Hard Times Mar Xmas

By Abolaji Adebayo

Just about four days to Christmas, the usual rush for gifts and other items to spice up the festival is ebbing,  portending unceremonious celebration in homes.

Traders told ECHONEWS that the annual demand for clothes and other consumables is declining as customers are not rushing for the yuletide items.

” They are not coming,  they are not coming,”  Folashade Agoare selling gowns and boutique wears for festive occasions at Oshodi lament in a chat with ECHONEWS.

Last year, business crumbled following the outbreak of Covid-19 which restricted people from going out. It.meant many people could not travel; they could not buy items needed for the celebration while the usual decoration of houses and offices was put on hold.

This year, despite the respite from the pandemic, the celebration is likely to be low-key.

Travel, a key driver of business at Chrismas is forecasted to plunge in passenger traffic year on year because of the poor economy and challenging insecurity.

Christopher Amadi, an Anambra State-born Lagos businessman told ECHONEWS that this year would be the second year in his 15 years in Lagos that he would not travel for Christmas.

Amadi could not afford the cost of going home for the celebration of this year’s festival. It was Coronavirus last year, “money no dey, no market this year,” as he lamented.

“Going home this year will be more expensive, considering the high cost of everything on sale. We will celebrate low key where we are in Lagos,” he added.

ECHONEWS survey of markets and consumers revealed low patronage of major shops, customers forsake many products as prices keep rising.

Even the Christmas lights and knockouts suffered patronage; many big shops that were usually decorated with the lights have ceased this year.

“There is no market, unlike previous years. In the previous years, we sold hundreds of hampers even last year, but this year, people do not buy hampers and other gifts,” Mrs Funmi Adegbite, a supermarket owner at Oshodi lamented.

She complained that demand for gifts has grossly declined.

According to an economist, the former Director-General of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr Muda Yusuf, people’s purchasing power has been crippled with the falling economy.

He lamented that there is high inflation in the country, making people succumb to hardship.

He noted that prices of consumables and virtually all products have skyrocketed beyond the economic power of many people.

Citing Lagos as an example, Yusuf said many residents are finding it difficult to feed as the cost of living increases.

“You’ve probably noticed prices creeping up in many areas of everyday life — at the grocery store, at the gas station, at the retailer where you’re buying Christmas gifts.

“Whatever the case, the current landscape is pretty clear: December 2021 is going to cost you more than December 2020. And at a time of the year when many people are buying more, it’s not ideal.

“Consumer prices were up more than 98 per cent from the previous year in December. There were price increases virtually across the board, with the most notable increases in gas, shelter, food, and new and used cars and trucks. And inflation across all items purchased on the internet was at its highest rate ever recorded, up 3.5 per cent in November compared to the same month in 2020, according to Adobe, which analyzes consumer transactions online.”

A market survey across Lagos State by ECHONEWS revealed that there is more than a 100 per cent increase in the prices of many products including farm produce compared to last year.

Residents of Lagos State are lamenting as the price of 12.5kg of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), otherwise known as cooking gas rise from N3,800 in October 2020 to N7,500 in October 2021 and N10,000 in December 2021.

This represents a 163.16 percentage increase in 14 months.

Findings showed that a 12.5kg cooking gas cylinder was sold in Lagos for N3,800 in October 2020, N4,500 in June and July 2021, N6,000 in September, N7,500 in October and now N10,000.

Although the NNPC promised that the product would be available and the price drop, consumers are yet to be relieved.

The current price hike has triggered the use of charcoal and kerosene stoves as alternatives by some residents in Lagos and other states.

Most of the consumers who have been lamenting the price hike narrated their experiences while speaking to ECHONEWS.

They said they have found it difficult to cope with the price hike, thereby, alternating between the use of charcoal and kerosene stoves.

Lamenting, a resident in Alakuko, Lagos, who identified herself as Mrs Adelaja, a trader, said the incessant hike in cooking gas price has affected other commodities in the market.

According to her, the situation has gone beyond control among people with low purchasing power, adding that it would surely affect the celebration of Christmas and New Year.

“If someone like me is lamenting, you can imagine what hundreds of other residents are going through.

“Many people cannot celebrate the festival as they would have wanted due to the current economic situation,” she said.

Gas is one of the products on the list, Adelaja noted that the prices of all other commodities have gone up beyond the purchasing power of many residents.

ECHONEWS gathered that the prices of common consumables have also skyrocketed in the markets.

For instance, a tuber of yam now goes for N1,000 – N1,500, a basket of tomatoes is now between N5,000 and N7,000, a 50kg bag of rice is sold at the rate of N26,000, the least of live chicken on N7,000, even a sachet of water is now sold at N20 in some areas.

A social commentator and lawyer, Bar. Kabir Alayo said the current economic situation would mar this year’s Christmas celebration, especially in Lagos, stating that many recreational centres would also be affected.