Gbenga* (24) spent his usual monthly budget for fuel on just a week’s supply due to a combination of poor power supply and a sudden fuel hike. When he discovered his generator had a fault, he called the technician his family has used for almost ten years. He had no idea that a war happening thousands of miles away would cause a man he thought he knew so well to rob him.
This is Gbenga’s story as told to Franklyn
I finally understand why people don’t trust all these artisans. What this man did really pissed me off. You think you know someone and can trust them, only for them to betray you.
I know what I went through just to get fuel that morning. The stations near my house didn’t have any. I had to take a ₦500 bike ride just to find a station with fuel. Then, on getting there, the pump price almost made me go mad.
Context Break: A War in the Gulf is Affecting Fuel Price in Nigeria
On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel attacked Iran, sparking a huge conflict in the Gulf region that’s led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow sea passage that’s also world’s most important oil chokepoint. Normally, about 20 million barrels of crude oil (20% of global supply) pass through it every day. Its closure has affected global fuel prices, and Nigeria has also felt that impact. Within days, petrol went from around ₦875 per litre to over ₦1,200, leaving many frustrated and desperate.
To make matters worse, the national grid is in shambles. About 70% of the national grid is powered by gas-based thermal plants. But suppliers are closing the taps because the Generation Companies (Gencos) owe them a staggering ₦3.3 trillion. The Gencos, in turn, are owed nearly ₦7 trillion by the government.
This debt chain means there isn’t enough money to keep the gas flowing, forcing Gencos to ration power supply across the country. As unbelievable as it sounds, if these debts aren’t settled soon, the blackouts could become even worse.
I ended up getting fuel of over ₦50,000. That’s normally what I’ll spend for a month. We’ve barely had light these days, so we’re using the generator a lot more than before. I already knew the ₦50,000 fuel would probably only last a week. That frustration was on one side, then another thing came up.
I got home, and the generator wouldn’t start. It had gotten faulty due to constant usage.
We called our usual technician. This man has been fixing our generators for about ten years now. It was just my dad and me at home, and my dad wasn’t feeling well, so he was sleeping in his room. I was the one who had to keep an eye on the technician. But like I said, we’ve known this man forever, so there was trust there.
I showed him where we kept the generator on the balcony. I also asked that he tell me when he was done, so I’ll come fuel the gen and have him test it. We have the fuel kegs on the balcony, too, with the generator.
I work remotely. So once he’d settled in to start working, I went back inside to my workstation setup in the living room. I should have suspected something when this man didn’t call me when he was done. He just turned on the generator himself. I reminded him that I said he should call me to fuel the gen before turning it on. He casually told me he had fueled it himself.
I went to check and saw he had given the generator a full tank. While I was out there on the balcony, my eyes strayed to his slightly open bag, and I saw an engine oil bottle. It was the exact brand we use, but I didn’t really give it much thought then.
I paid him, saw him to the door, and came back to clean up the balcony. I knew we had two empty bottles of engine oil out there, but now I could only find one. That’s when it started to click. I checked the fuel keg, and it was a lot lighter than it should be, even after giving the gen a full tank.
It dawned on me that this man, whom I’ve known for so long, had stolen our fuel, poured it into one of the empty engine oil bottles and left with it. Fuel that I struggled to buy. I was so vexed.
I know things are hard and fuel is like gold now, but has it gotten to stealing? And it’s not as if he wasn’t paid for his work. This man has been working with my family for almost a decade, so it’s not as if it’s someone new. I was so disappointed.
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