Nigeria hit by worst economic crisis in a generation
Widespread hardship is triggering anger at the tough economic medicine prescribed by President Bola Tinubu, which is translating into high cost of living for ordinary citizens. Inflation hit 30% in January and the value of the Naira has dropped dramatically. DW’s Flourish Ubanyi reports from Lagos.
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00:00 Most people in Nigeria come to open markets like this one to buy food and
00:05 other essentials for their daily lives. This is one place where you can easily
00:10 see the economic crunch. Two months ago this 5,000 naira which is the equivalent
00:18 of about three US dollars would have been enough to prepare a pot of Nigerian
00:23 stew for my family of three to eat for a whole week. Now I would have been able to
00:29 get this much tomatoes, pepper, onions and even one kilo of chicken. But today this
00:38 same 5,000 naira can only get me this much and about half a kilo of chicken
00:46 which would be enough for just two days of food. We people are suffering, we are
00:53 hungry, there is no money, we are suffering. We don't even have money to send our
00:58 children to school. What is happening now is too hard. If I could speak directly to
01:05 the president I would beg him to have mercy on us. Things are too hard.
01:10 We don't know what to do. Things are very tough for Nigeria. Let the government consider and know what to do to help people.
01:19 It's not only foodstuff that have become very expensive. The costs of other
01:24 essentials have also shot up. This roll of tissue used to cost 400 naira, now it's
01:32 700. This sanitary pad, women use this every month, used to cost 250 naira, now
01:40 it's 750. This price hike is particularly affecting the middle class who have
01:48 suddenly found themselves poor. Things like clothes and shoes have become a
01:53 luxury. Akinseye Olakunle is a fashion designer whose company has been hit
01:59 hard by the cost of the dollar for imported materials. He says people often
02:05 can't afford his ready-to-wear clothes anymore and today he's struggling to
02:09 stay afloat. Almost everybody here, most business owners, imports all their stuff.
02:17 You don't know if you import it directly or indirectly. Do you understand? You buy from
02:20 someone that imports it. So everybody is connected to that dollar thing.
02:25 So we are all connected to it, except the only way we can break out is if
02:30 Nigeria itself can start producing something and the naira itself start
02:33 gaining value. After a long day of trying to get food and clothes, it would have
02:40 been great to order an Uber, but the prices are so high that most middle-class
02:45 people are taking the bus. And the poorer ones who normally take the bus, they are walking.
02:52 For me, I've been trekking. It's not a good one. You can see that I'm all sweaty because I
02:59 trek from a very long distance and it's telling on us. This time, three months ago,
03:05 four months ago, if I want to walk a very short distance, most times I decide to
03:10 buy a bike, I decide to buy an Uber or whatever. But now I'd rather trek, you understand,
03:15 than wasting money on bikes because things are really crazy at the moment.
03:22 Fixing Nigeria's failing economy was one of the main promises made by recently
03:28 elected president Bola Amed Tinubu. But less than one year after his taking
03:34 office, things are going in the opposite direction.