Faced with prospects of bleak Christmas and New Year celebrations forced by the asphyxiating cost of basic food items, many Nigerians are literally between the rock and the hard place with regards to coping with the hard times.
Checks by The Nation show that few days to Christmas and New Year celebrations, soaring inflation has pushed prices of most staple food items beyond the reach of most Nigerians, putting them in quandary over how to enjoy the yuletide.
According to data from National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), consumer inflation rose 18-year high on surging food prices, reaching 28.20 per cent in November from 27.33 per cent in October, this year.
Food inflation, which accounts for the bulk of Nigeria’s inflation basket, rose to 32.84 per cent last month from 31.52 per cent a month earlier.
Accordingly, across the country, prices of basic food items like rice, beans, garri, tomato, vegetable oil, noodles, yam, bread, chicken, meat, condiments for making stew such as maggi, curry, time; and even sachet water, more popularly called ‘pure water,’ have skyrocketed.
For instance, the price of a 50 kg bag of foreign rice ranges between N65, 000 and N70, 000, while a local brand goes for as much as N55, 000. A 50kg bag of Oloyin beans cost between N60, 000 and N70, 000. A tuber of Abuja yam sells for between N1, 000 and N3, 000. Two packs of sachets water (pure water) cost N50; a bag goes for N300.
Boxed to a corner by the exorbitant cost of these items, especially during this festive season, many families, who are already grappling with low purchasing power, besides the sudden scarcity of naira notes, are weighting other options, including deleting some of the ‘luxury’ food items from their menu list and opting for alternatives.
For instance, a banker, Mrs. Funmilayo Oyinlola, has sworn never to have anything to do with rice this festive season because of the high cost of the commodity.
She told The Nation that she had discussed with her children that it wouldn’t make sense to eat rice and chicken and forgo their education. “l have a young family with four children and I had to make them understand why rice would be missing from the menu table this time
“In place of rice, I promised them a good pot of soup with pounded yam. I can’t see myself buying rice at this time, so l will wait till January or February to buy. It’s sad that our government is not empathetic to the average Nigerian family. Though l can afford it, l see it as a waste of resources,” Mrs. Oyinlola said.
Also lamenting, a couple, Mr. and Mrs. James Sunday, said they would look for alternative food this period as they can’t afford rice. Mr. James said their rent would be due by February, so the family could not feast on the ‘expensive habit’ of cooking rice this yuletide to the detriment of their comfort.
He, however, made a passionate plea on the Federal Government to intervene and possibly share rice and other expensive food items as palliatives to families who couldn’t afford them because of their high cost.
After taking a critical look at the hike in the prices of food items in the market, especially rice, an author, Kennedy Ambrose, also swore his family would consider other food options besides Africa’s number one staple meal – rice.
“I will never buy a bag of rice for N65, 000. There are other things for my family to eat like ponded yam, and plantain. But I’ll never bring myself to buying a bag of rice for that amount,” Ambrose stated irately.
Also lamenting, a Lagos-based lawyer, Joseph Adekunle, asked: “How on earth are you going to celebrate Christmas in the midst of binding constraints caused by high price of basic food items? “Now that a fowl is even harder to slaughter, rice is like gold, costing nearly N70, 000 for a 50kg bag. It is survival and not merriment because the poor cannot afford it,” he stated.
Adekunle maintained that while many small businesses, employees of private companies, and even civil servants are struggling daily with meagre salaries, with no sign of relief in sight, only a few organisations have managed to increase staff salaries in response to the high cost of living brought on by high inflation.
A businessman, who simply identified himself as Richards, said he anticipated the harsh economic reality in the country due to the twin effect of the devaluation of the naira and rising inflation.
“I could tell from the way the naira was losing value and prices were skyrocketing that this December would be difficult,” Richards said, revealing that as a way of getting round the crisis, “I paid someone to buy and raise broiler chicks for me at her home. She has space in her compound.
“The chicks were quite cheap back then. It paid off. They are really big now and ready for consumption. So, my Christmas and New Year chickens are set. “As for rice, I always buy in bulk. I still have a substantial quantity from the full bag I bought some months back, so I’m covered for the yuletide.”
For Martha Okezie, a mother of five, Christmas clothes are off the shopping list for the time being. Besides, most tailors, according to her, are less busy due to low patronage occasioned by the harsh economy.
“Who is sewing new cloths again if not Aso-Ebi, when fairly-used outfits and even the Nigeria-made (Aba) wears have now saturated the market and are also cheaper? Okezie quizzed.
A father of five, Mr. Darius Ating, however, cautioned that Nigerians shouldn’t be carried away by the festivities, because the economy usually bites hardest in the first few months of every New Year, particularly January.
He said in light of the fact that parents will need to pay for their children’s and wards’ tuition, as well as other required expenses, Nigerians should make the most of what they have and save money for that occasion.
However, the Federal Government is not unaware of the challenging times Nigerians are faced with especially with regards to high cost of living hence, the President Bola Tinubu-led administration recently offered a form of succor for Nigerians who wish to travel this festive season.
The President approved a 50 per cent reduction in inter-state transport fares and free train rides for those travelling between December 21, 2023, and January 4, 2024.
The Federal Government, through the Chairman, Inter-ministerial Committee on the Presidential Intervention on Public Transportation, Dr. Dele Alake, announced the plan to subsidise all mini and luxury buse fares for ease of transportation for citizens willing to travel during the festive holidays on Wednesday, December, 20, 2023.
“President Tinubu wants Nigerians to be able to travel within Nigeria to wherever they want to go to meet their loved ones without the extra burden of paying exorbitantly for inter-state public transportation,” Dr. Alake said.
He, however, said air travel was not included in the initiative because it only aims to benefit the masses, stating: “The initiative is for the masses. Air transport is a luxury. The masses don’t use air transport. So they are our main target.”
While many praised President Tinubu for his timely intervention, some others pleaded for expansion of the designated routes beyond 28.
