(3 Minutes Read)
Prices of food items in Nigeria have continued to be on an upward spiral for some time now, with its attendant negative effects on the masses. Many are dying of hunger, while so many others are suffering from one kind of ailment or the other, due to malnutrition. The level of inflation is frightening and it has virtually affected the price of everything, including food items.
The country’s currency, the Naira, keeps plummeting in the international market, thereby worsening the economic woes of many Nigerian households. Just a few days ago, protests broke out in Niger and Kano States over the high cost of living. Unfortunately, the government has been unable to find a solution to the situation, particularly to the consistent rise in the price of wheat flour, the raw material for bread. The situation has become a big source of worry for both bakers and consumers.
The bakers lamented that they used to buy a bag of flour for N16,000, but now, the same bag is sold for N43,000 and they cannot afford it. Currently, they use the IRS flour produced by Abdussamad; it is the best for baking products, but one cannot afford it any longer. If nothing is done, the baking industry is left with no choice, but to close down.
However, while some people blame the development on the fuel subsidy removal, which they argued had affected virtually the prices of everything, including transport, others blame it on the continued fall of the Naira against the dollar. Those pushing the fuel subsidy removal argument are insisting that the policy raised the prices of fuel and diesel by more than 400 percent, and this has correspondingly moved the cost of transport to the rooftop.
Fuel prices increased by 400 percent following the fuel subsidy removal, and you don’t expect all things to be equal. It has affected prices of virtually all goods and services. Diesel is also there and for those who use trucks to convey their products, the prices will go up. This situation is telling on bakers because a lot of them have been thrown out of business. They can’t afford the price of flour now.
Read Also:
https://trendsnafrica.com/usd-2bn-ifc-investments-in-nigeria/
https://trendsnafrica.com/nigeria-false-foreign-exchange-claims-straining-the-naira/
Much as the subsidy argument remains tenable, another school of thought has attributed the development to the high Naira to Dollar exchange rate at the international market. Many people are already out of business, and more would soon follow if nothing is done by the government to address the continued fall in the value of the Naira, particularly against the Dollars.
