What Can ₦25,000 Buy For A Nigerian Family? Here’s What We Found
On Tuesday, October 17, 2023, the Federal Government launched a conditional cash transfer of ₦25,000 for 15 million households, representing 62 million Nigerians.
“I hereby flag off the Renewed Hope conditional cash transfer program for 15 million households targeted at uplifting poor and vulnerable Nigerians as an immediate intervention to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal and other economic shocks,” President Bola Tinubu said at the State House, Abuja.
The floating of the naira and the removal of petrol subsidy have had far-reaching consequences, with soaring food prices and an increase in transportation costs. According to a recent report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), headline inflation increased on a year-on-year basis, rising from 5.94 percent in September 2022 to 26.72 percent in September 2023.
While the conditional cash transfer is targeted at vulnerable Nigerians and those who live below the poverty line, the scheme is coming at a time when the House of Representatives is set to receive ₦160 million worth of SUVs each, totaling ₦57.6 billion, a move that has elicited public condemnation.
Yet, some Nigerians have faulted the planned disbursement of the conditional cash transfer.
Prof. Magnus Kpakol, Former Director General of the National Poverty Eradication Programme, claimed that limiting the program to three months would be a grave mistake.
“I support the idea of a conditional cash transfer, but I don’t support it being only for three months. We are not going to achieve much by just having the program run for three months,” he said.
With the program set to run between October and December 2023, a total of ₦75,000 will be disbursed to 15 million households.
Although, according to the 2019 Nigeria Living Standard Survey, an average Nigerian family consists of 5.06 individuals, the Federal Government estimated each household as having 4.33 individuals.
The disparity between the amounts allocated for the purchase of cars for House of Representatives members and the support for families has made Nigerians question if the nation’s leadership is truly focused on the welfare of the people or whether it prioritizes self-preservation and political interests. With 65 million Nigerians sharing ₦1 trillion, the 360 members of the House of Reps are to receive ₦160 million worth of cars.
With soaring food prices, which are at an all-time high of 30.64 percent, Neusroom looked at how much goods ₦25,000 can get in a Nigerian market using data sourced from the NBS database.
An infographic on the average prices of the goods in Nigeria as of September 2023:
Food insecurity is a major problem in Nigeria. According to the NBS, Nigerian households spend 56.65% of their income on food. For a Nigerian earning the minimum wage of ₦30,000, they spend ₦17,000 on food alone. It poses the question: how will ₦13,000 cater to their transportation, education, healthcare, and other basic needs?
Families across the nation face an uphill battle to make ends meet, grappling with the harsh realities of rising inflation, increased cost of goods and services, and dwindling purchasing power. The removal of fuel subsidies, in particular, has resulted in a surge in transportation costs, affecting the daily lives of millions who depend on affordable public transport.
While the ₦25,000 can provide some relief for some Nigerians, many believe that the high cost of governance, in a country ranked sixth on the list of highest-paid government leaders in the world in 2023, comes at the expense of the 133 million multidimensionally poor Nigerians.
