Insecurity And Economic Cost Of Living In Nigeria -By Maku Alero Martina

Have you ever wondered why Nigerians are too afraid of leaving their homes and travelling round the country? Why parents are too afraid to send their children to school? Insecurity has become Nigerians’ worse nightmare. People can no longer travel as they like, parents are too afraid to send their children to school. The issue of insecurity in Nigeria is rapidly growing, and it puts so many Nigerians in fear.

In Nigeria today, people no longer live in peace even in their own homes. Citizens are too afraid to go out and search for their daily bread, they are too even afraid of going to the church; their place of worship. Farmers are afraid of going to their farm lands, they cannot even hire labourers to work for them because they will be putting their lives in danger. People can no longer travel around different parts of the country due to high rate of banditry. In the northern parts of Nigeria, for states like Kogi, Oyo, Kaduna, Sokoto etc people live in fear on behalf of themselves and their families.

The high rate of insecurity has affected many citizens in different ways. One of the main effect of insecurity in Nigeria is the loss of lives and property. Many people has been killed, injured and forced from their homes because of bandits attacks and kidnapping. People are also forced to leave their homes, businesses and properties to seek greener pastures elsewhere. Children can no longer go to school in peace, parents are too afraid to send their children to school because of the high rate of kidnapping. Another effect of the insecurity in Nigeria is the high rate of unemployment and poverty. People are too afraid to go out and look for jobs .Some had to leave their working places for safety, and this leaves many citizens unemployed and poor. The restrictions of movement is still another effect of insecurity because people can no longer travel from one place to another.

To reduce the insecurity in Nigeria, the government should employ more security agencies, give proper training to them and also encouraging salaries. More security agencies should be put in most areas of Nigeria that lacks security. Individuals should cooperate with the government to report any suspicious activities. The government should create opportunities for the unemployed youths to reduce unemployment and poverty.

In addition to insecurity, another issue affecting Nigerians is the high cost of living which has made daily lives very difficult for people.

In Nigeria today, the cost of living has become very expensive. Many people find it very difficult to afford their basic needs like food, clothing, transportation and even shelter. People do work like elephants and eats like ants. Many children are unable to attend school because their parents cannot afford their fees. Today, you see people begging on the streets, children chasing after cars and begging random stranger for money.

Nowadays, children no longer bother to talk about their academics, but rather they talk about looking for money, finding odd jobs just to survive. Many of these children do often work and assist their parents in managing their homes. You will see parents struggling back and forth just to make sure they survive and can feed their children. You will also see young girls/teenagers that are unable to go to school moving from one place to another, hooking up with different men and boys just to survive. Girls no longer be in a relationship with a man to get married, but rather they use it as a means of financial gain. For the young boys, they go into fraud. Most of them do meet with advanced women of higher status to be hooked up with which they normally call “sugar mummy” to get paid for.

Economic cost of living has affected many citizens in different ways in Nigeria. One of the main effect is the increase in food stuffs and hunger. The high cost of food has really affected many Nigerians. People no longer eat three square meals, to even eat once a day has become a problem. Some families that can manage to afford a very little amount of food does not even eat to their satisfaction. People no longer eat in balance diet; they don’t care if what they eat is healthy for their health or not they just eat to survive. And this results to poor health, even if they eventually fall sick they will not be able to afford any health medications. Also, poor education and school drop out. A very high rate of kids on the streets is as a result of school drop out. No parents would love to see their kids at home without going to school or see their kids on the streets begging for alms. But they did their best and still yet could not afford fees for their kids. Another effect is the increase in crime rate. Unemployed youths that are desperately looking for ways to survive often find themselves into fraud, stealing and doing all sorts of illegal activities just to survive.

Although, many challenges caused by the high cost of living in Nigeria, there are also many ways the problem can be reduced. The government should create more employments for the unemployed. The government should make sure that the youths have more employment opportunities. The government should also improve infrastructure by ensuring good roads, stabilizing electricity and good transportation system. It can help in the cost of producing and distributing goods and services. Also, reducing inflation is one of the best way to solve the high cost of living in Nigeria. When inflation is reduced the prices of goods and services becomes more stable and affordable. When inflation is reduced, people can be able to afford more goods and services which helps to improve their standard of living. Promoting agriculture is another important way to reduce the high cost of living in Nigeria. The government can help farmers by providing loans, good storage facilities, fertilizers and good equipment. When there is an increase in agricultural production, more food becomes available which can help reduce the price of foods.

In conclusion, insecurity and economic cost of living are two significant challenges facing Nigeria today. These two challenges has unfavourably affected the lives of many people by creating fear, hindering economic activities and making basic needs more expensive. However, these problems can be reduced by good government plans, improved safety measures, good infrastructure, promotion for agriculture and efforts to control inflation. If the government organisations and citizens work together, Nigeria can overcome these challenges and make the country safer and better for everyone.