Subsidy Removal: How We Are Surviving Economic Crunch—Widow Of Four Children Speaks

Rejoice John is a middle-aged civil servant in Adamawa State who lives on a little above the N30,000 national minimum wage to sustain her children since she lost her husband, a retired military officer.

But her condition became worse in the wake of the removal of fuel subsidy which has pushed prices of commodities beyond the reach of the average Nigerian.

Nigerians were thrown into hardship when the government led by President Bola Tinubu removed subsidy on May 29 thereby jerking fuel prices from N190 per litre to N520 and later N620.

The rising cost of living as a result of the policy is taking a toll on the average Nigerian and those living below the poverty level. Inflation has jumped to 22.7 per cent while food inflation was 25 per cent in the consumer price index for June.

She told THE WHISTLER that, “I can no longer afford two meals in a day for me and my children. Things have become so difficult to the point that some of us can’t even breathe. Before now, I could feed myself and my children comfortably from my little pay.

“I stay at Ngalbi and I pay for transportation to work at Hong Local Government every day from the little salary I earn.”

A bag of groundnut now sells for N60,000 while a bag of maize is N50,000 while a bag of rice is around N50,000.

Residents of Ngalbi in Hong like Rejoice usually buy grains in a popular measure called ‘mudu’ which is approximately 1.13kg. The mudu are not of the same size in most areas.

Prior to the hike in food prices, a mudu of maize was less than N750 but it now costs N1,300 in Hong and most villages.

For groundnut, the same quantity has also risen to N2,000, from less than N1,000.

“In Hong, our meals revolve around these food items. I earn N32,000 so how can I feed my children in the midst of this hardship? The quality of food we eat has reduced and I can’t even afford paying for transport to work.” She lamented.

But the school teacher revealed that she and some other people had found a way to cope in the midst of the hardship.

The mother of four explained that groundnut which forms a major part of their delicacy has been abandoned by families that can not afford it.

She said, “With my salary at N32,000, certainly I can’t afford maize for corn flour, so what I have resorted to is to buy casava flour which costs around N500. With this, my children and I can eat.

“Most of us go for spaghetti pasta that is sold for N450 instead of rice which costs more than N1,300 per mudu.”