Bisi Adejare, a mother of three who lives in Festac Town, Lagos, shakes her head in confusion as she moves from one end of the Agboju Market to the other. She has been in the market for over 20 minutes and yet is unable to make any purchase.
Then she decisively goes to a corner of the market located at the Festac 2nd Gate, takes a second look at her shopping list and begins to make adjustments. First, she reorders the items on the list beginning from the most important to the least important, then she reduces the quantity of each item and reassigns costs until they align with the money she has at hand.
“It’s becoming increasingly difficult to cope. The price of everything keeps going up every day, plus my monthly feeding/housekeeping allowance has also gone down since my husband’s office cut his salary last year. Instead of N50,000, it is now N40,000. If I don’t do it this way I will end up buying just a few of the items on the list; that means I will have to forgo the rest,” Adejare explains.
“I used to buy things like rice and beans in bags, or at least half bags, but now I can only measure in ‘painter’ buckets (about 2kg). I think it’s wiser that way: buy a little quantity of everything so that nothing is left out. That’s the way I’ve been coping,” she adds.
Amid rising consumer goods prices and shrinking or static incomes, many Nigerian homes are beginning to relearn and put into practice some hitherto neglected basic economic principles as they are compelled to device ways of judiciously allocating their scarce resources and prioritising in the face of competing needs.
Declining oil prices, foreign exchange scarcity, plunging naira and rising inflation have over the past couple of months combined to put many Nigerian families in dire straits. Some businesses have closed shop, some have slashed staff salaries, while yet others have laid off staff and cut salaries of those who survived the hurricane. Inflation numbers have continued to rise, hitting 9.6 percent in December. Increasing, consumer goods prices have therefore, continued to put severe strain on household incomes.
A spike in commodity prices
BDSUNDAY market research shows that on the back of rising price of flour, the price of bread, a major staple for many Nigerian families, has gone up by at least N50 across the country. Big loaves of bread that used to sell for N200 now sell for N250, while those that previously sold for N250 now sell for N300, with prospects of further increase.
Furthermore, a bag of beans (drum), which formerly sold for N21,000, now sells for N23,000; a 50kg bag of garri now sells for N4,000 as against its former price of N3,500; a 25kg bag of salt, which used to sell for N1,400, now goes for N1,800, while 25 litres of Kings vegetable oil now sells for N8,200, an increase of N1,000 from its previous price of N7,200.
Similarly, the price of a bag of Ogbono (a major soup thickener) has gone up by N35,000; it now sells for N85,000 against its former price of N50,000. A bag of dried pepper, which used to sell for N37,000, now sells for N45,000. A carton of Gino tomato paste (sachet) now goes for N2,400, up from its former price of N1,800.
The price of a small carton of Indomie noodles has moved up from N1,300 to N1,500 currently, while a similar carton of Golden Penny noodles has increased from N1,000 to N1,200. A carton of St. Louis cubed sugar, which previously sold for N9,000, now sells for N9,500. The price of a packet of Knorr cubes has similarly risen from N350 previously to N400 currently.
In the same vein, a 50kg bag of rice which used to sell for N10,000 now sells for N13,000 in Lagos and Kano while the same bag goes for N13,500 in Onitsha; a 50kg bag of maize goes for N2,500, N2,300, and N2,700 in Lagos, Kano and Onitsha, respectively; same with a 50kg bag of flour which now sells for N8,050, N8,100 and N7,800 in the three cities correspondingly; and 25 litres of palm oil sells for N8,000 in Lagos, N7,700 in Kano and N7,400 in Onitsha.
Beyond food items, prices of other items, including toiletries, have also been on the rise. BDSUNDAY further market research reveals that a carton of Eva soap now sells for N4,900, from its previous price of N3,550, while a roll of Rose toilet tissue, which formerly sold for N2,100, now sells for N2,600, a N500 increase. A 50kg bag of cement currently sells for N1,400 in Lagos, N1,600 in Kano and N1,500 in Onitsha.
Citizens’ survival strategies
Deji Bamidele, a banker who lives in Satellite Town, Lagos, says his family income has remained unchanged, and he thanks God that at least he and his wife were fortunate to escape the hammer of salary cut or job loss.
“But it’s not been easy at all as our expenditure keeps rising as a result of price increase without a corresponding increase in our income,” says Bamidele.
“As a survival strategy, we have done the only wise thing: reduce our consumption and suspend all capital-intensive projects for now. For instance, we acquired a plot of land at Ajah in 2014 where we intend to build our home. Early last year we laid the foundation, but with the way things are we have stopped work on it until things improve. For now, all our money goes into food items, our children’s school fees, other basic necessities and a little savings in case of emergency,” he adds.
