It's not you, it's the economy
Nigerians are spending more than 50% of their income on food and it’s about to get worse
Good morning, Big Brains. Turns out that I’m not the problem, the economy is. I’ve been feeling like such a bad spender and the whole time, it’s been the economy’s fault. This is a friendly reminder to take it easy on yourself and blame the economy instead.
- Margaret
Word count: ~1,000
Reading time ~3 mins
Let’s get into today’s edition:
CBN predicts that Nigerians will spend 54.9% of income on food in next six months
1,056 Nigerians killed, ₦10.9bn ransom demanded in a year
NNPCL admits debt to petrol suppliers is causing fuel queues
The Big Deal
CBN predicts that Nigerians will spend 54.9% of income on food in next six months
There’s a high chance that most Nigerians have slowly phased out of their bad spender era, they've simply become victims of a deteriorating economy. Not to justify your financial excesses but there’s a new survey that shows that Nigerians are spending more than half of their income on something they cannot afford to live without – food.
According to a recent survey by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the increasing inflation rate is expected to force Nigerian households to allocate a larger portion of their earnings to food expenses over the next six months.
The survey shows within the next six months, most Nigerian households will cut down on purchases that are not necessary and spend at least 54.9% of their income on food. If you’re wondering how they gathered this data, CBN surveyed a sample drawn from the National Bureau of Statistics master list, which includes 1,665 households across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The poll shows that “Spending outlook for the next six months showed that consumers plan to spend a substantial amount of their income on the following items: food and other household Items (54.9 points), education (35.4 points), transportation (30.2 points), electricity (20.0 points) and medical expenses (12.2 points)”.
Why is this a big deal?
The survey also shows that the average Nigerian can no longer afford to save and if you haven’t deeped it, that suggests that we’re cooked as a country.
This is a realistic representation of how bad the economic situation is and how Nigerians have been forced to cultivate new spending habits that are not normal in the grand scheme of things. People are spending more on basic survival, leaving less room for other important expenses like education, transportation, electricity, and medical bills.
This change affects Nigerians' personal finances and the country’s future. With less money available, Nigerians might struggle to afford education for their children, which can affect their preparedness for the future in the long run.
1,056 Nigerians killed, ₦10.9bn ransom demanded in a year
Nigerians on X have started arguing that crowdfunding might be doing more harm than good in the longer run, and a report proves that they might have a point.
Between July 2023 and June 2024, Nigeria saw a dramatic rise in kidnappings, with at least 7,500 people kidnapped and 1,056 people killed. During this time, kidnappers demanded ₦10.9 billion in ransom. According to a new report by SB Morgen (SBM) Intelligence, over 7,500 people were abducted in 1,130 separate kidnapping incidents across the country.
Of the ₦10.9 billion demanded in ransom, the kidnappers were only able to get ₦1.05 billion. The report also shows that the violence associated with these kidnappings has also increased, with an average of one person killed in each attempted abduction.
The report shows that from 2022 to 2024, kidnappings in the North have increased and now exceed the total number recorded from the previous two years. This increase is possibly related to worsening economic conditions and people turning to crowdfunding for ransom because they don’t trust the authorities (which is understandable given their poor track record). The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had the highest ransom demands, followed by Lagos and Kaduna. In response to these scary cases of kidnapping, President Tinubu sent a message to all Nigerians in April – “stop paying ransom, dammit!”. Unfortunately, we’re a few good leaders shy of a safe country.
NNPCL admits debt to petrol suppliers is causing fuel queues
If you think your ex was a gaslighter/liar, we raise you the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited. The national oil company denied the claims that it was owing international oil traders the sum of $6.8 billion with a cleverly written statement. Now, this wouldn’t be some crazy situation if the same company didn’t eventually come out barely two weeks after deceiving over 200 million Nigerians to say that it is in fact in “significant debt”.
Experts say that NNPCL’s debt to petrol suppliers has made the fuel shortage in Nigeria worse. This shortage is now causing big problems for Nigerians who depend on fuel for transportation and electricity.
NNPCL has been making excuses for its inability to do the one thing it was actually created to do, blaming issues like logistics and flooding for the fuel shortages.
The spokesman Olufemi Soneye has gotten tired of the lies and he has finally admitted that the debt is putting a lot of pressure on the company and threatens its ability to keep fuel supplies steady.
Big Brains, we want to say sike so bad but we’re definitely cooked as a country.
This Week’s Big Question
“What have you spent the bulk of your money on in the last 6 months? Survival or impulses?”
Desmond’s response - “Definitely survival. At this point, my savings account has given up on me. I feel like I’m working to survive, and can't even afford to splurge on perfumes like I used to before.”
You can also share your response here and if it’s as interesting as Desmond’s response, we’ll feature it in the next edition.
The Big Picks
Court Orders Nigerian Correctional Service to Provide Wheelchair for Binance Executive: A Federal High Court in Abuja has instructed the Nigerian Correctional Service in Kuje to supply a wheelchair to Tigran Gambaryan, the detained executive from Binance Holdings Limited.
Court Sends #EndBadGovernance Protesters to Kuje and Suleja Prisons: Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered 10 #EndBadGovernance protesters to be held in Kuje and Suleja prisons.
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