Protest broke out yesterday in Minna, the capital of Niger State, over the rising cost of living.
A group of women blocked the Minna-Bida Road at the popular Kpakungu roundabout to express their grievances over the rising cost of food items.
People travelling to major cities in the South such as Lagos, Ibadan, among others, were held hostage for hours due to the protest, which started as early as 7am.
The women were later joined by men and youths who accuse governments of turning deaf ears to their plights.
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Neither the thick smoke of the teargas and the sound of the gunshots fired by police operatives to disperse them nor the plea by the deputy governor of the state, Yakubu Garba, who went to the scene of the protest calmed the protesters.
They booed the government’s envoy, saying that they were tired.
Daily Trust, in its edition of Friday, 2nd February, 2024, reported how citizens across Nigeria had expressed concern over the rising prices of essential commodities such as rice, flour, sugar and cement.
Investigations by our correspondents in Kano, Kwara, Ebonyi, Oyo, and Lagos states, as well as Abuja revealed challenging situations for various groups of people, with some residents resorting to prayers while others called on the federal government to take decisive control measures.
Yesterday in Minna, a housewife, Aisha Jibrin, who led her fellow women to barricade the streets at Kpakungu roundabout, told Daily Trust that: “We embarked on this protest because of the rising cost of living. The government is not doing anything for us. The government should pity us. Some of us woke up this morning without anything to eat.”
Another protester, Musulumi Mikaila, said the rising cost of living had caused many broken homes, adding that many husbands were becoming overstressed because their salaries could no longer cater for their families.
“We don’t have a stable power supply; we don’t have water; the cost of food items is high. Nothing is working in this country. We voted for this government with the hope that poor citizens would get relief from hardship, but things are getting worse day and night,” she said.
She said many people were in hospitals not to treat serious ailments but due to stress, high blood pressure and trauma arising from hardship and rising cost of living.
Another woman who simply identified herself as Mrs Asabe said they embarked on the protest because women bore the brunt of everything. The protesting women said social vices, especially prostitution are on the increase due to hardship that forced many husbands to divorce their wives.
One of the men who joined the protest, Ibrahim Gana, said a measure of rice was sold at N2,000 at Minna markets while maize was N1,000.
“The cost of living is too high. If you go to the market today and buy something, tomorrow you will just hear that the price has gone up”, he said.
Anger legitimate – NLC
The Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Niger State Council, Idrees Lafene said the people have the right to protest, if it was organised peacefully.
“We are in a very bad situation in Nigeria now. People are suffering and when people are subjected to hardship, that doesn’t portend well for the country. The government should look at its policies and review them. Government knows the cause of this and they should do everything quickly to address it. But people are going through hardship now”, he stressed.
The Niger State governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, at a press conference later yesterday, said an unspecified number of people had been arrested in connection with the protest.
The governor, who believed that women rarely stage protests in Nigeria, alleged the protest was engineered by some men with the intent to block the road and steal food items being conveyed by some trucks from Lagos to Abuja.
Jigawa, Taraba residents groan
Meanwhile, residents in Jigawa and Taraba states have lamented the rising prices of sugar and other essential commodities ahead of the Ramadan fast, calling for the government’s quick intervention.
Within a month, the price of a 50kg bag of sugar rose to N73,000 from N46,000 while a bag of rice rose to N70,000.
Isah Ibrahim, a businessman in Jigawa, said he has closed his business because of the daily increase in the prices of commodities in markets.
Nafiu Usman, a federal civil servant, said he has accumulated huge debt due to the high cost of commodities.
Abdulkareem Abdullahi, a teacher living in Dutse, the state capital, called on the federal government to come to the aid of the poor and vulnerable.
Also, residents of Taraba State have called on the government to control the prices of commodities.
Some of the residents, who spoke with Daily Trust, said many of them, especially the low-income earners, could no longer afford three square meals a day as a result of rising prices of foodstuff.
The residents also urged the government to check the activities of hoarders and traders to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians.
Adamu Abubakar, a primary school teacher, told Daily Trust that: “My monthly salary is not enough to feed my family, talk more of transport fare, medication, rent, and other family demands. The situation is dire”.
Another resident, John Adam, blamed the rising prices of foodstuffs on hoarders who are exploiting Nigerians to make money.
Students demand action
In a related development, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has called on the federal government to provide direct palliatives for students across the country as the lingering foreign exchange crisis and inflation worsen the cost of living crisis.
President of the Senate, NANS HQ, Akinteye Afeez Babatunde, said the crisis was taking a toll on them and the government must take immediate action to address the looming crisis.
According to him, the current economic crisis “Is a poignant issue affecting the essence of education.”
Kano governor to meet Tinubu over hardship
Gov. Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State has said that he will meet President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the economic hardship being experienced by Nigerians.
”I will personally meet President Tinubu to intimate him about the hardship the people of Kano State are encountering due to inflation, in order to provide succour to the people,” Yusuf said yesterday in Kano.
The governor stated this during a meeting with the business community and other stakeholders held at the Government House.
“The purpose of this gathering is to fine-tune modalities on how to address the menace of inflation, because people are suffering and we need to do something about this,” he said.
Seek help to address situation, LP tells Tinubu
In the meantime, the Labour Party (LP) has expressed concern about the increasing cost of living in Nigeria and how millions of Nigerians have been battling with the crisis of food shortage since the turn of the year.
The party, in a statement issued yesterday by Pastor Obiora Ifoh, its National Publicity Secretary, after the residents of Minna blocked main roads in the city to protest the high cost of living, said that the federal government needed to take action to reduce the hardship being faced by poor Nigerians, and seek help because things were becoming unbearable for average Nigerians.
“This must be done immediately to stem the rising tide of discontentment. Let us pray very hard that the Niger State incident does not trigger chains of other protests because it is biting hard across the nation,” Ifoh said.
The LP spokesman said President Tinubu cannot run a governance based on a whim and that the economic turmoil Nigerians are suffering is a result of this poor sense of judgement.
Hard times over soon – First Lady
Meanwhile, First Lady Oluremi Tinubu has assured Nigerians that the hard times being faced will soon be over.
She gave the assurance during a meeting with wives of governors at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, yesterday.
She said 2024 “Is loaded with peace, progress, prosperity and greater achievements to the advantage of all Nigerians.”
According to her, “Times like this call for sober reflection, hence, all hands must be on deck. Moreover, the hardship situation is temporary, it will soon fade away.”
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