By Olakunle Olafioye

Banking halls and ATM galleries in Lagos have been unusually busy in the last few days with crowd of customers queuing up to make withdrawals ahead of this year’s Christmas celebration. But discerning Nigerians are however quick to point out that the rush being noticed in banks is not synonymous with an improved economy. Rather, it is an indication of people’s desire, particularly Christian faithful, to commemorate the birth and the essence of the coming of Jesus Christ. “I find it compelling to celebrate this occasion in the best possible way without putting myself under any undue pressure after the celebration. The birth of Christ over 2000 years ago means a lot to me as a Christian so the difficult situation in the country shouldn’t debar us from celebrating the Messiah’s birth,” Mrs. Amarachi Chukwudubem, noted.

Unlike previous years when her family traveled to the East to celebrate the occasion,  Chukwudubem disclosed that her family has decided to celebrate this year’s Christmas in Lagos as a way of cutting down on their expenses. “We did not just take the decision not travel (this year); we made it long before now because traveling home for the Christmas celebration is one expenses that drains the pocket because of high transport fare around this time,” she noted.

Traditionally, motorists often catch on the massive traffic, which characterises the yuletide by hiking transport fares. But this year, commuters seem to have an extra reason to pay more following the scarcity of fuel across the country. Although Sunday Sun correspondent who visited some motor parks in Lagos noticed that a good number of passengers were still willing to make the trips despite the marginal increase in fare, a driver at Iyana Ipaja Park, Uchena Okoye, said there was a sharp drop in volume of passengers traveling this year.

Okoye blamed the development on the hardship in the country rather than the current fuel scarcity. “Forget the problem caused by fuel scarcity; the truth is that many people did not prepare to travel because they don’t have the means. The high cost of living has made it difficult for people to save for Christmas. We cannot blame it on fuel scarcity because people who had the plan to travel before now only have to add little amount to the money they would have spent on transport on any other day. The government should show more interest in the plight of the masses, “ Okoye said.

Corroborating Okoye’s point, a traveler, who simply identified himself as Nonso, said many of his relatives that usually traveled for the Christmas would not be traveling this year owing to the economic situation in the country. Nonso said his decision to travel was not an indication that he was buoyant to make the trip, rather he was compelled by his father’s ill-health to do so. “ I didn’t plan initially to travel but I have to go home because of my father who fell sick few weeks ago. Although he has fully recovered, I still need to travel home to see him since I couldn’t make the trip when he was sick”.

Describing the yuletide as a “dry” celebration, Nonso said neither the marginal increase in transport fare nor scarcity of fuel should be blamed for the low turnout of travelers. He identified the poor economic condition of Nigerians as the major culprit for the lull being experienced.

“Anybody planning to travel for Christmas must always envisage the hike in fare; it is a normal trend. During normal period, you spend between N6,500 and N8,000, depending on the type of bus and the transporter you prefer to travel with.  But as we are now in a festive period, there are little adjustments in fare, which I believe are still reasonable. If you add and subtract, what is added to the original fares range from between N1, 000 to N2,000, which to me is reasonable enough.

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“Nobody who genuinely has the intention to travel will shelve his journey because of these little adjustments in fares. People are not traveling much as they used to because of the hardship in the land. Nigerians are suffering, our people are hungry; government should hasten up with whatever they are doing to ameliorate our sufferings,” he urged.

Checks by Sunday Sun at some motor parks in Lagos showed that the cost of traveling from Lagos to Southeastern states ranges N6, 500 to N10, 500. Some of the motor parks visited are Iyana-Ipaja Motor Park, Oshodi and Mazamaza, Mile 2.

The lamentation over low patronage is not exclusive to transporters. Nigerians dealing in food items and clothing materials also have similar sour tale to tell as many of them claimed that only a handful of customers turned up at their shops.

A visit to some markets in Lagos showed relative stability in prices of some food items and marginal increase in a few others. Markets visited include Ile-Epo Market, Oko-Oba Markets, Agege Market and Arena in Oshodi. For example, in all the market visited, prices of varieties of 50kg bag of rice range between N13,000 and N14,000. A trader at Ile-Epo Market told Sunday Sun that a 50kg bag of the long grain variety of rice had fluctuated between N13,500 and N14,000 for some months now while the price of the same 50kg bag of the short grain variety had varied between N12,000 and N13,000 for a couple of months.

“We cannot really say there is an increase in the price of rice because the commodity has not maintained stable price in a long time. In fact, there were times it fluctuated between N20,000 and N17,000. But now that a bag is sold between N13,000 and N14,000, I don’t think it is tenable to attribute the low turn out of customers to the price of the commodity. It is simply because people don’t have money to make special plans for the yuletide,” she said amid a charge on the government to ease the sufferings of the Nigerian masses.

Other commodities with relatively stable prices as at Friday when Sunday Sun visited included groundnut oil, palm oil, tomatoes, pepper and other condiments. Checks by Sunday Sun revealed that the price of a 5litre keg of groundnut ranged between N3, 200 and N3,500 while the price of a 25 litre gallon of the product varied between N11, 000 and N12, 000.

Textile dealers are not left out in the lamentations as the same story of low patronage rent the air at almost every shop visited. Some of the traders who spoke to our correspondent also blamed the low turn out of customers on the low purchasing power of the people.  One of the traders, Mrs. Arowolo Omolola accused the government of not doing enough to make life easy for average Nigerians, saying signs of bleak Christmas and New Year celebrations had multiplied rapidly in the months preceding the yuletide. “Most salary earners are bedeviled with the headache of irregular payment of salaries, while majority are earning far less than what they need to cater for their families. Companies are sacking their workers because they can no longer afford to pay salaries. When you sum all these up, you will understand why people are not buying. And what all this means is that December 25 which ought to be a day of celebration will just pass like any other day,” she said.