From Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
This year’s Christmas and New Year celebrations will go down in Nigeria as one of the worst. No thanks to the blooming insurgency and the attendant hyper inflation that have robbed Nigerians the joy the season usually brings.
In Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), there are no signs to show the seat of power is in the mood of celebration. No Christmas decorations in most public and private outfits. Only a few Christmas carol programmes were held in some schools before winding down the term.
Residents insisted the 2022 Christmas would be one without the usual collection of Yuletide pizzazz. Many of those in suburban areas ruled out cooking on Christmas Day because the prices of food items and household goods are completely out of their reach. They are waiting for a change in government to see if the 2023 edition would be better.
High food prices are not the only economic scourge FCT residents are grappling with. High transportation cost, poor electricity, indescribable rent hike, banditry and other social challenges.
A survey around markets in Abuja by Daily Sun revealed that there has been a remarkable hike in the prices of virtually every foodstuff and household item. In April 2022, food prices in Nigeria increased considerably compared to April 2021. Tomato, groundnut oil and palm oil recorded the highest price hike.
The price of a kilogram of tomato grew by over 53 per cent compared to the previous year. The price of vegetable oil rose by 46 per cent.
None of the selected foods recorded a decrease in price. In fact, Nigeria was among the countries with the highest inflation rates in the world and has recorded a fast growing Consumer Price Index (CPI).
In April 2022, the average price for a kilogram of beef with bones was N1,508. A loaf of unsliced bread cost between N400 and N800 (depending on the size). Frozen chicken was N2,381. In March 2022, the CPI for food peaked at almost 504 points, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Mr Emmanuel Adejo, a teacher, said: “Surviving this year has really been by the grace of God. The year has experienced so many increases in prices of goods but without corresponding increase in salary. I’m in debt.
“Last year’s Christmas, we were able to buy a bag of rice from N20,000 to 30, 000, but this year, I am still on it. A bag of rice now goes for N46,000 and still increasing. That is an increase of more than N20,000. We pray for God’s mercy come 2023 polls.
“I have told my household to be ready to manage anything I can afford.
The way I am seeing it, rice and stew is a no go area for an average man.”
He pleaded with the government and stakeholders in businesses to be considerate and ameliorate the sufferings of Nigerians: “These things can be solved. They are foreign they are caused by those who are in charge. They can do something about it. Not weaponisation of poverty for whatever reasons.”
A taxi driver, Ayomide Salawu, said he budgeted N200,000 for Christmas but only a few things on the list have sucked N150,000: “This Christmas is going to be a very different one oh! I have been begging my kids to appreciate the circumstances.
“Earlier, I promised to give the three of them N20,000 for clothing.
Now I can’t even buy foodstuff with what I have. My house is on fire, everyone is wearing long faces, I am tired. It’s not that one is not working.”
Henry Agbo said there is going to be nothing like rice in his house this Christmas: “I have warned them. Nobody should come and send me to an early grave. Food is food, everyone should forget about rice because I can’t afford it.”
A trader at Dutse Traditional Market, Bwari Area Council, Ada Joseph, who deals in children’s clothing said the prices at this year’s yuletide were different from last year: “In 2021, a dress sold between N10,000 and N12,000. Now a simple dress will sell for between N15,000 and N30,000 or even higher.
“This is because of the increase in shop rent, naira crash, hike in transportation cost and all that. In Nigeria, things that go up hardly come down. But we hope parents will be able to afford the clothes.”
A poultry farmer, Mrs Confidence Musa, lamented: “There was an increase in poultry feed this year. This has affected the price of chicken. After so much work we will expect profits. A chicken can sell for N5,000, N7,000 and above depending on the size.”
Moses Age, a civil servant, said food inflation in Nigeria quickened for the eighth straight month to 23.72 per cent in October 2022 from 23.34 per cent in the previous month. It was the highest reading since October 2005. It was partly due to supply disruptions caused by recent widespread flooding and as a weaker currency continued to boost costs of imported food (18.1per cent versus 18 per cent in September.)
He added that Nigeria struggled for years to meet high demand for foreign exchange needed for importation. The government’s strict capital control policies have not helped much:
“As a consumer economy that relies heavily on imports, the scarcity of FX has helped to drive prices of commodities especially food up.
Dollars are needed to buy commodities like wheat, maize, dairy products and other products that Nigeria largely imports.
“The dollar to naira rate as of Thursday stood at N614 in the black market and 415 official rate, down from about N200 in 2016.
“Food prices have risen globally in recent years. It began with the Coronavirus pandemic that made farmers and food producing companies unable to cultivate and produce food in sufficient quantities.
“Many food factories ran out of raw materials for their operations.
Farmers have since returned to the fields and factories have reopened but food prices have remained high.
“In Nigeria, the cause of food inflation goes beyond the pandemic.
Since February 2022, Nigeria has been experiencing unprecedented fuel scarcity across most states of the country.
“The panic in fuel buying started last year due to the government’s plans to remove fuel subsidies. It got worse when the Federal Government said its agents had imported substandard fuel. This forced motorists to charge more for the transportation of goods and services.
This translated to the sudden rise in prices of foodstuffs across the country.”
Madam Peace, a resident of Kubwa, said: also lamented that the prices of foodstuffs doubled what they used to be, adding that it is the food thrift society she belongs to saved the day.
“Thank God I joined the food contribution. If not the world would have seen our nakedness. Where will I get that kind of money to buy rice and chicken? With the contribution, my bag of rice, vegetable oil and chicken are ready, waiting for the D-Day. Thanks to whoever brought this idea. As for clothing not this year. You have to eat before wearing clothes.”
Justina Ebute from Kuje said: “This year’s Christmas is going to be the real silent night. By this time other years, Christmas carols were heard everywhere but this year, everyone is really silent. Some are even scared of going close to stuff like rice and clothes.
“Only rice is N45,000 and above. There is no quality of rice that is less than N30,000. I’m not only talking about myself and the children but also about the aged people in the village and other less privileged.
“In previous years, I couldn’t send things to the less privileged because things were expensive. But this year, the prices have doubled and are still going up.
“My people, how did we get here? We need to critically think about our lives so that this horror won’t repeat itself in 2023.”