Heightened Suffering for Nigerians in Buildup to 2023 General Elections

As the buildup to the 2023 general elections heats up, Sunday Ehigiator writes that the lingering fuel scarcity crises, lack of Naira notes, insufficient power supply, inflation, increased food prices and the soaring cost of living, have caused Nigerians untold suffering and hardship like never experienced

“My name is Mrs Temitope, I am a textile trader at Mile 12 Market. I went to the GT Bank in Kosofe to deposit the old Naira I made for the day at the bank. The money was above N100,000.

“As soon as I was done depositing the money I realised I would need to top up my fuel and refill my cooking gas cylinder on my way home. So I attempted to withdraw money at the ATM but there was no money in it, then I decided to go to the counter inside the bank where I just deposited some money.

“They told me they can’t give me more than N5,000 cash. I was astonished because I just paid over N100,000 cash, so what’s the excuse for no cash all about?

“So I had no choice but to collect the N5,000 which came in N100 notes, with the hope of patronizing POS operators and paying with my Debit card at the filling station.

“I couldn’t go and queue up at filling stations selling N185 per litre, so I branched on of these other filling station selling fuel at N340 per litre, only for them to tell me that they are only selling fuel to those who have cash and not collecting payment by transfer or POS.

“Can you imagine? As if that confusion and stress were not enough, I left my car at the filling station and visited a POS stand nearby to collect cash. The POS stand has new notes, and they are charging N1,000 for N10,000 withdrawals and N2,000 for N20,000 withdrawals, instead of the N200 and N300 they normally charge before.

“I withdrew eventually withdrew N30,000, paid N3,000 extra as charges, then bought fuel of N15,000 at N340 per litre, before going to the gas station to fill up my 12.5kg gas cylinder. Upon getting there, 12.5kg of gas which used to be sold for N9,500, was now sold for N10,300. Where are we going in this country?

“Nigerians are the problem of this country. We take advantage of every already bad situation to exploit ourselves unnecessarily, making life harder for ourselves. Because look at everything I just told you, is everything the fault of the government? We need to talk to ourselves and change our attitude if we want a better Nigeria.”

This is the current experience of every average Nigerian out there. Just when they are still struggling to deal with rising inflation, high cost of living, soaring food prices, fuel scarcity and lack of Naira notes are the latest punishment, as they are being unnecessarily extorted to have cash in hand.

Naira Scarcity

“How much is Naira to Naira today at the parallel market?” This is the joke currently making the rounds on social media since the episodes of Naira scarcity began in January.

As the scarcity of petrol continues to bite harder, access to the redesigned naira notes remains almost impossible as many banks are claiming to be out of speculation of the note thereby refusing to load their Automated Teller Machines (ATM) with the new notes.

The situation has caused queues at the few ATMs dispensing the money and made Point of Sales (PoS) machine operators take advantage of the people by profiteering from the already bad situation.

THISDAY reported that the CBN had earlier fixed January 31 as the deadline for the exchange of old N1,000, N500 and N200 notes.

Before extending the deadline by 10 days, the apex bank had refused to shift grounds despite coming under severe criticisms and significant pressure from the National Assembly, politicians, banks, customers, and key stakeholders.

Despite the extension of the deadline by the CBN, scarcity of the new naira notes has worsened as Nigerians are unable to get cash from counters in banks in many parts of the country. It is also tough getting money from ATMs of the banks as only a few of them are loading their ATMs with a limited amount per day.

This leaves many Nigerians at the mercy of PoS operators who now charge exuberantly to withdraw cash from them, hence the earlier question, “How much is Naira to Naira today at the parallel market?”

Not to ask how PoS operators can have access to the new Naira note and the public isn’t, Nigerians are charged as high as N1,000 for N10,000 new note withdrawal and N2,000 for N20,000 by PoS operators as against an initial N200 and N300 respectively, thereby compounding the hardship already caused by the lingering fuel scarcity.

Lingering Fuel Crises

The lingering fuel scarcity has compounded the woes of millions of Nigerians struggling to survive the inflationary period as prices of items continue to make a rapid climb.

A litre of petrol in Lagos sells for as high as N280 to N350 from the N169 it was being sold four months ago, choking cash-strapped Nigerians who are already grappling with high prices of goods and services, lack of power amongst others.

The increase in fuel price and the scarcity have added to the cost of living of Nigerians which surged to a 17-year high of 21.47 per cent in November 2022.

The lingering fuel crises have only caused a loss in working hours, as many Nigerians now spent most of their days in fuel queues, or lose time while waiting for affordable transport to work, it has likewise increased the cost of transportation, cost of goods and other services, thereby causing inflation and more hardship to the people.

Rising Inflation

According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the annual inflation rate in Nigeria eased to 21.34 per cent in December of 2022, down slightly from a 17-year peak of 21.47 per cent in November 2022.

It follows 10 consecutive months of monthly increases amid a slight deceleration in prices of food at 23.75 per cent in December versus 24.13 per cent in November, 202, which is the most relevant in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket.

Prices also rose less for alcoholic beverages, tobacco and kola (18.10 per cent vs 18.48 per cent); clothing and footwear (17.55 per cent vs 17.66 per cent); recreation & culture (15.74 per cent vs 16.61 per cent) and communication (11.2 per cent vs 11.54 per cent).

Meanwhile, items such as transportation, miscellaneous goods and services, and education, among others, became more expensive.

