I remember how life was in the mid and late 80s. As a child born in the mid 70s, I was able to witness how things were in terms of cost of goods and services. Having been born into an average home, I grew to see my father own a car, an Escort Ford. He was an automobile engineer who worked with the British Engineering West African Company ( BEWAC ), and we had an averagely comfortable childhood. We cooked on a gas stove in the house way back then, even then: the 12.5kg cylinder that is almost everywhere today was not common in most homes as at then. Many were using kerosene stoves while we had both gas and kerosene stoves in my own home. BATA was our stop shop for shoes and the Kingsway store was where my dad got provisions most times. I knew this first-hand because he took me along shopping. I noticed we stopped buying foodstuff in bags around 1990-91. My dad was always complaining that things were getting expensive. Between 1993 and 1996, it was tough. That period was the military era that I was able to witness with vivid memories as a child. Since that time till now, things have been going from bad to worse.
At the time I mentioned, with 1993 as a case study, with 50 kobo, I could still eat a nice meal. I remember I attended school with that sum even while I was in secondary school. Most homes during the period could still afford three square meals because though things were getting more expensive than usual, it was still bearable. A lot of public schools, though not truly free, were still affordable and it was a rare sight to see children out of school. Only truants were found on the streets. This means education was affordable. There were very few private primary or secondary schools unlike now because the public schools had the best hands. I remember throughout primary school, we were always given free lunch. There were food vendors who had the duty to put varieties of food in our bowls which were usually deposited on a particular table just outside our classrooms.
The late 90s was a tough period for Nigerians because that was when inflation came with full force. Many homes could not afford three square meals and the rate of out-of-school kids increased. Many lost their jobs at a point and many companies were leaving the country in droves. That was about the time companies like BATA left the country. The story I narrated above is now a child’s play compared to what we are experiencing today. An average child born in the year 2000 downward does not know how the Kobo looks like. 1 kobo, 2 kobo 10 kobo, 50 kobo, N1, N5, N20, N50, even N100, cannot buy anything reasonable in the present country that they grew to see and know. There is no gainsaying that things are going from bad to worse and if care is not taken, the average Nigerian child might grow up to resent the atmosphere and may choose a better place of abode as a means of survival.
The ‘japa syndrome’ which everyone is familiar with today evolved to this level just because quite a number of young men and women got better opportunities in other countries which their own fatherland could not provide. The immigration fever has also caught a lot of adults and if care is not taken, quite a number of good hands will be lost to these countries that have better plans for their citizens and residents of different territories. No one wants to live with uncertainty when there is an option of certainty elsewhere.
The rate at which the prices of goods and commodities rise daily is very scary. You are not sure of getting a particular good that you bought at a certain price today for the same price tomorrow. There is also the tendency of not even being able to get enough money to purchase the good. Many citizens who operate the popular Point of Sale machines popularly called (POS ) do lament that the banks do not give them enough cash. A POS operator, Miss Tope Adebanwo, lamented that she was given just N20,000 and there are times she can only get N10,000. When asked how she manages to get enough cash for her business, she said she is operating two bank accounts and as she is a businesswoman who sells other things, so she uses the money accrued from her business daily to be able to meet her customer’s demands. Due to the incessant daily rise in prices, a lot of people can no longer afford things they need and this is greatly affecting many entrepreneurs. A lot of people will rather buy foodstuff instead of putting money on soaps, detergents and the likes. People are learning to forgo quite a number of daily needs and will rather ‘manage’ things that are presumed to be alternatives. In a country battling inflation, decline in customer patronage can affect the economy because the purchasing power of people will decrease due to rising prices of goods. Individuals may cut low their spending. As the economy is predictable, consumers tend to lack confidence in its stability.
It will help in a long way if the government can cut its spending and increase or decrease tax. Policies that can stimulate economic growth should be given more priority. Nigeria still depends on oil revenue and as it stands, this will not help the economy. The country needs to invest in agriculture and boost food production and distribution. Foodstuffs and household commodities are too expensive and as money isn’t circulating as it should, both the consumers and producers will keep getting hurt unless something is done. Consumers should get educated on budgeting and small savings even as hard as it is. Many families live from hand to mouth but even at that, budgeting can help so that one can still get a lot even with the little at hand.
- Ishola is on the staff of Nigerian Tribune
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