Members of the House of Representatives debated the current state of the country’s economy, describing the economic decline as the “lowest” since 1983.
The debate was spurred by a motion on matters of priority presented by Ibrahim Isiaka (APC-Ogun), stating that the prices of food items had skyrocketed by 100 percent in many parts of the country.
Isiaka noted that living for many Nigerians had become a difficulty, especially for the vulnerable population.
He called for an investigation into the soaring prices of commodities and goods and services in the country to devise mechanisms that would help alleviate the economic challenges.
He said, “Unfortunately, this is still the lowest decline Nigeria’s economy has experienced since 1983. What does this mean for the average Nigerian? Not too farfetched, because Life has become increasingly difficult for many Nigerians, especially the low-income earners, unemployed youth, other vulnerable people, those on fixed incomes such as the pensioners and others.
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“The Prices of food items, Commodities, Goods and Services have skyrocketed by as much as 100 per cent in many parts of Nigeria in the last one year attributed largely caused by monetary policy, border closures, COVID-19 containment measures, and insecurity, causing Nigeria’s inflation rate to rise geometric progression in August 2021.”
Isiaka prayed the House to address the issue head-on now before it spiralled out of control.
He said, “Price Index in the past months has increased astronomically owing to many controllable and uncontrollable factors with inflation at a 48-month high, posing the challenge for increased spending on housing, shelter, medicals, clothes baby food and even cooking gas, because our nation’s local production still falls short of our local demand, minding the population, climate change, and hunger, a major future issue looms if, immediate remedial action is not taken care off soon, by this House.
“Cognizant of the World Bank`s report that Nigeria’s economy contracted by -1.8% in 2020, lower than the -3.2% loss the organization had predicted at the beginning of the pandemic.
“All these problems bedevilling our economy, the House is spurred on a move to properly manage the situation before it spreads out of control owing to the impacts on the cost of living, the cost of doing business, and every other facet of the economy.”
