Food is a basic human necessity, yet for many Nigerians, meeting this need has become a daily battle.
Take the case of Imoleayo Bamiteko, an Ekiti-based cobbler, who can barely afford one meal a day and treks to work among other cost-saving measures to survive monthly.
“Who even made the rules that we must eat three times a day, I can’t even remember the last time I ate three times a day, sometimes once, sometimes twice, even the quality of the food has tremendously reduced. I make sure there is reduction in my spending, before I take bike a lot, but now, sometimes, I trek”
With food inflation at a staggering 33.88%, Bamiteko’s plight is shared by many, including Hassan Abubakar who works as an administrative staff at a higher institution.
He laments that spending most of his earnings on food leaves no room for saving or planning for future needs.
“I think the difference for me is that I have set some priorities, what I do more is to prioritize my feeding more that my savings, unlike before when I save more than 30% to 40% from my salary, but as it is now, I have diverted my savings to my feedings”
These stories reflect the hardship endured by Nigerians since President Bola Tinubu’s administration removed the fuel subsidy, causing fuel prices to skyrocket from ₦198 per litre in May 2023 to ₦1,100 by November 2024.
These challenges are further compounded by the decision of the President to float the naira which saw the value of the naira plummet from N460/$ in May 2023 to N1680/$ as of November 2024.
While the Tinubu administration maintains that these reforms are critical to restructuring Nigeria’s economy, they insist on the need for patience.
According to the new Special adviser to the president on policy communication, Daniel Bwala—once a critic of these policies, Nigerians should be optimistic about these reforms with hopes that by the first quarter of 2025, the country will experience a clear difference in governance compared to previous administrations.
“The posture of Mr President when he took the oath of office to the Nigerian people is that, ‘I have undertaken this task and I know the onerous responsibility and I am committed to it, the box is on my table, all I require form the Nigeria people is patience, this reforms we have embarked upon is tough, but it’s what we are prepared for’” Bwala said.
However, Senior Economist Paul Alaje says that these reforms will not produce the desired outcomes unless the administration tackles the persistent cycle of foreign borrowing, revisits subsidy mechanisms, and pegs the naira.
Alaje said “we need to take bold steps of pegging the naira, how would you remove subsidy in a floating regime, we are subsidizing either in FX or directly, how do you produce in an economic that is weak, and you are increasing cost of energy?
“If truly we want this economy to surge, we need to find alternative revenue, if we are able to take the bold step when we remove subsidy, we need to review that agreement” he added.
Amid these divergent viewpoints, Nigerians remain caught in the crossfire, asking one pivotal question: when will real change come?
