Nigerians urge FG to mitigate economic challenges

Some Federal Capital Territory Residents on Thursday urged the Federal Government to take urgent steps to mitigate the economic challenges facing the country.

They said although the government is not relenting in addressing the problems, it has to escalate its response to high cost of goods and services.

The latest inflation figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that Nigeria’s headline inflation climbed to 34.19 per cent in June.

According to the report on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate in June 2024 was 11.40 per cent higher than the rate recorded in June 2023 at 22.79 per cent.

Harrison Ikani, a tailor, said the prices of materials used in making clothes were on a continuous increase, which had led to low patronage.

“We have been adapting and adjusting to the very miserable state of the country’s economy and it is getting very exhausting.

“It has been very difficult for me to make sales in my shop due to the high cost of materials I use to make my wares.

“These materials have been on a continuous increase, which has greatly affected the prices of my clothing items making it difficult for people including friends and family to patronise me.

‘’It is a very unfortunate situation because I have to provide for my family. The government needs to intervene and make things better for citizens”, he said.

Similarly, Pamela Inojie, a market woman, said she was experiencing low patronage because of the increase in prices of food items.

“It has not been easy selling my tomatoes and peppers due to the increase in their prices, some of my customers will say they are not buying tomatoes for now.

“Some Nigerians have been buying cucumbers and carrots in place of tomatoes and pepper due to the high costs of these items.

“My tomatoes get spoiled sometimes because nobody is buying them.

“This is my only source of income and as a single mother of two children it has been very difficult in these times. There is house rent, school fees to pay among other things”, A lady said

Ogheneyoma Akpevba, a civil servant, said, her family has adjusted to using cucumber to make their meals because of the outrageous price of tomatoes.

Chinonso Amadi, a Bolt driver, said the economic situation in the country has left him unemployed five years after graduation.

“I am a graduate of Accounting and for the past five years I have been looking for a job.

“Luck smiled on me, I got a vehicle, though it’s not mine, which I have started using for Bolt.

‘’People hardly use Bolt these days because it has become expensive due to the removal of fuel subsidy. So it is not reality pay like before’’, he said.

Amadi, who said he barely made up to N10,000 daily, said most of the money went to the owner of the vehicle.

“It has not been easy, I must say. Everyone is struggling to survive, government needs to take concrete steps to address the economic hardship in the country “, he said.

Joseph Sanni, a tricycle driver commonly known as “Keke”, said he became a keke driver because he could not get a job even though he was a graduate.

‘’I am a graduate of Engineering now turned keke driver, I am lucky to even have something that brings in little money but it is not sufficient, I barely make ends meet.

“This kind of thing cannot happen in developed countries. It is incredibly depressing at the economic state in which we have found ourselves”, he said.

Sanni called on the government to do something about the economic situation so every Nigerian could thrive financially.