Nigeria’s Rising Cost of Living And Need To Avert Widespread Uprising

Pockets of isolated protests have erupted in some parts of Nigeria as the rise in the cost of living bites harder on ordinary Nigerian citizens who appear to have exhausted all coping mechanisms. The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress have given the government an ultimatum to implement previous agreements to enable Nigerian workers to cope with the rising cost of living.

The government’s response to the rising cost of living has focused on spasmodic measures such as the directive for the release of grains from Strategic Reserves, clamping down on business agents, including those alleged to be hoarding foods, and adopting arbitrary prices on goods as well as BDC operators. In the face of the apparent failure of these measures to reverse or arrest the rising cost of living, there are fears that the hungry masses may resort to protests, if not violent, uprisings, to express their frustration.

This edition of the Nextier SPD Policy Weekly reflects on the possibilities of widespread protests in Nigeria from the lenses of critical political economy analysis and suggests strategies for averting/containing such protests.

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