THE apathy that characterised the celebration of the nation’s independence celebration last year as a result of the economic situation and its concomitant effects on social life appear to have given way for a more vivacious celebration tomorrow. At this time last year, it was lamentation galore as exchange rate rose astronomically, causing many business concerns in the formal and informal sectors to prune down their staff or even close businesses completely. Prices of goods and services skyrocketed making it difficult for many breadwinners to put food on the table for their families. Consequently, feelings of hopelessness and despair enveloped the land, resulting in the heightening of anti-social activities.
But after some time, the darkness and frustration that enveloped the land began to ebb as the naira gradually appreciated in value. The recession which pundits predicted would not abate until about a decade reduced significantly in less than a year. The dollar, which had exchanged for close to N500, fell to about N360. With this, the prices of goods and services began to come down. Electricity supply also witnessed significant improvement in many parts of the country, rising to all-time height of about 7,000 megawatts.
Mrs. Adedun Toriola, a hair-dresser based in Egbeda area of Lagos, says she has had every cause to smile in the last one or two months because of improved power supply, which she says has helped her business to a certain extent.
She said: “In the last one or two months, power supply has improved at least relatively. We now have light for hours in a day, which was not the case before. So, I use less of generator these days. Before now, I used to buy fuel every day. But now, I have discovered that the quantity of fuel I was using for a day could last for four or five days. Because of that, my business is stabilising and my customer base is rising by the day. I just pray that power continues to improve.
Toriola implored the government to work on other areas of the economy like prices of foodstuffs.
“We heard that we are already out of recession, but it is like some people are not helping the government. If the value of the naira has improved like we have seen in recent times, market women should reciprocate by bringing down the prices of foodstuffs such as beans, yam, and soup condiments. The price of rice has reduced, so also is that of garri. But they can still go down further,” she added.
Her colleague on Aborisade Street, Lawanson, Lagos, Mrs. Bola Adewusi, also told The Nation that improvement supply of electricity had rubbed off positively on her business.
She said: “I think ours is one of the areas in Lagos that are lucky to have good power supply. I no longer need to fuel my generators and my customers are now relaxed, knowing that they won’t have to pay extra fee unlike the time I depended entirely on generator to power the dryer and other machines. However, I still want to plead with our government to help us. The cost of weave-ons and relaxers is expensive. Now more people are going on natural hair and it is not good for our business.”
Another respondent, a caterer based in the same area, Mrs. Olutoyin Aduloju, echoed the same line, saying that the relative improvement in the supply of electricity has had a positive effect on her catering business.
“Before now,” she said, “I was spending an average of N4,000 daily to fuel my big generator. If you factor this to the cost of other inputs like flour, icing sugar, baking powder, yeast, egg, butter and others, you can see that the cost is much. And if we pass it to the customers, it will be unbearable. So, we bear a lot for the customers.
“But now that power supply is improving, it is a lot of relief, the amount of money I used to spend to fuel my generator daily is what I spend weekly now. And if things improve, we will be happy.”
A beer parlour operator in Isolo area of Lagos State, Tony Eluoha, said: As you can see, the whole place is filled. Recession does not seem to dampen the capacity of Nigerians to have a good time with the little they have. I know many have reduced the number of bottles of beer that they consume, but they still patronise us as you can see.
“I am really happy with the improved power situation. It has generally reduced the cost of running this place. A large chunk of the money we spend to keep this place lively is on power. I know how much I spend daily on power. So, with the improved electricity generation, we have been able to reduce our expenditure. I pray this continues. Go round this area, many of these small businesses are experiencing some positives.”
A mobile tailor, Abubakar Sanni, said he had witnessed a lot of improvement in his business in the last one year. According to him: “This year, after work, I usually have a reasonable amount of money with me. The cattle that I am rearing in the village are doing well. Even we humans are getting food and meat better than we did last year,” he said.
