Nigerians dey face serious hardship as inflation continue to rise and food prices dey soar. Since President Bola Tinubu take over in May 2023, the average price of commodities for Nigeria don increase by 45.92 per cent, reaching 32.70 per cent as the headline inflation rate for September 2024. This rate don increase by 10 percentage points from the 22.41 per cent recorded in May 2023.
The National Bureau of Statistics report show say inflation rate don dey increase for 13 consecutive months due to factors like the removal of fuel subsidy, which increase transportation and production costs, and the depreciation of the naira against major currencies. By January 2024, inflation rate reach 29.90 per cent, mainly because of the high cost of food items. It further increase to 31.70 per cent in February, 33.20 per cent in March, and so on, before it drop slightly to 32.70 per cent in September.
The Central Bank of Nigeria respond with interest rate hikes by 850 basis points to try curb inflation, but this measure don raise concerns about its impact on economic growth and the cost of borrowing for businesses and consumers. Petrol price, which Tinubu promise to reduce during his campaign, don increase by about 488 per cent – from N175 in May 2023 to N1,030 in October 2024, causing more pain for Nigerians.
Members of the organised private sector and Civil Society Organisations dey lament the situation, saying government policies no dey create jobs or improve the livelihood of Nigerians. They call for a rethink of government policies and advocate for the re-jigging of the president’s cabinet, saying some ministers no dey make significant impact in their assigned ministries.
Peter Obi, the Labour Party Presidential Candidate for 2023, also speak on the issue of food insecurity. He say that while celebrating World Food Day 2024, it is important to reflect on the daily hike in food prices which has become unaffordable for average Nigerians. Obi emphasize the need for mechanised farming and serious agricultural investments to combat food insecurity and pull the nation out of the present food crisis.
According to the World Bank, more than 31.8 million Nigerians were acutely short of food in August 2024 due to security challenges and the removal of fuel subsidies. The bank also report that 15.6 million children in Nigeria were facing hunger, and predict that 82 million Nigerians, about 64 per cent of the country’s population, may go hungry by 2030 if the government fail to tackle food insecurity.
