Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise, Leke Joseph Abejide, has asked Nigerians to continue to endure the pains of rising living cost, saying economic policies the President Tinubu administration is pursuing will fix the problem in no distant future.
The lawmaker spoke in Kano at a civic reception in his honour as the Asiwaju of Yoruba in Kano.
“When a woman is in labour to give birth the pain is so much. You see, if you look at the policy the Tinubu administration is putting in place, let us give him at least two years. I know it is a long time for someone not enjoying anything, but in less than two years you will see the impact, the economy is going to be transformed.”
Abejide said President Tinubu is a financial expert who knows what to do to get the desired result.
The lawmaker’s comment is coming at a time many Nigerians are disenchanted with rising living cost.
The consumer price index released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) put the headline inflation figure in December at 28.92 percent from 28.20 percent recorded in November 2023.
A bag of 50kg of locally milled rice sold for N47,000 in January 2024 is now selling at between N58,500 and N60,000 in Kano.
On Friday Gurasa makers protested rising price of flour which is now N43,000 per 50kg, while a measure of maize flour, a staple food for the ordinary people, is sold at N2,000.
On the public outcry on the hardship induced by the border closure, the lawmaker said Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso are under military rule and if allowed to go unchecked the trend would affect other West African countries.
He said the border closure had contributed to checking proliferation of light weapons in the country, noting that Nigeria was losing on the trading front because people in those countries cannot come here to buy goods.
“It particularly affects the markets, especially Kano market because majorly Niger, Central Africa and Northern Cameroon depend on Kano market, and people are not finding it easy, but I believe the temporary pains will soon be over,” the lawmaker from Kogi state said.
