Nollywood filmmaker and entrepreneur, Kunle Afolayan, has cried out over the crippling cost of diesel to power his businesses, saying his operations now gulp as much as N11 million in fuel expenses every four to five weeks, a burden he described as unsustainable.
Afolayan, who owns the KAP Film Village and Resort, made the emotional disclosure in a video shared on his Instagram page on Tuesday, revealing that despite installing solar power in both facilities, his diesel bill remains staggering.
“I’ve been sad because I can’t cope with the N1,500 per litre of diesel. In one of the businesses that we run, the KAP Village, we spend about N11 million in four or five weeks on diesel. And we have solar power, but we’re still spending about N11 million,” he lamented.
The filmmaker added that his businesses had resorted to buying diesel on credit, with repayments sometimes stretching over two months before another tranche could be procured.
“The diesel we’ve been buying, we’ve been buying on credit. When we make small money, we find a way to pay. Sometimes it takes two months to even pay down and then get another one on credit. But now from about N1,000 or N995 to N1,500, it’s not sustainable,” he said, adding that he now requires a loan to upgrade his solar infrastructure.
He appealed directly to the public and potential investors for support, saying, “If you can come to our aid, I’ll really appreciate.”
Afolayan’s lament comes against the backdrop of a sustained and bruising spike in fuel prices that has hammered Nigerian businesses in recent months. The Dangote Petroleum Refinery recently raised its gantry price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to N1,175 per litre from N995 per litre, the third upward adjustment within a week, representing a surge of N180 or about 18.1 per cent within three days. It also revised the gantry price of diesel to N1,620 per litre.
