Why does fuel cost push up the price of food like tomatoes?
Think of the woman selling tomatoes at Mile 12. The farmer pays for energy to grow them, a vehicle carries them from the farm, another truck brings them hundreds of kilometres to Lagos, then the wholesaler pays transport, and the retailer pays again. By the time those tomatoes reach a mother preparing dinner, expensive fuel has entered the price several times over.
Where this comes from
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A Nigerian earning the ₦70,000 statutory minimum wage requires ₦56,000 merely to buy 40 litres of petrol at ₦1,400 per litre. That is 80 per cent of an entire month’s minimum wage. Before that worker buys food, pays rent, electricity, school fees or medical bills, four-fifths of his monthly wage can disappear into just 40 litres of petrol.
Meanwhile, citizens of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE generally earn vastly more while paying less per litre. That is the human face missing from your economic argument.
And the pain does not end at the petrol station. Take the woman selling tomatoes at Mile 12. The farmer pays for energy to cultivate. A vehicle moves the tomatoes from the farm. Another truck carries them hundreds of kilometres to Lagos. The wholesaler pays transport. The retailer pays transport again. By the time those tomatoes reach the mother preparing dinner, expensive fuel has entered the final price several times over.