed Natural Gas conversion kits nationwide. The announcement came from the Executive Chairman of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas, after a meeting at Aso Rock. The kits convert petrol engines to run on CNG, which is significantly cheaper. Distribution begins in two to three weeks. About 77 CNG refilling stations are currently at various stages of development nationwide.

The Pi-CNG programme launched in 2023, when subsidy was removed. That's two and a half years ago. The fact that it's being accelerated now, mid-crisis, tells you exactly where it was before the crisis.

But the deeper problem is who this actually helps. A conversion kit helps vehicle owners. The people hardest hit by ₦1,000 petrol are daily commuters and tricycle operators who don't own their vehicles and can't authorise a conversion. Their fares already doubled. The kit doesn't reach them. And even for vehicle owners willing to convert, the refuelling infrastructure to make CNG viable outside Lagos and Kano barely exists yet.

The government built a deregulated fuel market knowing it would transmit global price shocks directly to Nigerian households. The buffer that was supposed to cushion those shocks wasn't ready when the shock arrived. Two to three weeks from now is too late for the household already cutting meals to cover bus fare.