Ijeoma Okoro, a shop attendant in a rural part of Imo State, tells BDSUNDAY that she, her husband and two children lived in Owerri, the state capital, until six months ago.
“Our landlord renovated the building where we lived and hiked the rent beyond our reach. My husband, who works in the state civil service where the governor is not paying salaries, asked me and the children to return to the village while he rented a one-bedroom apartment in Owerri. It’s better than all of us dying of hunger in Owerri. At least we can do some farm work here in the village and feed from there,” says Okoro.
“Talking about price increase, I used to buy my cream, Sure Success, for N1,000, now it is sold for N1,200. I can no longer afford it, so I now use Body Care, which is sold for between N500 and N600,” she adds.
Belinda Amuwa, a resident of Festac Town, Lagos, says life has not been easy for her family but they are adjusting by the day. “We go for needs and not wants; more of food items and toiletries but in smaller quantities,” says Amuwa.
“I replaced my baby’s food with a much cheaper one but also nutritious and I go for anything cheap but with quality in mind too. I pulled out my baby from the crèche and had to drop him off with my mother-in-law every day before heading to work and pick him up on my return. This saves me money for basic needs in the home. We are practically managing but I believe it will get better soon,” she adds.
Cyril Ndulue, who resides with his family at Ajao Estate, Lagos, says his family income has been put under severe pressure with every family member feeling the impact, adding that they are also adjusting.
“My children were the first hit; they had to change schools because business has been terrible since last year with this dollar problem. If I don’t own the house we live in, I would have relocated to the village with my family the way things are,” Ndulue tells BDSUNDAY.
“We had to reduce the frequency with which we ate at home from thrice to twice in a day. We just buy little food and learnt how to make do with what we can afford for now,” he adds.
Another respondent, Ebunlorun Khalimat, says the bad shape of the economy has compelled them to buy only foodstuffs that are necessary, such as rice, beans, bread, pepper and other soup and stew condiments that are cheaper.
Another respondent, Ebunlorun Khalimat, says the bad shape of the economy has compelled them to buy only foodstuffs that are necessary, such as rice, beans, bread, pepper and other soup and stew condiments that are cheaper.
“The rest we avoid buying them for now. We had to move into a cheaper apartment last month and in a remote location but that’s all we can afford for now,” she says.
“Change is the only constant thing in life. The present rise in essential products is making me re-evaluate my expenses. I shop from a list these days to cut costs and reduce waste,” says a respondent who simply identified himself as Ikechukwu.
“Change is the only constant thing in life. The present rise in essential products is making me re-evaluate my expenses. I shop from a list these days to cut costs and reduce waste,” says a respondent who simply identified himself as Ikechukwu.
Olive Udoh, who lives in Lagos, says she buys only what she cannot do without, such as food and water, and leaves out other things are secondary.
“I love shopping for wears but I had to press pause on buying them till things get better because the prices of wears in the market are not smiling at all. I ditched expensive weave-ons for low-priced ones,” she says.
Ugo Okocha, a Port Harcourt-based banker, says she has learnt to buy things in order of priority.
“It all depends on the commodity. If it’s what I can do without for now, like clothing, shoes and other such items, then I don’t buy for now. But things such as services, laundry, school fees and food items, I have no option than to keep paying at the prevailing rate hoping things would get better,” she tells BDSUNDAY.
“Pounds sold at N505 while dollar sold at N384 yesterday (Wednesday). Where are we heading to? I try as much as possible to avoid foreign goods if I can. I went to the market two days back and was told by fresh tomato and meat sellers that they have reviewed their prices upward because of foreign currency rate increase. Do we import fresh tomato or cow? The prices of what they have to buy have of course affected local crops and livestock as well,” she adds.
A silver lining
With people like Ugo Okocha seeking local alternatives to imported foreign goods, analysts see a silver lining in the present dark cloud of economic uncertainties in the country. The analysts, who spoke variously to BDSUNDAY, say as the foreign exchange scarcity persists leading to hike in the prices of imported goods, and as Nigerians consistently go for cheaper local alternatives, local manufacturers will have no other choice than to up their game so as to fully tap into the opportunity the situation presents.
For this to happen, however, they say the local manufacturers themselves must also take another look at the quality of their products with a view to improving on them. Secondly, they must also begin to seriously look inwards in terms of sourcing their raw materials locally in order to limit or completely eliminate their dependence on imported raw materials.
On its part, the analysts say the government must continue to improve the business environment, especially where it concerns basic infrastructure such as power, to enable local manufacturers to not only survive but also thrive.
CHUKS OLUIGBO & CHINWE AGBEZE
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