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Nigerians from across different strata and professions have cried out over the high cost of living following the recent hike in the pump price of petrol, the second in one month. They described the situation as unbearable and called for immediate government’s intervention.
According to an economic expert, Dahiru Garba, the hike from N897 per litre to N1,030 per litre will push more Nigerians into poverty.
He said the sudden increase in the pump price of petrol by the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and marketers was beyond a simple fuel price adjustment, warning that it would have a far-reaching impact on Nigeria’s private sector, trade and the already suffering Nigerian masses.
He said without government’s interventions, the economic and social repercussions of the price hike would be severe and long-lasting, pushing more people into poverty.
“What we will witness is the immediate high cost of transport, which will lead to higher cost of food, businesses will suffer, some may fold up and inflation will rise. In the long term, it could pose challenges for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the agricultural sector.”
He urged the Federal Government to acknowledge these implications and consider measures to reduce the impact. He suggested targeted incentives for energy efficiency, a halt to wasteful expenditure and reducing cost of governance.
“Without such interventions, the economic and social repercussions of this price hike could be severe and long-lasting, pushing more people into poverty,” he said.
A widow, Mary Chatta, complained bitterly about the high cost of living.
“My children are not working, they still depend on my pension which has not been increased according to the minimum wage act. Imagine buying one bag of rice for over N100,000. We no longer feed daily, I am scared and I do not know how I will survive.”
She urged the government to look into the economic situation in the country. “I know that the government can do something for the masses to make it easier, but pensioners also have to survive.”
A frozen food trader, Mrs. Oyiza Malik, said the increase in petrol prices has added to her transportation cost.
“I am struggling to afford necessities like food and rent. I am finding it difficult to balance my budget. We expected so much from this government, but what we are seeing now is the least we expected. The situation is even more dire for low-income households who are already struggling to survive on meager earnings,” she said. A taxi driver, Emeka Uzor, said the price hike had taken away the little savings he had, as he no longer made profit. “I will just stop this business and look for something else to do. Passengers have been complaining that the price of transport is too high, but what choice do we have when we are buying fuel for N1,250 per litre.
“From Banex to Gwarinpa is now N500 and it used to be N200, from Kubwa to Berger between N1,000 to N1,500 which is not supposed to be so,” Uzor said. In a related development, Nigerians have raised the alarm over what they describe as incessant and arbitrary increase in rents by landlords and their agents across the country. Consequently, they have urged federal and state governments to, as a matter of urgency, intervene in what they called the situation in virtually all the states of the federation, which they described as unfortunate.
The respondents particularly called for implementation of extant rent laws by state governments to rescue tenants from those they called shylock landlords and their agents.
They also stressed the need for governments at all levels to build affordable homes for low income earners and put a benchmark on rents in order to help the tenants.
Findings showed that house rents had shot up by about 150 per cent in the last two years in Bauchi, Dutse and Gombe, thus forcing many residents to move out of town to enable them to get affordable accommodation.
A survey conducted in different areas within the Kano metropolis showed that some landlords had increased rents on their properties.
For instance, in highbrow areas like Nasarawa GRA, Bompai and Badawa layout, a two-bedroom flat and a three-bedroom apartment have risen from N600,000 and N700,000 to N800,000 – N1 million, respectively.
The rent for a duplex of four rooms and above presently stands at between N1.5 million and N3 million per annum, depending on the landlord.
The Vice Chairman, Kano Property Agent Development Association (KAPADA), Sabiu Ado, attributed the increase to the high cost of building materials, which he said had tripled, thereby forcing landlords to increase rents. According to him, it requires more than N10 million to build a bungalow with good finishing, saying that this affects how much they rent out such buildings.
“The cost drivers such as land, rods, cements, roofs, paint, louvers, woods and others determine the cost and rent of a building,” Ado said. A landlord, Musa Sani, also said that the increment had become necessary to enable them to have value for their investments.
Malam Abba Yusuf, a federal worker transferred from Kaduna to Katsina, said it was unfortunate that most of the landlords or caretakers did not have respect for their tenants.
According to him, about a year ago, his landlord sent him out of the house, because he rejected rent increase, which he said, doubled what he used to pay.
He, therefore, urged the government to, as a matter of urgency, address the way and manner house owners behave to their tenants, in spite of the existing rent laws.
A landlord, Malam Sanusi Charanchi, said he had no other choice than to increase house rent because of the current economic hardship.
He said as a retired civil servant, he only relied on the incomes from his houses, stating: “every day you go to the market, the prices of foodstuffs keep going up.
“Therefore, as my only source of income, I also have to increase the rent to meet up with the gap created by the economic situation in the country,” he said.
Mr Joe Yaji, a tenant in Jalingo, said his landlord just woke up one day and increased house rent from N200,000 to N300,000, citing the high cost of living in the country.
He appealed to the Taraba government to come up with laws that would protect tenants from arbitrary increases in house rent by the landlords, saying that the cost of living was negatively affecting everyone, including tenants. Mrs. Joy Manu, another tenant in Jalingo noted that the rent in every house in Magami Area of Jalingo, where she was residing, had been increased by more than 50 per cent.
Manu expressed frustration, noting that the situation had further increased the economic hardship being experienced in the country. Alhaji Yahuza Magaji, executive director of Initiative for Community and Human Development in Taraba, said landlords were charging whatever they wanted because there was no regulation of the sector. He noted that some landlords, especially shop owners, often insisted on payment of two to three years rent. He said his organisation would take up the responsibility of pushing for the establishment of an agency in the state that would ensure that landlords were fair in their dealings with tenants.
In Plateau, commissioner for Housing and Urban Development, Mr. Ubandoma Laven, blamed the general hike in rent on the recent spike in cost of living.
Laven, who noted that though there could be legitimate reasons on the part of house owners in jerking up the prices of renting houses, said some of the landlords were just being insensitive to the plight of tenants.
“For a fact, it is an obvious reality that the recent hike in housing in major cities of Nigeria today has become alarming. “If you look at the cost of housing two years ago in Jos and what is obtainable today, you would be alarmed at the transition, but the truth is even the blind are not oblivious of the general changes in the economy of this nation. “I mean, even tomatoes have skyrocketed to a point where almost only the elites could afford it at some point, how much more housing. “We can’t rule out the fact that there are bad eggs in every business venture who give the craft a bad name, but the reality is that landlords are also experiencing hikes in living conditions across the country,” he said.
On what the government was doing to forestall and protect the interest of individuals from property agents and landlords, the commissioner said that there were regulatory bodies saddled with the responsibility of ensuring conformity within the sector.
He stressed that the government would do everything within its powers to ensure that the rights of citizens were protected.
