In what has been adjudged the highest inflation rate in 26 years, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which measures the rate of change in prices of goods and commodities, increased by 1.80 per cent to 31.70 per cent in February compared to 29.90 per cent in the preceding month. We understand that the CPI by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is for February which was at the height of dollar upward gyration, and high prices of goods and services. Therefore, the figures for headline inflation and food inflation are not surprising. Even if there had been immediate intervention, figures for the month would still have been high. But the latest figure should nonetheless be another wake-up call for the administration of President Bola Tinubu. It is dangerous for prices of food to keep rising.
More worrisome is that food inflation rose to 37.92 per cent, year -on- year, representing an increase of 13.57 per cent when compared to 24.35 per cent in February last year. Month-on-month food inflation increased to 3.79 per cent, representing 0.58 per cent rise over 3.21 per cent in January. The rise in the food index on an annual basis was attributable to increases in prices of bread and cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fish, oil and fat, meat, fruit, coffee, tea, and cocoa.
To be sure, hunger has been a daunting challenge in Nigeria for years. The United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) has warned repeatedly that millions of Nigerians are at the risk of hunger as prices of foodstuff skyrocket. The situation is compounded by the unending security challenge in most of the areas regarded as the nation's food belt. As of December 2023, a World Bank report showed that Nigeria's poverty level had taken a notch higher. Recent data compiled by an international e-commerce organisation also revealed that the average Nigerian household spends about 60 per cent of its income on food, the highest in the world.
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It is important to arrest soaring prices going forward, with immediate, medium- and long-term measures. That Nigerians are yet to see the direction of the administration on the issue accounts for the concerns. There have been proposals for government to remove or slash tariffs for a brief period on a few food items that we still import, but the approach has been to share grains for free and go after food hoarders. We hope they see things differently and act more swiftly.
It is noteworthy that more than a month ago, President Bola Tinubu directed the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to release 42,000 metric tonnes of maize, millet, and other grains in its strategic reserve. The grains, according to the Minister, Abubakar Kyari, will be released to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). Today, vulnerable Nigerians are still waiting for a fulfilment of the promise, and raises questions about the capacity of the administration to deal with the challenge at hand. Meanwhile, the impact of recent policy decisions has left Nigerians reeling from soaring prices of basic foodstuffs with hunger now a common staple in many homes.
Driving down the prices of some staple foods should be a major priority of the government now. With angry citizens expressing their frustrations about the daily hikes of foodstuffs, transportation costs, school fees, house rent and other inescapable expenses that are becoming increasingly impossible to finance, the federal government and authorities in the 36 states must wake up to the reality of the daily struggles of a vast majority of the people.
