ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Nigerians in Ibadan on Monday, hit the streets in protests over hunger and high cost of living under President Bola Tinubu, with chants of āTinubu ole!ā and ārenewed shege!ā rending the air.
The protesters at Mokola Roundabout were seen carrying placards on the street with inscriptions like āEnd food price hikeā and āThis is not Hope Renewed. This is shege renewedā.
āTinubu is thief! Tinubu is thief!ā the protesters hurled their opprobrium toward the president in a video posted on X.
This is coming as another episode of protests against food price hikes in the country.
Niger, Kano, Osun and Lagos (Mr Tinubuās home state), had protested hunger and other hardships.
Prices of staple foods have spiked almost 100 per cent as inflation ravages the Nigerian economy, in the past nine months.
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A market survey conducted at Mararaba Market, Nasarawa, by Peoples Gazette on 7 February showed that prices of most food items have increased by almost 100 per cent compared to what was obtainable last May.
A bag of rice, a common staple food among Nigerians, now sells for N65,000 against N35,000 for which it sold last May.
A bag of yellow garri, which sold for N25,000, has jumped to N40,000, while white garri now sells for N30,000 against N13,000 for which it sold last year.
A bag of corn that sold for N19,000 last year May now sells for N60,000, a bag of Millet sold for N18,000 now sells for N55,000, while flour for baking and pastries sells for N50,000 against N28,000 for which it sold last year May.
A ālong slateā of āTitusā (mackerel) now sells for N105,000 against N78,000 for which it sold last year. A square cartoon of āTitusā sold for N38,000 the previous year now sells for N78,000, while a 25 litre of palm oil formerly sold for N31,000 now sells for N1,000, Peoples Gazette added.
Inflation accelerated after President Bola Tinubuās sudden announcement of the removal of the petrol subsidy in his inaugural speech on 29 May, 2023, followed later by the CBNās policy of floating the naira.
Though lauded by experts, the duo policies of Tinubu have seen petrol prices rise from N145 per litre to N630, while the naira plunges against the naira in the parallel market, trading at about N1,600 to $1.