Calls for price control in Ekiti
Respondents in Ekiti State also expressed delight with the improvement in power supply brought about by the increase in the megawatts of electricity generated from the national grid. Ado-Ekiti and other towns and villages now enjoy steady electricity and this has rubbed off positively on businesses, economic and social activities.
A welder in Ado-Ekiti, Mr. Femi Ogidan, said: “We thank God for the improved supply of power in the past few months. For about one and a half years or close to two years before now, power outages rendered me idle in my shop. I would open for business hoping to receive customers, but lack of electricity would render me idle and this made it difficult for me to feed my family and perform other responsibilities. But we want to thank God for the improved power supply that we enjoy now. My business has picked up and I am now making money because I am getting more jobs now.”
Calls for price control in Ekiti
A shop owner in Ikere-Ekiti, Miss Tolulope Adewumi, recalled that the recession period was very tough for her business. But she said that things were gradually picking up with improved power supply.
She said: “You know business activities revolve around stable electricity and poor power supply really affected us, coupled with the irregular payment of workers’ salaries.
“I sell beverages and other things that are kept in the refrigerator. If power is not regular, that is bad business. But we are getting over it and business is now improving.
“I was happy when I heard in the news that Nigeria was getting out of recession. I believe that very soon, it will make prices of goods and services come to come down. I am hopeful that things will still get better than this.”
A restaurant operator in Ado-Ekiti, Mrs. Dupe Omoniyi, while expressing joy on Nigeria’s exit from recession, tasked government to enforce strict price control in the markets, describing the Ekiti State capital as “one of the most expensive cities to live in.”
Omoniyi said: “We have heard that Nigeria is out of recession, but we want the Federal Government to collaborate with the Ekiti State Government to set up a price control board.
“I want them to go to our markets and bring down prices of commodities that have gone up so that they will reflect the trend of the times. Many of these market women here are merciless but they need government’s iron hand because Ado (Ado-Ekiti) is one of the most expensive places to live in,” she said.
A barber, Ade Ologunja, was full of prayer for the Buhari-led administration. “May God bless President Muhammadu Buhari. The man is trying. We pray that God will give him wisdom to bring about the total and better change we are praying for.”
On her part, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of First Royal Oil and chairperson of the female league of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chief (Mrs) Rose Osipitan, said: “Well, I think the President is trying. He is really fighting corruption. Wherever there is corruption, everybody is bound to be corrupt. There is nothing you can do. But we all have to change. The change is for everybody. He as a person has tried. God will give him more strength to lead Nigeria. If I see him, I will tell him that he is trying.
“You can see that it is getting better. The dollar was stronger than this before and the naira was in a very ridiculous situation. But things are getting better, and we pray God should give him the grace to take us to higher heights. When an economy goes bad, it affects all sectors. But I have the belief that as time goes on, things will improve.”
Not yet uhuru
In spite of the foregoing acknowledgement that of improvement in the nation’s economic fortunes, many other Nigerians believe that the Buhari government still has a long way to as far as improving the lots of Nigerians is concerned.
One of such respondents, a barber in the Shogunle area of Lagos, who identified himself simply as Kenny Bee, believes that the pangs of economic recession have not abated.
He said: “Although electricity has improved in my area, it has not got to that stage where it is predictable. Again, the prepaid meter that we are using is very costly for people to maintain. How can we say we are out of recession when cost of living is still high?
“Things are more costly than they were before. Formerly with just N500, my fiancée would make a pot of soup. But that is no longer the case. Everything is now double the price. Definitely, the recession is still continuing.”
Another artisan, Theresa Ikpe, lamented that the cost foodstuff was still on the high side.
She said: “I took N1000 to the Arena Shopping Arcade in Oshodi (Lagos), but I could not get anything to buy. Before now, I could make a pot of okro soup with just N300, but that is no longer possible. It is Agege bread and beans that we are eating now.
“Thank God for the Hausa people who are cultivating beans. Even garri is now expensive. It is the one with shaft that people buy and grind. Tell President Buhari that we are not out of recession. They should stop deceiving us.”
