Hundreds of women, including local bread producers known as “Gurasa”, marched through the streets of Kano ancient city on Friday to protest the high cost of living.
The city’s residents were particularly protesting the increase in the price of flour, which is used mostly in the making of the staple food.
The majority of the protesters, including children, were chanting, “Everything is expensive especially flour, grains, Tinubu come to our aid, we cannot feed our families, most of us are widows and people are dying of hunger”.
Hajiya Fatima Auwal, the leader of the protesting women, told journalists shortly after the demonstrations that the people needed a better standard of living, particularly at a time when high inflation was making it even more difficult for them to make ends meet.
She said:”We are out on the streets protesting to inform the leaders of the terrible scenario we are now in. Many have lost their capital. As a result, only 25% of us continue in operation, while many others have closed owing to a lack of funds. “We used to buy flour for N16,000, but today, it costs N43,000.”
According to her it is painful that a lot of small-scale businesses are deteriorating as a result of the rise in flour prices.
Hajiya Auwal continued: “We are in a very difficult situation and require assistance. This is a small-scale enterprise, primarily conducted by women.
“Life is becoming more difficult; we can barely feed or send our children to school because of this hardship. This is absurd!”
The leader of the protests, who also serves as the Chairperson of local Gurasa producers in Kano, urged the authorities to look into the situation, saying they were already going out of business, which she said was impacting their families.
