The cost of living in Nigeria has risen in recent time. Many Nigerians are not happy as this is affecting all areas of existence. In this interview with RITA OLUWASAANUFUNMI, ABIGAIL AKINADEWO, ELIZABETH BABAWALE and MERCY AKINADEWO, people spoke about the current situation of things in the country and what they think should be the way forward.

GANIYAT TAOHEED

I am a yam seller. The government should have mercy on the commoner. The country appears stagnant. I have not made sales, market is not moving. The government should help reduce the cost of things because we, the commoners are suffering. I don’t have money to buy goods due to the low rate of people buying things. If things are too expensive, there will be no people to buy from us, and we won’t be able to buy from others.

MODINAT OLAYIWOLA

I am a bread seller, things are expensive and some people can’t afford to buy a N500 loaf of bread, and at the same time a N300 bread cannot satisfy them, but because they just want to put something in their stomach, they have to buy the N300 one because a half loaf is better than none. To make ends meet is not easy. The government should help reduce the price of essential things like petrol. So that bread distributors won’t be complaining of the high cost of petrol affecting their charges.

IYABO SAMSON

I am a corn seller. The high cost of living is so demanding. One and half bag of corn that we used to buy for N300 from farmers is now N5,000. If I should start removing the maize from the husk, and start selling, it will be N800 before I would be able to pay for transport. Some people would still buy on credit because money is scarce, and I won’t be able to hold back because I maize myself. I haven’t eaten since morning; imagine me roasting a dry corn to eat. The government should help us to bring down cost of things.

MRS DORCAS SAANI

I want to beg the government to help reduce the price of things; they are our leaders. The lower the cost of things, the higher the chance we have to cater for ourselves. Some children are meant to be in school, but because of the high cost of living, they are married off, which is very bad. They ask for our votes so they can change the system, but everything is the same. Everyone is suffering, they should not forget us and God will help them.

SALEWA OLAIFA

Things are expensive. The government is trying and we the commoners are doing ourselves. Three days ago, our market got burnt; people were stealing some people’s goods. Things are getting out of hand and the reason we are here is because we can’t stay at home idle. May God and our government come to our aid. This hardship is too much, but we keep pushing, expecting change, and the little we could, we are doing it.

OMOLARA OLADIMEJI

I am a pepper seller, things are too expensive. Patronage is not encouraging, a basket of tomatoes before, was N25,000, but now it is N50,000 and for the bonet pepper, it was not expensive before, but now a basket of bonet pepper is between N170,000 and N180,000. Everything is in the hands of God, it takes two to three days before I could sell out all my goods. The government should help reduce the cost of living and the price of items.

ELIZABETH MUSTAPHA

I am a locus beans seller. The government should help us. Nobody is ready to sacrifice their lives in the farm. Banditry should be resolved by the government so that farming can continue without fear.

BIODUN ADEPOJU

The high cost of goods is killing us, it is affecting the way we are spend money on our families. The goods we used to buy N700 as a clothe seller is now N2,000, while some are N5,000. The higher the cost, the lower our profit. The major issue is the high cost of petrol. It is affecting our business. The government should help resolve it, it is affecting our children and our homes too.

JIMOH MOSHOOD

As a bike rider, the high cost of fuel is affecting me. Before I made up to N20,000, now it is difficult to even have N10,000 to take home. We are just trying to balance everything. May God have mercy on us. What I have to tell the government is that they should come to our aid, resolve the high cost of petrol because we are not happy with the way things are in Nigeria.

OMOLARA AKINPELU

May God help us and everything should go well the way we want. The amount used for buying three bales before is now the amount we are using to buy one. A bale of cardigan before was between N60,000 and N70,000, but now it is N180,000. The government should help us, I can’t really say this is the reason behind the high cost of things, we are just adapting to things. God help us. (Nigerian Tribune)