Some workers and unemployed youths on Friday lamented the rising cost of living, saying the increase in the prices of food items had gone up beyond their reach.
They said that the prices of common foodstuffs such as rice, beans and garri, among others, had risen beyond what they could afford.
A civil servant in Lagos State, who simply gave her name as Kaosara, told one of our correspondents that though the state government did not owe workers, the astronomical increase in the prices of food items had been taking its toll on their salaries.
According to her, the prices of rice and other staple food increased at the wake of the ongoing petrol scarcity.
“The prices of food items I was buying for N1, 000 before soared by about 200 per cent,” Kaosara said.
Her colleague in the state Ministry of Education, who identified himself as Olugbemiga Abidakun, said the rise in the prices of foodstuffs had been gulping about 70 per cent of his salary.
The situation appears to be worse in Oyo, Osun, Ondo and other states where workers are being owed salaries for between four and eight months.
An employee of the Oyo State Ministry of Education, who preferred to be addressed as Kamaldeen, told one of our correspondents on the telephone that he and other members of his family had been eating once in a day, instead of the regular three square meals.
“Our condition in Oyo State is worse; we are not receiving our salaries and yet, the prices of food items have increased beyond what we can afford,” he said.
When asked how he managed to buy food to feed his family, Kamaldeen said, “It has become a routine in my house that we eat once in a day; we eat at about 5.30pm everyday and after that, everybody will go to bed at about 10pm.”
Civil servants in Osun, Ondo and other states, who spoke on condition of anonymity, appealed to the government at all levels to do something about the rise in the prices of foodstuffs.
According to them, it is no longer news that they are being owed, but it will be an embarrassment to the government that they are dying of hunger or they are caught stealing food.
“The unnecessary rise in the prices of food when salaries are not being paid has made our condition worse,” one of them said.
A 29-year-old unemployed graduate of Accounting, who simply gave her name as Moromoke, said she hardly asked her civil servant-parents for food because she knew what they were passing through.
Also, a Higher National Diploma graduate in Mass Communication, Biodun Adenikawo, said he had been living with his parents since he graduated four years ago.
Adenikawo said he always felt embarrassed anytime his mother was lamenting the rise in the prices of food items.
He said that having lost his father six years ago, he found it difficult these days to complain to his mother anytime he was hungry as a result of his joblessness.
The rise in the prices of food items has, however, caught the attention of the labour union which described the situation as a symptom of the crisis in the economy.
The General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. Peter Ozo-Eson, said the situation might soon become unbearable following the recent increase in electricity tariff.
According to him, the NLC is taking steps to improve the lot of Nigerians by ensuring that workers are paid salaries as and when due.
Ozo-Esan added that the NLC would soon organise a national strike to force the government to revert the recent increase in electricity tariff and deal with the lingering fuel crisis.
He said, “It is one of the fallouts from the crisis in the economy and the economy needs to be tackled head on.
“It is like an engine and you need to kick start to get it to function and I think that we are taking too long to deal with the economy, so the government needs to act quickly.
“The long time it has taken to effectively get the budget to be functioning is also one of the things that have unfortunately weakened the economy. So, we need to get the budget working as quickly as possible.
“As for the non-payment of salaries, the employers whether in the public or the private sector have the duty to pay salaries as and when due. Once a worker has put in a month’s work, he or she deserves to be paid. So, in states where the issue of unpaid salaries has continued to linger, we have directed our members to act in order to force the governments to set their priorities right.”
An economist, Prof. Sheriffdeen Tela, blamed the rising cost of food prices on exchange rate and the season.
He, however, advised Nigeria to concentrate on producing food items locally and stop relying on importation.
Tela said, “Prices of food items have to go up because we are in the planting season and not in the harvest season. The people who bought goods when the exchange rate went so high are also going to sell at a price that would give them profit. But even when the people are not working or not being paid regularly, they have to feed.”
“Maybe we will start seeing changes by the end of the year since food crops have short terms outputs. Gradually, demand for goods will come down and if our agricultural outputs start rising, people will be content with buying our local produce rather than the imported ones they have been buying.” – Punch.
