Nigerians groaning under galloping staple food prices

Less than two years to the next round of the Nigerian general election, citizens are lamenting intense pressure of poverty and high cost of living.

Six years after a change of government, promises of a better life for the people have remained a pipe dream. Instead of a respite, the country is being mired in socio-economic quagmire to the chagrin of the electorate.

Prices of staple foods have quadrupled in the last 6 years, forcing many families to review their lifestyles.

Many more families are relocating to the village from the cities over the worsening state of the economy.

Brain drain is also on the rise, occasioned by the rising level of unemployment and poverty in the country.

The country’s food production has taken a hit with the unchecked attacks by herdsmen across the country, which has frustrated agricultural activities.

With the ever-increasing inflation rate, which has impacted every aspect of the economy, amid daily increase of prices of products and services, and even social life, the average Nigerian family is experiencing real bad times.

Read Also: Rising food prices threaten Nigeria’s economic recovery -IMF

Nigeria’s food prices

The worst still is the hyper increase in food prices, which is making ‘one square meal a day’ difficult, and many who cannot afford it, starving today.

As of September 2021, Nigeria’s inflation rate is 16.63 percent, while the cost of food increased 19.57 percent in the same month, according to data from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Generally, food items have more than doubled in their prices between March and September this year and are likely going to increase again for the festive season sales.

From N40 in March, a fresh egg goes for N80 now; a paint of garri from N600 to N1,200 today, the popular sachet water from N10 to N20.

BusinessDaySUNDAY market survey shows that 50kg bag of foreign and local rice, which formerly sold for N12,000 and N10,000 few years back now sells for N30,000 and N27,000 respectively.

Also, 25kg bag of foreign and local rice, sold for N6,000 and N5,000 now sell for N15,000 andN13,500. A paint bucket and derica of foreign rice sell for N2,500 and N500 while local rice sell for N2,300 and N400 respectively.

A bag of beans which even until last year was sold for N9,000 now sells for between N42,500 and N35,000; one paint bucket of beans, which was formerly sold for between N1,250 and N1,300 now sell for N3,300 while one derica that was sold for N250 now goes for N650.

A pack of spaghetti which was formerly sold for N3,000 now goes for N7,000 while one that was formerly sold for N150 now goes for N350.

Meanwhile, 20 litres of vegetable oil now goes for a minimum of N28, 000; 10 litres sell for N18,500 while 5 litres sell for between N6500 and N9,000.

For red oil, 20 litres now sell for about N15,000 now goes for N25,500 while 10 litres that was formerly N7,500 now sells for N12,750.

A carton of frozen chicken popularly called ‘Orobo chicken’ which was formerly sold for about N9,500 from the cool room, now goes for N16,600 while a kilo goes for about N2,000.

A carton of ordinary frozen chicken goes for N15, 000 while a kilo is sold for about N1,800. A carton of frozen turkey which was formerly sold for N11,500 or N12,500 now goes for N17,000 or N18,500 depending on the location.

Bringing the situation home, Chuma Ofili, an economist and tax expert, draws a mental analysis of the situation, with his driver who has withdrawn his two children from two schools in one term because he couldn’t afford the almost double increase in the fees by the schools, and his barber, who has increased his charges from N300 to N500 and N600 depending on the source of electricity he is using.

“My driver complained that his wife is asking for more money for upkeep as prices of food items have increased, hence has asked for an increase in salary, which I cannot afford now. My barber has moved into another shop because the owner increased the rent by 200 percent and a food vendor in the new shop has also increased her plate of rice and one small meat to N700, as well, the popular indomie noodle by the Aboki is no longer cheap. They all blame their increments on the increasing costs in the market”, Ofili says, decrying further that the increase in prices are across both imported and food items produced here.

According to Ofili, who trained in the United States of America and maintains a home in Atlanta, globally, food prices are going up since 2020 due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which many are still struggling to recover from.

But he regrets that food prices are skyrocketing in Nigeria at an alarming rate every day, putting huge pressure on families no matter their size.

