‘Garri now main meal’; ‘God’s grace sufficient’, Nigerians say amid rising hunger

As the nation’s economic hardship bites unrelentingly, Nigerians are devising different ‘structural adjustment strategies’ to keep body and soul together.

A cross-section of respondents who spoke with journalists in Ibadan on Friday said they had resorted to rationing their meagre resources amidst other coping mechanisms.

A public servant, Funmi Alli, said she had lectured her children on managing available resources and avoiding wastage.

“I have also learnt to reduce fuel consumption by parking my car somewhere and going about the day’s work using public transport,” she said.

An accountant, Sola Alawode, said her family had adjusted to the situation by making main meals out of what used to be mere snacks.

“I told my children that garri is no longer a snack but a main meal. If you’ve taken it, it means you have taken the meal for that time,” Ms Alawode said.

An entrepreneur, Oluwasegun Abudioke, said: “The best and very realistic way to answer you is just to say that ‘God’s grace has been sufficient’.

“As I speak to you, I’m lying down on an empty stomach with so much hunger. My closest expectations are still two weeks from now, but how I will survive before then is a hard nut to crack.”

Sanmi Olatunde, a worker in an organisation, said he and his family had reduced consumption after reviewing their budget.

“What we normally buy in large quantities has been reduced to small quantities for this period,” he said.

Another entrepreneur, Motunrayo Aroloye, said: “As we all know, the economic situation of Nigeria has become alarming and a thing of concern. To cope with this economy, some adjustments have to be made.

“Stringent times call for stringent actions. We have cut down on our food purchases, and we buy only the absolutely necessary things.”

A civil servant, Oluwatoyin Diyan, who spoke on the phone from Bayelsa, said: “Once I receive my income, I focus more on making sure the income takes care of feeding and my transport fare to and fro work.

“Then, any extra is channelled into savings and investments, such as crypto trading and foreign exchange.”

A Christian cleric, Supo Odeleye, said people now managed the economy by trusting in God and cutting down on costs, buying only the needed items.

A trader, Labake Adepoju, said she had never experienced such economic turbulence in her 56 years of existence.

“Despite my hard work, I can barely feed my family for the past eight months. I can’t afford basic household and daily needs, such as preferred toiletries. Worst still, I find it difficult to buy my teenage girls their sanitary pads,” she lamented.

Olusola Ojeleye, a food vendor sent packing in January by the economic situation, said she had been trying to get her four children a meal of N600 for nearly a day without success.

“My husband works as a security personnel with a private company where he earns N30,000, and he hasn’t been paid for about two months now,” Ms Ojeleye added.

Similarly, Anifat Isiaka, a bean cake seller, said she had run out of business due to constant increments in the prices of the major ingredients she used.

“Today, I am jobless because I can’t afford N10,000, which I can manage to continue my business,” she said.

Furthermore, Shefiu Adigun, a beef trader, pointed out that the high cost of buying cows has negatively contributed to why Nigerians could not afford beef.

“For instance, I’ve stopped selling because people are not buying, and I’ve gone bankrupt in the process,” he said.

The respondents called on the federal government to do something urgently to address the situation before it got out of hand.