Inflation soars globally as the entire World struggles to cope with and recover from the loss of the coronavirus pandemic. Insecurity, flooding, and all other manmade and natural disasters continue to sell us short. Global market reality dampens our revenue outlook and we battle with a currency that continue to lose its value. The economic crisis deepens as our government borrows from the World Bank, IMF etc and leave its citizens indebted. Corruption, greed and individualism continues to make those at the corridors of power and policy makers take decisions that are mostly always fair to themselves and immediate family. More people are thrown into poverty on a daily basis and there are deleterious effects on many household budgets.
Food price in Nigeria continues to skyrocket by very alarming percentages that we begin to ponder upon how those in poor and middle income families are able to survive from day to day. Cost inflation, demand, push and pull and that which stems from raw materials continue to find a solid space that consumers are very concerned if it ever gets to disappear from the Nigerian market. Going back to get a particular commodity a day or two after it was previously purchased is one fear that exists among Nigerians much more than their fear for the ‘witches in their villages’ now.
Commodities are sold for double the prices in a difference of days or a week maximum, and the free fall of the Naira continues to trigger and bring to reality over the roof increase in prices of food and other commodities. Percentages in the increase in price have doubled in most cases. According to reports published in July of 2021 prices of eggs have gone up by 17.1% (dozen price), single eggs sale have gone up 22.41%, beans 58.28% (per plate in open markets) and 105% in September 2021, beef 15.84%, bread 7.25% for sliced and 8.99% unsliced.
Insecurity and conflict in different parts of the country makes it increasingly arduous for farmers to be able to plant and in most cases harvest their produce. People are either being kidnapped from their farms or murdered in cold blood. The transporters are scared to ply the roads because their security is not guaranteed, the reality of food production in Nigeria is one between ‘the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea’. These situations have made it easy for inflation to ‘cruise comfortably beyond the roof’ to a place where an already impoverished Nigerians cannot afford food anymore.
People living below the global poverty line in Nigeria make up some of the highest in the World and fall in global oil prices and the devastating effect of the pandemic continues to drown more people into poverty, according to the World Bank that number is well over seven million in 2021 alone. According to a report, close to 17 million children in Nigeria are undernourished, giving the country the highest level of malnutrition in Africa and the second-highest in the world. The alarming rate of hunger can be seen clearly on the faces and in the character of citizens they have become more hostile and lost their smiles, after all as the saying goes ‘a hungry man is an angry man’.
Eating food means surviving and been able to have strength, health and energy to live through life but with the astronomical price of these foods, many people are beginning to lose the ability to obtain that which helps them through life. The state of hunger in Nigeria is one that is not just painful to watch but also devastating to experience. A lot of people have gone from using gas to cooking stoves and now to firewood because they can no longer afford and keep up with the inflation in the country. The inflation rate ranges between 30% – 100% in some goods and a large number of people have lost their jobs, folded up businesses or amongst the millions who are forced to live with unemployment.
The government and other stake holders in the Country must wake up to their responsibility, all tiers of government must work with the security agencies to make sure that insecurity is brought to the barest minimum by crushing and punishing insurgents and terrorists and also getting their financiers to pay very costly prices. Farmers must be provided with enabling and safe environment to farm and accessible loans to help upgrade their farming systems. Population control should also be one on the top of the list of the government, people to should be encouraged to practice child spacing methods.
Corruption must be fought without hypocrisy and more corruption. Corruption is an ugly trend that has bedevilled us as a people, it has made it easy for a few people to amass all the wealth and leave millions of others to scramble over the leftover resources. The high rate of poverty is what has caused us to be in such an inimical situation in the country, it is what has caused so much malice in our hearts and continue to birth all sorts of insurgents in different parts of the country. The Government should as a matter of urgency introduce price control to the market and punish marketers found wanting of hoarding their goods.
A task force to ensure that food gets to the markets safely and the marketers do not inflate their prices must be set up by the government. Nigerians are already vulnerable to bandits, kidnappers, and terrorist’s etcetera adding inflation and hunger to that list will be utterly despondent.
Imam is an Author, School Teacher and founder of Climate Action Team, a children and youth based organization. She can be reached via axk4lima@gmail.com
