When Aliko Dangote’s refinery sneezes, Nigeria’s economy catches a cold. News broke recently that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery has suspended petrol sales in Naira, citing crude allocation issues and market realities.
On the surface, it may sound like another technical fuel industry story—but for small businesses, this is not just news. It is a thunderstorm waiting to drown their fragile survival.
Imagine the average barbershop in Surulere, the mama put in Mushin, or the vulcanizer by the roadside in Port Harcourt. These are the heartbeat of Nigeria’s economy—small-scale hustlers who keep the nation alive despite government inefficiencies.
Now, with Dangote shutting the door on Naira transactions for petrol, their lives are about to get harder in five dangerous ways.
1. Skyrocketing Transportation Costs
For small businesses, transport is oxygen. The barber needs to go to the market for clippers and creams, the food seller needs tomatoes from Mile 12, and delivery riders need fuel to survive.
If marketers now have to pay in dollars—or even hedge in forex—the cost of petrol will rise. That cost trickles down to transport fares, logistics, and delivery fees.
A simple bowl of amala in Yaba could double in price—not because yam is scarce, but because petrol is bleeding naira dry.
2. Shrinkage Of Disposable Income
When fuel becomes a dollar-based commodity, the average Nigerian’s disposable income shrinks overnight. Small businesses rely heavily on their customers’ “change money.”
If the average worker spends more on transport and fuel, less money goes into haircuts, food joints, tailoring, or barbing. Small business owners will feel this drop in patronage sharply. It’s a deadly ripple effect.
3. Operational Costs Will Explode
Most small businesses already run partly on generators because PHCN supply is unreliable. A tailor in Oshodi or a printing shop in Aba cannot work without fuel. If petrol prices go up, running costs will soar.
Imagine a cybercafé forced to charge N2,000 per hour instead of N500 because of fuel bills. That is not just inconvenience—it is the death of small enterprises.
4. Forex Dependency Trap
By halting sales in naira, Dangote is indirectly forcing Nigeria’s fragile economy deeper into the dollar web. Small businesses that once paid naira to refill generators and transport goods will now pay inflated prices pegged to forex rates. The problem? These small players don’t earn in dollars.
The vulcanizer doesn’t earn in USD. The mama put doesn’t get paid in forex. Yet, they are forced to live in a dollarized economy. That imbalance is a death sentence for survival.
5. Potential Job Losses & Business Closures
Nigeria’s unemployment crisis is already choking. With small businesses struggling under new petrol costs, many will cut staff or shut down completely.
That means apprentices sent home, workers laid off, and more graduates roaming the streets jobless. For a country already battling inflation, insecurity, and poverty, this could worsen the unemployment curve.
The Domino Effect Nobody Talks About
Dangote’s refinery was supposed to be Nigeria’s pride—a local solution to foreign fuel dependence. But this sudden suspension of Naira sales reveals a darker truth: Nigeria is still at the mercy of global markets. And small businesses—our backbone, our survival line—will pay the heaviest price.
If small businesses collapse under this weight, the government should know it is not just losing petty traders. It is losing Nigeria’s last hope for resilience.
