The Nigerian Experience: Economic Insecurity and the Cost of Living

There was a time in Nigeria when a citizen's salary could last till the end of the month; when citizens could pay their rents, feed their families (nuclear and extended), send their children to good schools, and still have money left to save for the rainy days. That time is no more. Today the rain is here and the roof is leaking.

In Nigeria and other countries around the world today, economic insecurity and cost of living have become a part of our daily conversations. Parents, teachers, and students complain bitterly about the situation of the economy. 

Economic insecurity is not poverty; it is the fear of losing the little you have. Poverty is the lack of resources. Economic insecurity is far beyond poverty; it is face of a mother thinking of how to turn N1,500 to dinner; it is face of a father trying to balance paying his children's school fees, feeding and rent with his N100,000 salary. It is the face of a graduate who sends so many job applications and gets no response.

In Nigeria, economic insecurity is caused by so many factors. Some of the factors include: job insecurity, removal of fuel subsidy in 2023, cost of living, and so many others.

Firstly, job insecurity in Nigeria has posed a major problem in the society. There are so many graduates who graduated with honourable degrees but have no means of survival. Most jobs are now contract-based; while others are just small "gigs" that has little or no profit. Finding a stable job in Nigeria currently requires connection with people in power and not just your qualifications or degrees. Your level of education no longer matters; and this situation has made the interest of youth in education die. It has to social vices like armed robbery, fraudulent activity (419/yahoo), prostitution (both genders) and many more. Job insecurity has posed a huge threat in the economic situation in Nigeria.

 

Secondly, the removal of fuel subsidy in 2023 has done the economy more harm than good. The removal of fuel subsidy that happened in May 29, 2023 during the inauguration speech of Bola Ahmed Tinubu has led to an alarming inflation rate in the prices of fuel, transport, and food. The price of fuel that was N198 per liter has now increased to N1300 per liter. The rise in fuel prices has led to the rise in transport and food; because every trader needs transportation in order to work effectively, and this leads to the increase in the cost of food, transport, water etc. "Okada" riders and "danfo" drivers have increased their fare prices and they call it small money due to the price at which the fuel was bought. 

Furthermore, cost of living is another problem on its own. The rising cost of living could be linked to the removal of fuel subsidy. However, it is the amount of money or work people need to put in to survive. For example,an average Nigerian is paid N150,000 per month; and his rent is N700,000 per year, how can he/she survive? The rate at which the cost of living in Nigeria keeps rising regardless of the individual's income is becoming alarming. Because tell me why a student that has little or no source of income will have to buy books of outrageously high amounts; and still need to eat, and buy some basic necessities. When the cost of living is higher than a person's income it is called "the cost-of-living crisis". And this can lead to financial strain, whereby nothing seems to be affordable. Let's take for example a parent with 5 children in this economy whose income is N50,000 per month or a trader whose income is not stable. The salary earned cannot solve half of their basic needs for a decent standard of living; which results in taking the children to public schools that does not have a proper learning environment and proper learning resources as the private schools seem to be too expensive for parent to afford. This economic situation has led to untimely death of adults and children due to depression, malnutrition, and sickness that are expensive to treat. The rising cost of living has pushed people into doing illegal things, it has led some into drug trafficking, human trafficking, kidnapping and ritual killing. I always hear people say,"the cost of living wants to kill the living".... this may sound funny but it has become the reality of many citizens in Nigeria. Government schools that were built to reduce the stress of paying school fees in private schools are not being funded; government hospitals have now become a play thing because of lack of equipments; people die in hospitals everyday due to lack of money speculation; traders go out and come back with the same amount of goods they out with because of the price of the goods; drivers go out and come back with little or no money after driving round the roads because of the price of fuel and cost of maintaining their vehicles. 

In conclusion, economic insecurity and the rising cost of living has become a thing of concern in the country; is it the fear of losing the little we have? Or the fear of an unexpected hospital bill? Or the fear of a sudden increments in school fees? All of these are troubling situations in the economy. However, the goal is not just to reduce prices but to ensure economic security. This is to ensure that a trader is able to predict the cost that comes the next month; a teacher would be able to plan for their retirement; a salary is able to cater for all expenses and still have a little to save for the rainy days. And until the topic of economic insecurity and cost of living is attended to, it should still be talked about because when there is economic insecurity people stop to plan, they neglect education, they even refuse to get married due to economic struggles. 

A society that is filled with insecure people is a society that will never grow and no nation grows without risks.

 

Written by:

Hamilton Peculiar Chisom 

(Department of English and Literary Studies, Delta State University, Abraka)