Rume Abduliahi, a caterer, said: “As you can see, I am eating fufu and okro without meat or fish. Things are very expensive, in fact, beyond our imagination. The number of clients I used to have reduced unlike before. There is no improvement at all. We cannot eat electricity.”
Transporters, hairdressers regret low patronage in Ondo
The story is also not different in Ondo State. Artisans, commercial transporters, hairdressers and others who spoke to The Nationwere of the opinion that nothing has changed.
According to a book seller at Old Garage, Akure, Mrs Beatrice Opeloyeru, the announcement that we are out of recession has had no impact on the masses.
She said: “The status quo remains as it has been in the last two years of the present administration. Since schools resumed for new academic session in the state, our stationery business has remained stagnant because of paucity of funds for parents to purchase books for their wards.”
An auto mechanic, Bisiriyu Alonge, said: “My brother, I don’t feel happy with the present situation in the country. Things are extremely bad. What are we even celebrating as independence? For me, the language of recession is not even clear to me. Life remains as it is. Prices of items continue to rise every day. I am fed up.”
It was also a tale of woes for many people in Cross River State. An auto mechanic, Ndifereke Edo, said: “The recession is only over on paper and in the news. For Nigerians living and struggling to survive from day to day, nothing has really improved. We keep hearing that the naira is improving against the dollar, but until that translates into better life for us by the prices of things in the market coming down, it does not make any difference.
“The price of foodstuff is still unreasonably high. I have a wife and a son, and I can tell you that before now, with N2,000, we would cook a very good pot of soup. Right now, that amount would barely get us anything reasonable. That amount now can only get you something just to pass through your throat and settle in your stomach just to stop hunger.
“Customers are also not really coming for checks and repairs of their cars. For instance, when a customer hears a strange noise in his or her car, he would come to check it out and we make some money for ourselves. But now, until a car breaks down they will not come to you. Most times, they even park their vehicles and resort to public transport. In the end, people like us in this business suffer.
“So now you can see that money is not coming in as it was coming in before, and prices are still very high in the market. You coming now to tell me that Nigeria is out of recession makes no sense. Which recession is that one?
Edo’s view was shared by a trader who gave her name as Mrs. Augustina Obasi.
Her words: Things are very much the way they were. Rice is still expensive. The price ranges from N100 to N120 in different places. Garri is the only food item that has come down. Garri now is seven cups for N200. Before now it was three cups for that same N200. Palm oil has gone up and is still up. Palm oil is now 450 per bottle from N350.
“Chicken, which we used to buy for N1500, is now N1800. Even beef is very expensive now. Before now, you can get a sizeable piece for N300. To get that quantity now, you would spend N500 upwards. Generally, the price is still high and on the rise.
“Even vegetable is now expensive. If they say recession has ended, I don’t know where it has ended. Because here in Calabar, I have not seen any sign that we are out of any recession. In fact, the only item whose price has come down is garri. And even at that, I would not say that six cups of garri for N200 is cheap.
Artisans, farmers lament in Jos
Artisans in Jos, the Plateau State capital, seemed to have a mindset of hopelessness in their respective trade and businesses. Paul Daman, an owner of a barbing salon in Zaramaganda, Jos, said: “I don’t always want to talk about Nigeria’s economy, because each time I think about it, I get angry. We were finding it difficult under the past administrations mainly because of lack of steady power supply. We keep lamenting every day in our meetings how availability of public electricity supply has put us at a disadvantage in this part of the country.
“So, when in 2014 this very APC people started talking of change, promising that they know how to fix the country’s economy as fast as possible, we agreed that we were fed up with the old system. So we supported the change that was advocated by the APC. But when APC came to power through our votes, we enjoyed steady light for just four months. Since then, there was long period of no light.
“The petrol we used to buy to run our generators was increased from N97 to N145. That was when our frustration began. There is no government electricity and we cannot afford fuel. We used to fill our small generator with less than N500 when the price of petrol used to be N97. But after the APC government increased it to N145, we will have N800 to buy four liters of fuel to fill our generator. At the end of the day, you burn the fuel without recovering even the running cost.
