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Many residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT,) say worsening economic conditions have continued to strain household budgets, forcing many families to adopt drastic coping strategies to survive.
The residents, including civil servants, artisans and traders, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.
According to the residents, rising food prices, transport costs and house rents have continued to erode their purchasing power.
Economic analysts say in spite of the slight improvements in inflation figures, many households in Abuja still struggled to meet basic needs due to stagnant incomes and rising living costs.
Mr John Okeke, a civil servant in Garki, said his monthly salary could no longer sustain his family due to the cost of food and the the increasing cost of transportation.
“Although the cost of some food items have reduced in recent times, it is still generally out of the reach of many citizens due to stagnated income and increased living cost.
” Salaries have remained the same, making us to now buy smaller quantities and sometimes skip certain meals to manage resources ,” he said.
Mrs Grace Sule, a mother of three living in Lugbe, said feeding her family had remained a major challenge in recent months.
” Nowadays, we mostly cook simple meals. Everything in the market is expensive, we have to cutdown budget on food to be able to meet other family needs,” she said.
Similarly, Mr Ibrahim Musa, a carpenter in Kubwa, said the rising cost of materials and transportation had reduced his income as customers were no longer able to patronise artisans regularly.
I have been following up a client who wanted to make new set of furniture for his sitting room since the past five months.
“You will not believe that we are still yet to agree on the job, not because he is no longer interested, but because of paucity of funds.
“Also, many clients who have repairs to do keep postponing them, because they have more pressing needs like feeding and other bills to attend to.
This is unfortunate because we (carpenters) have our families to cater for and we depend solely on incomes from these clients to make ends meet ,” he said.
Mr Sadiq Mohammed, a commercial motorcyclist in Nyanya, said the increasing cost of fuel and spare parts had forced many operators to increase fares.
“When fuel goes up, everything goes up. Passengers complain about transport fares, but we also have families to feed,” he said.
Some residents also expressed concern over the sharp rise in house rents across parts of Abuja, saying it had pushed many families to relocate to satellite towns.
Recent reports show that rents for small apartments in many parts of the city have risen sharply, with some tenants paying between N1.5 million and N2 million for a self-contained apartment.
Ms Sandra Daniel, a resident of Wuse, said the situation had forced many workers to move farther away from their workplaces.
“Many of my colleagues who don’t like the suburbs, now live in places like Mararaba, Karu, Dei-Dei and its environs because rents in the city are too expensive,” she said.
Economic experts say the hardship was linked to multiple factors, including inflation, currency depreciation and rising production costs.
Dr Eric Eze, an economist, said the major challenge remained the declining purchasing power of households.
“The reality is that wages have not increased significantly while the cost of living has continued to rise, especially in cities like Abuja.
“Policies that improve agricultural productivity, stabilise prices and support vulnerable households are necessary to ease the hardship faced by many residents.
“Unless incomes improve and inflation declines significantly, many households in the FCT may continue to struggle to meet basic needs,” he said.
Source: News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
