There has been a groaning inflation in the cost of food, building materials and transportation in recent years since the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Nigerians are seeking out different means of survival to adjust to the current crumbling economy.
According to research by the LEADERSHIP Data Mining Department, many families and people in the nation continue to worry a lot about the expense of purchasing the goods and services needed to maintain a certain standard of living.
What is Inflation?
The rate at which prices increase over a specific time period is known as inflation. It can also be characterized as a price increase, which over time translates to a loss of purchasing power.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), as of June 2022, Nigeria’s headline inflation rate increased year over year to 18.60%.
According to the records, the percentage change is the highest it has been in the previous five years.
The hike in price of building materials
In Nigeria, the cost of cement and other building materials has been steadily rising, and there is no indication that this trend will come to a stop.
In fact, there has been a significant increase in the cost of construction supplies, which has had an impact on the cost of housing units created by the government and developers.
For instance, iron rods now cost between N4,600 and N4,800, while a bag of cement that cost N3,400 a year ago now costs between N4,600 and N4,800. For example, a 12mm rod used to cost N1,800 but is now N4,200.
A trip of 30-tonne granite cost N180,000; it now costs N300,000; a trip of sand cost N12,000; it now costs N35,000; and a block costing N140 now costs N300.
In addition, a pack of Spanish/Italian tiles, which originally cost N3,200, now costs N7,000 instead of the previous N2,700 per pack that they did last year. Additionally, the cost of iron rods in the 10mm, 12mm, and 16mm sizes has increased from N344,000, N330,000, and N330,000 in February 2021 to N442,200, N446,450, and N442,200, respectively.
The cost of imported roofing sheets and ceiling tiles increased to N3,500 per square meter (psqm), while plywood went from costing N10,000 per sheet last year to N12,500 this year.
Niyi Adebayo, the minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, had warned the public from storing and buying the commodity in a frenzy because the current market price was only transitory.
In order to fulfill the rising demand for the good, he claimed that talks between the government and cement producers were intensifying.
Transportation
Inflation in Nigeria is at 15.63%. In September 2021, Nigeria’s transport inflation reached a 15-year high of 18.74%, up 50 basis points from the 18.24% figure from the previous month. Additionally, this is the greatest level since August 2007.
Nigeria’s transportation industry has faced numerous difficulties recently, including a rise in the cost of products and services due to the Russia-Ukraine war’s impact on diesel prices. Along with additional difficulties, traffic jams continue to steal people’s time at work, while bad road conditions and frequent kidnappings along different transportation routes put many people on edge. This has also contributed to the increase in building materials and cost of food.
The hike in the cost of food
The majority of Nigerians who are impoverished are settling for less expensive goods and services in an effort to deal with their dwindling purchasing power as soaring inflation continues to wreak havoc on the country’s citizens.
Nigerians pay more for imported commodities due to the high exchange rate and lose buying power as a result of economic reality, causing food inflation to increase by approximately 100% in just ten years.
The rising cost of products and services in Nigeria is forcing people to make creative adjustments to their way of life. Experts claim that as prices increase or income decreases, individuals are reacting to the circumstance by choosing less expensive alternatives to more expensive goods and services.
Nigerians react
What are people’s reaction to the inflation situation in Nigeria? How are Nigerians coping?
A trader from Lugbe who went by the name Mr. Solomon claimed that the price of building materials had increased significantly, with a bag of cement now costing N4,600 and a bundle of zinc N28,000, respectively.
He estimates that the cost of construction materials makes up about 65% of the overall cost of the project.
“Invariably, building materials form the main factors that restrict the supply of housing. Having said that, it has been observed that one main barrier to the realisation of effective housing in Nigeria, as revealed in successive government efforts, has been the cost of housing in the country,” he said.
Iron rod and other building material dealer Mr. Kunle Adeniyi attributed the unpleasant trend to the manufacturers’ decision to create a false scarcity.
He said: “The manufacturers decided to create artificial scarcity so that they could make more money. They have an association and they told them to stop production for certain numbers of days, in order to create more demand than supply. That is the strategy they are using to create scarcity in the market so that when people are looking for available products, they can buy at any price when demand is more than the supply”.
As consumers are left with no choice but to pay high prices for the goods, he requested that the government put in place some sort of regulation that would regulate the operations of the manufacturers.
“The purchasing power of the people has been affected following the increase because the number of tonnage per trailer that will be sold monthly has reduced drastically. When people are supposed to buy like two or three trailers, the money they have budgeted can’t even buy one trailer.
“People are now buying iron that is considered not usable; iron that has rusted is now back into the market. We believe that this will in turn reduce the quality of construction which people are doing and this could cause building collapse,” Adeniyi said.
A consumer in Abuja, Malik Abdullahi, said,
“Due to the rising inflation, I have reduced the quantities of the things we buy at home and go for the cheaper alternatives even if the quality is low.
“Inflation rate is affecting everything in Nigeria. Data prices, transportation fares, school fees and stationeries for children – everything has gone up. Recently, I had to change school for my children to the one I can afford.’’
He also said that food prices, in particular, have risen.
“The price of a bag of rice went from N12,000 to N28,000, a carton of chicken soared from N12,000 to N20,000, a bag of pepper rose from N15,000 to  N22,000. The varying pricing of items allows us to choose other goods that are less expensive,’’ he added.
CONCLUSION
In the end, Nigerians can only hope for the best and pray for a reverse in the inflation of goods and services in Nigeria.
The government have failed us, cost of food, transportation are on the high, and families struggle tooth and nail to feed daily.
We can only hope the upcoming 2023 election brings the change we have been praying for and turn around the hardship of Nigerians.