The annual core inflation rate, which excludes farm produce, accelerated for the ninth straight month to a near 16-year high of 18.5 per cent in December 2022, up from 18.2 per cent in November.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices inched up by 1.71 per cent, the most in four months, after a 1.39 per cent increase in the previous month.

While we await an updated report for January 2023, economic experts project a worsening situation considering the fuel scarcity and inflation in prices of foods, commodities and services occasioned by the high cost of fuel and current scarcity of the Naira note.

Soaring Cost of Living

According to an update in January 2023, by Numbeo, the world’s largest ‘cost of living database, the estimated monthly cost of living for a family of four in Nigeria, excluding house rent, now stands at N782,121.7.

“A single person’s estimated monthly cost of living now stands at N214,681, without house rent.”

It revealed that the cost of living in Nigeria is on average 58.5 per cent lower than the United States of America (USA), while house rent in Nigeria is on average 28.6 per cent lower than in the USA.

“Monthly utilities which include basic needs such as power, water, garbage etc. now cost between N10,872.20 to N25,000; Internet now costs a minimum of N21,000 monthly; while clothing now costs between N7,798.08 to N50,000 monthly.”

Numbeo placed the cost of annual house rent for a one-bedroom apartment in city centres between N429,670 to N1,200,000 and N90,000 to N500,000 outside the city centres

In terms of market commodities, “Regular 1ltr milk cost and average N1,296; loaf of fresh white bread, N544.14; 1kg of white rice, N1,103,40; a dozen of eggs, N844.32; 1kg of chicken fillets, N2,050.29; 1kg of beef-round, N2,060.92; 1kg of tomatoes, N861.35; 1kg of potatoes, N943.35; 1kg of onion, N650.49; and 1kg of apples at N1,425.90”

It revealed that the average monthly cost for a child in preschool or kindergarten for a full day in private schools now stands at N41,816.07. The yearly cost for a child at an International Primary School now stands at an average of N951,432.42.

It revealed that Nigerians pay N18.66 for 1 minute of local prepaid meter tariff without discount, and yet, still suffer epileptic power supply.

Insufficient Power Supply

Power problem has remained a perennial issue in Nigeria, stifling the country’s industrial growth, limiting commercial ventures’ expansion and profitability and the well-being of its people.

The problem has manifested through unstable supply and lack of access to the grid. The latter necessitated the establishment of the Rural Electrification Agency in 2005 which was tasked with the electrification of rural and unserved communities.

Yet, according to the Energy Progress Report 2022 released by Tracking SDG 7, Nigeria has the lowest access to electricity globally, with about 92 million persons out of the country’s 200 million population lacking access to power.

The report, produced in conjunction with the International Energy Agency, International Renewable Energy Agency, United Nations Statistics Division, the World Bank and the World Health Organisation, indicated that Nigeria was followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo’s 72 million, Ethiopia’s 56 million and Pakistan’s 54 million access deficits.

The latest report, which covered 2020, noted that access to electricity in Nigeria remained poor because electrification advances failed to keep pace with population growth.

This, it said, was in contrast with Kenya and Uganda’s fastest progress in electrification due to their annualised increases of more than three per cent points between 2010 and 2020.

The report partly read, “The 20 countries with the largest access deficits were home to 76 per cent of the global population living without access to electricity (or 560 million people) in 2020. Most of the top 20 deficit countries are in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“The largest unserved populations are in Nigeria (92 million people), the Democratic Republic of Congo (72 million), and Ethiopia (56 million). The gains in the electrified population outpaced population growth in Ethiopia between 2010 and 2020; the same cannot be said of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria, where electrification advances failed to keep pace with population growth.”

The report noted that between 2010 and 2020, electrification proceeded slowly in Nigeria but that as population growth outpaced gains in access, the number of people without electricity grew by 3 million a year. It attributed this to fragility, underdevelopment and conflict.

It added, “Special attention to these countries is essential through prioritised investments and improvements in policy and regulatory frameworks to scale up electricity access toward the SDG 7 targets.”

It remains the hope of NigeNigeria to elect a leader that has the skills and attitude to overturn all these negative indices through a credible election as they go to the polls on February 25.

2023 General Elections

As Nigerians go to the polls on February 25, 2023, to elect the next leader to pilot the affairs of the country, they hope for relief not just in the economy, power, and every other sector, but in the cost of living for the common man, as it directly affects them.

They hope for a selfless leader imbibed with empathy, fear of God and the skill to upturn the woes of the country thereby creating a better living standard for the people.

The general election will start on Saturday, February 25, 2023, with the national elections, i.e. the Presidential election and elections for the two Houses of the National Assembly (the Senate and House of Representatives).

On that day, legislators for 109 Senatorial Districts and 360 House of Representatives constituencies will be elected.

The State elections, i.e. election of Governors, as well as 993 members of the State Houses of Assembly, will be held two weeks later, on Saturday, March 11, 2023. Only 28 out of 36 Governors will be elected on that day.

The other eight do not fall due because of past electoral litigations that misaligned the tenures of the affected Governors.

The delimitation details are staggering 93,469,008 registered voters expected to elect a President, 28 Governors, and their representatives for 1,491 constituencies in 176,846 polling units.

With these analogies, most importantly, Nigerians are hopeful of a free, fair and credible election as they have been continually promised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

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