The inflation rate in Nigeria soared to 20.52% in August – the highest in 17 years – according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
In August 2022, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 20.52%. This was 3.52% points higher compared with the rate recorded in August 2021, which was 17.01%.
It said food inflation rose 23.12% compared with August last year and this had increased the prices of bread and cereals, as well as other food items, such as fish, meat, oil, fat, potatoes and yams.
Gas and transport costs had also skyrocketed.
Shopkeepers and traders in Maiduguri told RNI reporter Aisha Jamal that they were forced to put up prices because of the high inflation rate and that was driving customers away.
Dauda Usman said the prices of everything had soared and it was putting pressure on the sellers and their customers and affecting day-to-day living.
“Prices of commodities have increased drastically. When we buy provisions, we have to pay more, which forces us to put our prices up and every customer complains about the costs and tells us how hard it is living with all these high prices.
“Foodstuff, such as flour, sugar, spaghetti and others have all increased because the prices have doubled. If we don’t put up the prices, we do not make any profit. People tell us that they are buying half of what the normally did. It’s affecting the businesses badly and the customers, too, because they are getting less for their money.”
Usman said that if shopkeepers put the prices up too much, people just stopped buying their goods and left the shop.
“Parents are finding it hard to live as they used to. The prices of even the basic foods have soared. So, putting food on the table is that much more expensive.”
Usman said the high inflation rate directly affected shopkeepers and traders because if they did not put up the prices of goods, they did not make a profit and if they increased the prices, the profit was still less because people bought less or did not buy at all.
“It’s a lose-lose situation,” he said.
Aisha Musa Adamu, a pharmacist, said: “The price of medicine has gone through the roof. And it’s really hitting the people who most need it. Many people are on chronic medicine which they have to take daily. But now so many of them can’t afford it.
“Many people ask us to help them. They say they don’t have the correct amount because the prices have increased so much. If we can, we give them the medicine for free. But we can’t do that for everyone. And already we are facing losses.
“The companies we used to buy the medicines from have increased their prices because of the high inflation rate. If we gave free medicine to people every day, the business would collapse. As it is, we are no longer making the profits we used to.”
Abubakar Sadiq, a resident of Maiduguri, said: “In the past if you had ₦1,000, you struggled. Now the same amount of items costs ₦2,000. If you still only have ₦1,000, there’s no way you can sustain your way of living.
“We suffer a lot because the value of the naira never increases, yet the prices of commodities are always increasing. Then if you take a loan, you have to pay back the money and you are right where you were before. You cannot provide food for the family. Even every day necessities are too expensive. If you get sick, then you are really in trouble because the prices of medicine have also increased.
“Somehow the government has to produce a better plan for the masses because poverty is killing a lot of people daily. It even affects children because we cannot afford to send them to school, so they are not getting an education. You always wish your children will do better than yourself. But if they are not educated they will end up just the same. They won’t know how to run a business or become professionals. It will not only affect them, it will affect the country because they will be one of millions of children who did not receive an adequate education.”
AISHA SD JAMAL
