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By Kate Halim
As inflation persists in Nigeria, the cost of living goes higher everyday. With prices of foodstuff and provisions skyrocketing daily, some families have resorted to certain measures to meet up with daily feeding. 
Saturday Sun spoke to some Nigerians who bared their minds on the high cost of sustaining their families with fixed salaries and dropping business profits. They revealed some of the food items they have taken off their menu and the alternatives they came up with.
A business woman in Coker area of Lagos State, Mrs. Gloria Ndika said she’s worn out daily planning her family’s daily meals. She lamented that the economic situation in the country has forced her to limit her four children’s feeding to only essential foods. She added that they no longer get certain privileges like going out to eat pizza or get ice cream every Sunday like they did in the past.
Ndika revealed that what she makes from her business daily is no longer enough to meet up with feeding her family properly. “The rising prices of foodstuffs is giving me daily headache while planning our meals. I can’t save money now because of high prices of food items and provisions”, Ndika added.
The 42-year-old mother of four revealed that feeding in Nigeria today is not as easy as preparing food which is a basic need. She said that feeding has become a luxury because the prices of foodstuffs once regarded as poor man’s food is going higher everyday.
She said: “My children no longer eat meat everyday. I cook with meat or fish only on weekends. During the week, we make soup with vegetables and plenty crayfish. I beg them to manage it because I know it’s not their fault that things are hard now.”
Chioma Onochie, a widow who sells fairly used clothes in Aguda, Surulere, recently told her children that they won’t be eating Turkey meat stew every Sunday like they did n the past. According to her, she can’t keep up with the rising price with three teenage mouths to feed.
Onochie narrated how shocked she was when she went to the market last week and was told that a kilogramme of Turkey was now N3200. She said that she bought it for N3000 last month and now, it has increased with N200.
“I called my children together last weekend and told them that we can no longer afford to be cooking turkey meat stew. They are teenagers and they understood why we have to resort to cooking fish stew for now. Even though they were not happy, they agreed with me”, Onochie added.
Onochie stated that she and her children are surviving by the grace of God and the small proceeds from her ‘okirika’ business. She said she couldn’t remember the last time she bought and fried plantain since the year began. She said she dreads going to the market these days because she comes home feeling confused and tired.
“You go to the market with a substantial amount of money to buy foodstuffs and stock up your house, but you leave there with nylon bags and you start asking yourself what you bought. Sometimes, it feels as if you have lost money. You start calculating everything you bought right there in the market”, Onochie lamented.
Mr. Obinna Okoye has two children aged ten and six. He told Saturday Sun that he had to lie to his six-year-old son that police will arrest him if he buys the big loaf of bread he normally buys for his family everyday.
“It’s not funny surviving in this country. You buy something today and tomorrow, you go back to hear the price has increased. Gradually, foodstuff and provisions are now for the rich. My children love to eat bread but I can no longer afford buying the big loaf they love everyday. I buy it thrice a week now”, Okoye said.
Okoye recalled when breakfast for his children included fried eggs, butter and beverages. These days, his children can only have bread with butter or bread with eggs and tea. He added that even the piece of chicken they eat have been reduced so that they can manage what they have well.
According to the father of two, these days, his wife cooks beans, his favourite food twice a month. He noted the amount of money spent cooking beans and plantain can be used to buy other things such as noodles, eggs and spaghetti.
Okoye said: “Most times, I feel for my wife because she stresses herself everyday planning meals for us. I watch her calculate what to buy, what to cook, how to cook it and how long it will last and I feel like crying. I tell you, married women are magicians. I don’t know how they do it but they make sure to take care of their families with limited resources.”
Ms. Gladys Effiong is a single mother of two boys. She told Saturday Sun that since this year began, her children haven’t eaten meat because she can’t afford them. She said that even fatty fish is so expensive so she buys ‘shawa’ fish with all the bones just to make sure her boys get protein in their food.
“My boys only eat meat or chicken when we are invited for parties which doesn’t happen often. My salary is still the same and even though I sell jewellery online, I don’t make so much. My boys eat fish and eggs and that’s all I can offer them because things are so expensive in the market.”
Effiong said that once she receives her salary, she buys garri, tubers of yam, rice, palm oil, groundnut oil, onions, provisions and other essentials first. She then settles her transport for work and keeps the rest of the money for other expenses.
The mother of two noted that she has been stretching her finances so much lately and it’s beginning to affect her psychologically. She often asks herself how she survives on so little given the way the prices of food items go up everyday. She said she wonders how she would survive this year with her boys if things continue this way.
“If you have been to the market in recent times, you will cry for Nigerians. Garri that was regarded as a poor man’s food is now a life saver in my house. A crate of big eggs cost N2,500 to N2,800 in my area. When it comes to groundnut oil and palm oil, whatever you see, take it”, she said.
Mr Patrick Oluboye is a civil servant based in Lagos. He said he doesn’t know how he survives everyday with his wife and five children but attributes it to God’s grace. According to him, his wife buys foodstuff in small quantities and ensures that the family finishes whatever is cooked and that there are no leftovers.
“I still try as much as possible to provide my family with the basic things they need such as housing, food and clothing. The catch is that we have adjusted a lot regarding what we eat, when we eat and how we eat. No more unnecessary outings and expenses”, he added.
Oluboye recalled when things were not so bad and how his children were eating whatever they wanted and whenever they wanted. These days, he said they eat meat and fish in smaller quantities and eat more vegetables in their meals for vitamins. He added that eating his favourite goat meat pepper soup now seems like a luxury.
Oluboye said: “I love eating goat meat pepper soup, but these days, I eat it once every two weeks because spending so much money to satisfy my personal cravings when I have a family to feed is not advisable. We no longer eat beans and plantain all the time like we used to do. But in everything, we thank God for his mercies.”
