By this time last year, many Nigerian streets, from Lagos to Abuja, Abakaliki and Port Harcourt, were bubbling with Christmas excitement, but the cost of living crisis is putting a damper on this year’s celebration.
Many Nigerians are poorer than they were in 2021, with 63 percent of the population (133 million) suffering from multidimensional poverty and inflation at a 17-year high.
Fidelia Nwosu, a mother of three, said the cost of living crisis means Christmas will be a bit different this year for her family.
Her first daughter – Dorlin Nwosu, a senior secondary school student, explained to Business the family’s financial struggle during this festive season.
“I would usually see my mum from this time buy food items and provisions in more quantities than we needed. She had thought that Christmas was the most perfect season to exercise oneself in gift-giving and love sharing,” she said.
“However, we barely have enough to give this year. You can see for yourself that we are not having the usual blissful Christmas atmosphere,” she said. “It is not just for my family but for most families.”
Nigeria’s headline inflation rate hit 21.47 percent in November 2022, with food inflation at 24.13 percent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
This year, Nigerians have had to deal with the accelerating inflation rate, the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine war, and rising energy costs, all of which have pushed up the prices of food, gifts, and travel.
Another lady who refused to disclose her identity said she won’t be feasting for both Christmas and New Year as she can only afford to mark one of the occasions.
“I will be cooking only on New Year’s Day when my siblings are around and eating out on Christmas. I cannot afford to cook on both days; things are very expensive, and this year I’m buying half of what I normally do,” she said.
“Today is 15th of December, just 10 days to Christmas and the joyful mood is still not there. You can see people are not even considering the season not because they don’t want to but because they cannot afford it.”
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Anita Macaulay, a 19-year-old whose Christmas spirit has been dulled by the increase in prices of goods and services, shared her concern. “My aunt stopped buying basmati rice a few months back. It will be our first Christmas in four years eating some other variety of rice,” she said.
Joel Obi, a communications expert, said his Christmas tradition of giving family and friend’s bags of rice and vegetable oil would not be observed this year.
“I have six families. I give 25kg of rice and 10 litres of oil yearly, but I cannot fulfill that duty this year due to the surge in the price of rice and my stagnant income,” Obi said. “The choice before me is either continuing the tradition or starving my family. The blissfulness of Christmas is not there at all this year.”
Philip Okonkwo and his wife had plans to visit a resort for holidays to relieve the year-long stress but that would not be possible anymore.
“I and my family of four intended to spend the Christmas weekend at a resort but presently, there is no money for that; we will divert the funds to preparing meals for the family,” he said.
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