uLessonapp an online learning platform for secondary school students in Africa has announced a 50 percent reduction in its educational software subscription prices to support Nigerian families through the prevailing difficult times and beyond.
Sim Shagaya, founder and the chief executive officer at uLesson made this known via his official X @SimShagaya on Tuesday, February 20, 2024.
“These are difficult times for households. @ulessonapp will drop educational software subscription prices by 50 percent indefinitely to support Nigerian families through this period and beyond. I pray strength and resilience for everyone,” Shagaya said in the tweet.
The price cut according to the tech expert and serial digital entrepreneur was employed to support Nigerian families navigate through the extreme hardship occasioned by the economic policies of the federal government.
Nigerian families are currently experiencing biting hardships as a result of the economic policies of the federal government.
A removal of fuel subsidy in May has seen the price of the essential commodity more than triple. The repercussion of this is the soaring price of transportation which has seen a commensurate rise in the prices of goods and commodities.
Insecurity, especially in the north where most of the country’s food is produced is another clog on the wheel of Nigeria’s economic progress, resulting in the farmers being unable to cultivate their farms.
Over two million people have been displaced as a result of insecurity in the north, with nearly 90 percent of them being farmers, BusinessDay finding shows.
Consequently, this has placed massive pressure on the agro-business sector with food inflation rising to 34.4 percent.
There have been protests in several parts of the country from the second largest city, Kano, to south-western states Osun and Ogun over the cost-of-living crisis aggravated by the removal of petrol subsidies and the free-fall in the naira exchange rate.
Ibadan, Nigeria’s largest city is the latest city where protests are being held over the economic hardship caused by the bold but ill-thought-out economic reforms of President Bola Tinubu.
Labour unions have declared a two-day nationwide mass protest slated for February 27 and 28 over the biting economic hardship in the country.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the latest unemployment data shows Nigeria’s unemployment rate rose yet again, and inflation numbers showed the prices of goods and services are moving at their fastest clip in over 18 years, hitting a record 29.9 percent in January.
The cost of food, which Nigerians spend the bulk of their income on, rose 35.41 percent in January 2024 as against 33.93 percent in December 2023.
Nigeria’s inflation rate is currently at 29.9 percent and the International Monetary Fund projects that it will eventually peak at 44 percent; coupled with the country’s currency valued at about $1 to N1,800 and naira losing a chunk of its value with every passing day, the average Nigerian family is swimming under the severe pains resulting from the economic crunch.
