• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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BusinessDay

Resilient Nigerians mark yuletide

Christmas-shoping

Nigerians of all classes are defying the harsh economic realities of the day to join the rest of the world in celebrating this year’s Christmas.

BDSUNDAY visits to markets across Lagos yesterday saw the markets spilling over with citizens making frantic last-minute purchases ahead of the celebration on December 25.

When this newspaper visited some motor parks in the city, it was a similar scenario as many long-distance travellers were seen waiting on queues for buses to arrive. The airports were also packed full with travellers.

This is in spite of the unfriendly economic environment that the citizens have been forced to live under since the country entered one of its worst economic recessions in recent history.

Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy with an estimated population of 180 million, slipped into recession mid 2016, having contracted 2.06 percent between April and June of that year.

Although the country is officially out of recession, the economic realities do not leave much to cheer about. Over 30 states of the federation owe workers’ salaries between two and 12 months.

Nigeria’s unemployment rate climbed to 23.1 percent in Q3 of 2018, from 18.8 percent in Q3 of 2017, according to a recent National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report.

Consumer prices rose 11.28 percent from a year earlier, compared with 11.26 percent in October, the NBS said on December 14. This is the highest since May. Prices rose 0.8 percent in the month.

Incidents of widespread lay-offs and cutbacks by companies have continued, according to a recent report by SBM Intelligence.

Similarly, there are the problems of purchasing power decreasing relative to earnings, and pockets of unrest in key farming regions have continued showing up on the shelves of markets.

“Nigerian consumer remains constrained. While food inflation still increased, the rate of increase has slowed down. The irony was that as the purchasing power of Nigerians has decreased, prices kept rising rapidly until the recent slowdown,” said Cheta Nwanze, head of research at SBM Intelligence.

It is amid these turbulent times that Nigerians are finding ways of putting smiles on their faces as Christians all over the world celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Not even the soaring prices of goods and services can deter Nigerians from joining in this once-in-a-year celebration. Many from the Eastern part of the country especially use the season for homecoming and family reunion.

BDSUNDAY checks show transportation costs from Lagos and Abuja to many parts of the country have more than doubled in the past few days owing to the approach of the festive season. This is despite that there has been neither scarcity of nor increase in the pump price of fuel.

An online check by this newspaper shows that Good is Good Motors charges N15,000 for an average Lagos-Port Harcourt trip this season. The transport company also charges N16,500 from Lagos to Abuja, N16,000 from Abuja to Port Harcourt, N11,000 from Abuja to Enugu, and N14,000 from Lagos to Umuahia, the Abia State capital.

The above rates are similar for other transport companies checked.

Similarly, airlines plying domestic routes in the country have hiked their fares as BDSUNDAY checks show a price range of N42,000-N51,300 (one-way ticket) for a regular flight on Abuja-Owerri route, as against N28,000-N35,000 before now.

Lagos-Port Harcourt route now costs between N65,000 and N70,100, while Abuja-Enugu goes for between N41,000 and N45,000 depending on the airline.

Food prices have also remained high. A  50kg bag of rice (imported) sold for N18,000 as at December 19, while a 100kg bag of beans (white) sold for N38,000. Similarly, a 60kbag of garri (white) sold for N4,500100kbag of groundnut (edible) N25,000100kbag of maize (white) N18,500100kbag of onion (violet) N38,00025ltr of palm oil (red) N10,900; 100kg bag of sorghum (red) N16,000; 100kg bag of Soya beans N25,000, while 40kg basket of tomatoes (cooking) sold for N10,000 as at yesterday.

A medium-sized broiler chicken sold for between N5,500 and N6,000 as at yesterday, while an old layer sold for N1,800.

CHUKS OLUIGBO & CHINWE AGBEZE