Nigeria’s inflation rate has skyrocketed to a near 28-year high of 29.9%, exceeding forecasts and December’s figure of 28.9%.
Food prices recorded a major increase , surging to 35.4%. This increase is driven by rising costs of bread, fish, meat, fruit, and eggs.
On a month-month basis, consumer prices are climbing rapidly, with January witnessing the largest increase (2.6%) in five months.
The National Bureau of Statistics noted in 2022 that 65% of poor people(86 million people) are based in the Northern Nigeria.
This inflation surge adds another layer of hardship to an already challenging situation in Northern Nigeria.
Recently, the Sultan of Sokoto was quoted as lamenting the hunger ravaging the region worsened by the increasing inflation rate in the region.
Sokoto is also said to have the highest poverty rate in the country with a 91% poverty rate according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
On February 8, 2024, Kano residents protested against the high cost of living. They noted that the rising cost of food items has made eating three times a day an impossible task for them.
In Niger State’s capital, Minna, protesters were quoted as saying that the high cost of living has become unbearable, they worried on what the government plans to end the situation.
