Column No.6: Food prices, and other Nigerian horror stories

Like most of you reading this, I have been suffering the affliction called Nigeria for a long time. Do not get me wrong: I love my country with all my heart, even if it appears as if my affections are quite unrequited. Since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Thanos-snap (when he infamously declared ‘subsidy is gone!’ […]

Like most of you reading this, I have been suffering the affliction called Nigeria for a long time. Do not get me wrong: I love my country with all my heart, even if it appears as if my affections are quite unrequited. Since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Thanos-snap (when he infamously declared ‘subsidy is gone!’ almost gleefully), everything has been on a downward spiral. That very day, petrol prices began to climb steadily, as the value of the naira fell woefully. It was clear, even to a child, that it was the beginning of the end, in all sorts of ways. While we were all coming from the locust years of ex-president Muhammadu Buhari’s eight years of suffering, it was understandable if we thought it could not possibly get any worse. Were we wrong!

Not too long after that May 29 2023 cataclysm, things got steadily bad. The dollar began to thrash the weak-anyways naira more than it already was doing. The next thing was that even fried akara by the roadside became affected by the dollar’s violence upon our currency. The prices of everything – and I mean everything – skyrocketed to vertigo-inducing heights. Books, clothes, perfume, wristwatches, shoes and a host of things which really should not be luxuries, became exactly that almost overnight. While you could live without the latest Balmain shirt, or your wife would not be offended if she did not receive an anniversary gift of a Dior scent, one certainly would not (or should not) swear off food, or avoid a trip to the hospital.

Whenever one goes out these days, the number of beggars – corporate or otherwise – seems to have exploded. And it is quite clear people have resorted to that simply because they, and their families, are starving. People have resorted to all kinds of dire methods to feed, and some have even resorted to crime. Only last week, my aged mother’s residence was burgled by robbers who took away everything of value while she was recovering in a hospital. I am not even remotely justifying crime, but that kind of robbery had not happened in that neighbourhood for a long time. It must be hunger. Even Yaya, as we call our beloved mother, sighed in sadness after the incident, and remarked ‘they must be hungry’.

There are more food horror stories, but let’s wait for later. So, in January, I had a bad auto crash, but praise Allah I am alive today. While on admission in hospital, I had the time and liberty to see the steady rise of the prices of crucial medication. I weathered through, ultimately footing a bill that would have easily bought a 2014 Toyota Camry, of course in pre-subsidy removal days. From March to now, I have been on the blood-thinner called Xarelto, which I started to buy at N15,000 for a pack of 10 pills.

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Today, the same pack of pills costs N29,000 at a very popular pharmacy located at the centre of the city, which is where the drug kept zooming up at. (Note: I have receipts) However, smaller (very good) pharmacies in Kado, sell it at N23,000. See what’s happening? Some price problems are caused by individuals, or their organisations, true, but one can only guess what they are going through at their various supply chains, many of which are tied to the dastardly dollar.

With the above nightmare regarding my crucial medication, I still thank God, but I always wonder about those people who cannot even afford something as basic as malaria medicine. If food and medication being beyond the reach of ordinary citizens is a very bad thing, imagine how things must be for the truly poor. If you have an elitist heart and all that I have pointed out does not touch it, let me localise for your sake: I have read in the news that domestic air fares have surpassed tickets to some West African countries. Of course that has created a touting system to undermine the ticketing one.

More pricing wahala which can be traced back to our now-infamous ‘Subsidy is gone!’ moment. I mean, I certainly vividly remember a time when a return ticket to Dubai was roughly N170,000 on Emirates. Today, that will not take you to Lagos. The words of a passenger in a Daily Trust story is haunting: “I paid more from Anambra to Lagos than from Lagos to Accra, Ghana. In the same week, it cost me more from Abuja to Lagos than from Lagos to Accra.”

Now, I am not calling for subsidy to be brought back, but if that is what will ease the pain of Nigerians now, maybe it should be considered. What I am calling for is, as a matter of emergency, for the Federal Government (read: Tinubu) to please do something about the endless rise of prices. There was already a lot of pain in the land, and his action on the day he was sworn in worsened it. If the president, who wields his own figurative Infinity Gauntlet, chooses to snap his finger and fix things up somewhat, he will, unlike Thanosof Marvel infamy, be a hero instead.

First published  20th July, 2024.