Recession: We’re dying, Nigerians lament

ON the lips of many Nigerians across the country are lamentations and tales of woe as hardship occasioned by the prevailing wind of recession bites harder. Apart from feeding, a host of the citizenry, who spoke to Vanguard, said they are finding it difficult to meet other basic needs of life. Price of foodstuff doubles in Imo, Jigawa: The current hardship sweeping across Imo State, hit a feverish pitch, weekend, as the prices of some major staple foods have gone out of the reach of many families. Vanguard’s check at markets in Owerri revealed that most food items had gone up by 100 to 150 percent in the state.
A bag of rice now goes for between N23,000 and N25,000, as against N8,000 in 2014. Similarly, 30-litre container of palm oil that was sold for N5,000, now goes for N12,500, while a measure of beans now sells for N1,500 as against N500. A tiny ball of onion sells for between N10 and N20, depending on the bargaining power of the buyer, as a small paint bucket of garri, which was sold for N300 now goes for between N700 and N850. Most residents who spoke to Vanguard said that their purchasing power has gone down so badly that they are barely managing to survive. “We have either deleted completely or reduced the frequency of serving some foodstuffs in my family’s menu. Food items have really gone out of the reach of poor people in Imo State”, a widowed mother lamented. Continuing, the anguished mother said: “My children and I have been surviving by sheer God’s grace. It has not been easy to pay our medical bills and the children’s school fees”. A staff of one of the ministries in Owerri, said it has not been easy for Imo workers and pensioners.