Abakaliki Residents Lament Economic Hardship

Some residents of
Abakaliki have decried the present economic hardship in the country, and called on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently address the rate of inflation.
The respondents in separate interviews said that the current inflationary rate had adversely affected the cost of essential goods and services.
According to them, the effect of the economic recession had brought untold hardship, making cost of living unbearable for many citizens.
They called on the Federal Government to take urgent actions to address the economic downturn to ameliorate the sufferings of the people, especially the ordinary citizens.
The residents, who also blamed the hardship on the removal of fuel and kerosene subsidies, hike in electricity tariff as well as ban on the importation of rice and other essential food items, called on the FG to reappraise the policy.
Mr Charles Abara, a trader at Abakpa Main Market in Abakaliki, said that the value of the naira had continued to plunge against other international currencies due to the high inflation while prices of commodities were on steady increase.
He said that Nigerians were suffering untold social and economic hardship and appealed to the President to take steps to address the prevailing economic woes.
“The pains are becoming unbearable and people can hardly afford a meal a day while prices of goods and services keep increasing on a daily basis.
“A bushel of local rice which sold at between N3, 500 and N4, 000 in 2015 is presently selling at N10, 000, depending on the quality.
“Due to the ban on importation of foreign rice, a bushel now sells for between N20, 000 and N24, 000 depending on the product,” Abara said.
He said that government did not put adequate palliative in place before the ban on the importation of foreign rice.
Another resident, Mr Reuben Ogah urged government to bring out palliatives to cushion the present hardship.
Ogah, a civil servant said that the current economic climate was biting much harder on civil servants whose incomes were fixed and called for an upward review of salaries of civil servants to meet the current economic reality.
“The times are indeed hard for Nigerians, especially the civil servants who are on fixed monthly income.
“There should be a review of civil servants salary to meet the existing economic reality in the country because most of us in civil service are starving to death,’’ he said.
Another resident, Mrs Marbel Uwa regretted that the situation had become so unbearable that she could barely feed her family of six, let alone pay house rent and other utility bills.
“The inflationary rate has kept soaring, the economic hardship unprecedented. Our leaders should do the needful to put the economy back on track.
“People barely survive in an economy where prices of staple food items and other essential services have risen beyond the reach of the average person on the street,” she said.