From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja

The spending by Nigerian residents rose to N54.84 trillion in nominal terms in the first half of 2021, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in its recent Expenditure and Income Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report released on Monday.

The figure is higher than N48.22 trillion recorded in the first half of 2020.

The expenses incurred by Nigerian households increased by 13.7 percent in the last six months of 2021 (H1) when compared with the corresponding period of 2020. However, it was 7.45 percent lower than the N59.25 trillion spent by Nigerian households in the second half of last year, NBS said.

Household final expenditure is the amount of final consumption expenditure made by resident households to meet their daily needs, such as food, clothing, housing (rent), energy, transport, durable goods (notably cars), health costs, leisure, and miscellaneous services.

The report, according to Cable, shows that the final expenditure for households on consumption increased by 8.90 percent in Q1 and 19.08 percent in Q2 of 2021.

The report also revealed that household consumption accounted for the largest share of real GDP at market prices which stood at 53.68 percent and 51.82 percent in Q1 and Q2 2020, respectively, compared to 76.83 percent and 72.88 percent posted in the corresponding quarters of 2021.

The report further shows that the final consumption expenditure of non-profit institutions serving households stood at N504.38 billion, which is 18.6 percent higher than N425.29 billion recorded in the previous period.

Also, the compensation of employees during the first and second quarters of 2021 grew by 9.26 percent and 19.44 percent, respectively, in real terms on a year-on-year basis. For 2020, the growth rate stood at 0.96 percent compared to 8.99 percent in 2019. On the other hand, the report said national disposable income declined by 2.25 percent in the first quarter of 2021 and 5.35 percent in the second quarter of 2021.

Meanwhile, all items inflation in September was  highest in Kogi State with 20.82 per cent,  year-on-year whereas  Kwara State was  lowest with 13.70 per cent. Other states include,  Gombe State  with 19.09 per cent and Oyo State,  19.07 per cent.

Furthermore, Yobe (14.96 per cent) and Edo (14.85 per cent). On month-on-month basis however, in September 2021, Ebonyi (3.42 per cent), Kano (2.41 per cent) and Rivers (1.88 per cent) recorded the slowest rise with Zamfara, Benue and Cross River recording price deflation or negative inflation (general decrease in the prices of goods and services or a negative inflation rate).

Similarly, food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Kogi (26.63 per cent), Oyo (22.40 per cent) and Gombe (22.16 per cent), while Bauchi (16.35 per cent), Yobe (16.33 per cent) and Rivers (15.97 per cent) recorded the slowest rise year-on-year.

On month-on-month basis, however, September 2021,  food inflation was highest in Kaduna (2.22 per cent), Kano (2.17 per cent) and Anambra (2.15 per cent), while Benue (0.23 per cent) and Kebbi (0.09 per cent) recorded the slowest rise with Zamfara recording price deflation or negative inflation (general decrease in the general price level of food or a negative food inflation

“In  analysing price movements under this section, note that the Consumer Price Index (CPI)  is weighted by consumption expenditure  patterns which differ across states. Accordingly, the weight assigned to a particular food or non-food item may differ from state to state making interstate comparisons of consumption basket inadvisable and potentially misleading.

“All items inflation on year-on-year basis was highest in Kogi (20.82), Gombe (19.09 per cent) and Oyo (19.07 per cent), while Yobe (14.96 per cent), Edo (14.85 per cent) and Kwara (13.70 per cent) recorded the slowest rise in headline inflation (year-on-year)” the bureau, said.

Meanwhile, the all Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) has urged governors in the South-West to declare a state of emergency on household agricultural produce.

its Deputy Chairman in Lagos State, Asking Agbayewa, said the call became necessary following the continuous increase in prices of food commodities on daily basis. He said some food commodities had become so expensive that an average citizen could no longer afford it.

Agbayewa, who said food is a necessity and not a luxury as it has become in recent times noted that state of emergency would allow government to focus on household commodities.

He said the price of some agricultural produce, especially beans, had increased by over 400 per cent.

“We need to declare a state of emergency in the agricultural space because of high food inflation in the last three years. We should begin to look inward on how we can make food available at affordable prices.

“We now found out that most of the food that are on the high side are the ones being transported down from the North to the South-West, especially beans.

“The truth of the matter is that we can also plant those food here to boost self-sufficiency.

“Right now, beans is on the high side, the price of beans skyrocketed by over 400 per cent that people can no longer purchase it.

“Before now, a bag of beans was between N20,000 and N30,000 but now it is being sold at over N100,000. Government needs to find a way to address this problem,” he said.

He said government needed to support farmers in the South-West to go into beans cultivation and other household foods.

According to him, there is nothing stopping farmers in the South-West from cultivating beans to reduce the price and ensure availability.

He listed some factors responsible for food inflation to include high cost of transportation, multiple levies, insecurity, banditry and low production. He urged state governments to invest more in agriculture in order to replicate agric practice in the North to the South-West.

“Nothing is stopping us in cultivating yam, beans, tomatoes, pepper and onions in large scale too. Government must pay attention to food security and boost self-sufficiency,” he said.