“For instance, in the United States, food prices are up 3.7 percent in 2021, as against a 20-year average of about 2.4 percent. The country was able to achieve that because of its huge food production capacity, policies and price controls to avert unnecessary inflation. But Nigeria does not have these measures in place, hence the hyper inflation, which is at the detriment of poor families”, he explains.

Observers have also lamented that the poor are really on the edge now because of the hardship they face, amid increasing food prices.

Aliyu Wabba, president, Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), is also crying out for workers, noting that the N30,000 minimum wage, which was passed into law in 2019 by president Muhammadu Buhari has been reduced to nothing by inflation.

“Today we know that the N30,000 minimum wage has been reduced to virtually nothing due to external effects of inflation in our system”, the NLC president said at an event marking the 2021 World Day for Decent Work in Abuja.

However, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is insisting that inflation is declining.

The NBS revealed that Nigeria maintained an inflation decline for about seven months, due to the introduction of policies by the government, which impacted positively on most commodities.

Expressing concern over the poor state of affairs in the country, Olisa Agbakoba, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN) said: “The main thing that agitates me is the transition to a presidential democracy in 2023 vis-à-vis what is now indices of great suffering. There is a sort of disconnect in our political parties both in APC and PDP being the major ones. When one hears them talk, it is as if they forget they will come to us to for vote.”

According to him, “The main thing is with the Nigeria’s dwindling financial resources. If I am to speak for Nigerians, I think what they would want to hear is exactly how either of these political parties will address poverty, create jobs, create healthcare opportunity and revamp the economy. Those are the critical things and I think that is the main concern that one has. It’s to do with the fact that neither of the political parties has an ideology. You find the politicians jumping from one party to the other. What concerns them is mainly the issue of how do I get power.”

Agbakoba, who also ruled out the possibility of going into partisan politics in 2023, said: “Politicians should focus their attention on us rather than themselves. It is such a charade and it puts me off when I watch them on television and I say to myself, does these guys know that we are watching them? There is no connection at all. Why will a reasonable Nigerian be interested in what they are saying? He is not hearing anything that will make his life better. These are my critical concerns.”

Simon Harry, Statistician-General of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), attributed the sustained decline in inflation to the Federal Government’s policies, which he said, reflected in the improved consumer price index.

“We have consistently maintained a decline for about seven months and the reason for that is some of the policies put in place by the government are impacting positively on most of the commodities that make up the basket for the Consumer Price Index (CPI), ” Harry explained.

But economy observers are wondering how NBS came about the declining inflation data going by the continued increase in prices of goods, services and especially food items across the country.

Onyedi Ifeatu, a senior lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, noted that price increase has been sustained in the seven months NBS said inflation declined, while more price increment is expected as the market is getting ready for festive season sales.

“We need to go out there to feel the pulse of the poor. Things are very expensive, families are really suffering and one square meal is becoming impossible today, so why is NBS talking about decline when it is obvious inflation is rising uncontrollably”, Ifeatu said.

For Chijioke .J. Umelahi, an Abuja-based lawyer and former Abia State lawmaker, the decline report by NBS is politically motivated to caress the government and to secure their appointments.

“We should be talking about how to address the issues that are pushing inflation up and not saying it is declining when the government has not done anything in that regard. NBS said government policies are helping to reduce inflation, which policies and how have they reduced inflation when garri and sachet water are no longer common and out of the reach of the common man”, Umelahi said.

Looking at the situation from another perspective, Jeremiah Agada, an agronomist at the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, noted that if Nigerian had improved and sustained achievements in its food production, there would have been reasonable supply to ensure sufficiency, reduce cost and pressure on importation, as well as cost of food in the market.

But he decried that some of the achievements were eroded by the activities of killer herdsmen, who killed and sacked many farmers from the farms, which is impacting negatively on food security in the country.

“Benue is known for large scale food production, but that is no longer possible as the killer herdsmen have killed many of the farmers, their families are crying for justice and the government does not care,” he said.

Agada blamed the increasing cost of food items on the less farming activities by farmers and, mostly on government’s lip service in the fight against insecurity, especially killer herdsmen.