Another respondent, Mathew Baba, said: “I’m regretting learning a work that requires the use of electricity or petrol. I would have been better off if I were a mechanic or an electrician. Who even told you that electricity supply has improved here in Jos?
“By the way, I’m just hearing it from your mouth that recession is over. I don’t know what you mean by that. Public electricity is not be available. You can’t afford a litre of petrol. There are days I will come to shop and will not do anything from morning till night. I would wait for light to work but it would never come.
“My colleagues who learnt other trades are faring better. I don’t like the economic programme of this government. Their style of administration has no room for the poor. If not, why did the Buhari government increase fuel from N97 to N145? If they are for the poor, why did they increase electricity bill? Why do they allow the private operators to oppress us with estimated billing?
“Since I was born in this country close to 60 years ago, I never heard anything like recession until this ill-fated government. To me, recession is not over. If the government has any conscience at all, should they be lying over something that is real and practical?
“Go to the market and tell the people that recession is over and see what will happen to you. In the last two years, the price of rice, beans, garri has remained the same, and somebody just woke up and told me recession is over. I don’t understand.
A woman farmer in Bukuru, Jos South Local Government, Mary Dalyop, said: “Farmers are worse off under this administration. Fertilizer meant for farmers is only for the elite or for people identified as APC followers. There is still no access to fertiliser as a subsistent farmer like myself. We have our association, and the story is the same.
“As a farmer, you can’t cultivate all the food you need to eat. I am not a rice farmer. If I want rice, I have to go to the market. Between 2015 and today, the price of rice has continued to increase. It started from N250 per measure, and to N600. We are now hearing the price has dropped to N500 per measure, and somebody is telling me recession is over. I will not accept that until the price returns to N250. That is when I will understand that there is no more recession.
“Then if you come back home, we face the problems of electricity. It is this same government that increased electricity bill. It is the same government that increased the price of petrol. If government is saying recession is over, can they reduce the price of fuel to N40 as they promised us during campaign? Can government reduce the rate of electricity to where they met it? If they can’t do so, then, they are not serious by telling us recession is over. I get angry each time I hear this government telling us recession is over.”
Kwara residents lament high prices
Kwara State residents also decried what they described as worsening economic situation in the country. They argued that prices of goods and commodities were still on the high side, adding that only the price of garri had crashed.
Speaking with The Nation in Ilorin, the state capital, a cybercafe operator, Juwon Medaiyese, said he had not seen any improvement, especially in the area of power supply.
Medaiyese said: “I carry out my business every day using generator, and you know what that means. Indeed, the business environment in the last one year has been unfriendly in the country.”
A petty trader in Ilorin, Rukayat Atoyebi, said prices foodstuff had yet to come down.
“They said that Nigeria is getting out of recession and that naira has appreciated. But we have not felt the impact. We did not bargain for all this,” she said.
An electrician, Abdulquadri Izegue, lamented the epileptic power supply in the country, saying: “I must tell you we don’t get jobs. We are not happy at all. People are hungry.”
Also commenting, an auto mechanic, Johnson Ezekiel, said patronage had dwindled, adding that the appreciation in naira’s value had no impacted on the people. Ezekiel claimed the biting economic situation might not be unconnected with non-payment of workers’ salaries.
“It is only when civil servants’ salaries are paid as and when due that artisans will get patronage,” he said.
Hard times in Ogun
An Abeokuta-based businessman, Abiodun Bademosi, said his life and business had not experienced any improvement as nothing had changed because of the recession.
The 60-year-old Bademosi, a father of four who is into civil engineering and construction work in partnership with a friend, noted that the acclaimed exit of Nigeria from recession meant nothing to him and majority of Nigerians.
He said: “I can’t remember handling any project in the last two years. No civil engineering projects. The Federal Government should look inward and make business people comfortable. I will implore the government to see into how the first and second Paris Club refunds were spent by the state governors, because it was not judiciously spent for the pensioners and salary earners.”
