Every December 25, Nigerians enjoy a public holiday that marks the celebration of Christmas. These celebrations are often met with fanfare by Nigerians from different parts of the country.

One significant feature of this public holiday is having food to eat and to share with neighbours. All of these are done without the cost of shopping for new clothes, decorating homes, paying for photo sessions and other expenses.

However, the 2024 celebrations have been met with gloomy preparations as some Nigerians have told EQ that they could no longer afford some of the fanfare and charity they enjoyed only 12 months ago in 2023.

Three residents of Lagos whose demography comprises a working mother, a young writer and a realtor all told EQ that they have been forced to cut down on their expenses for the holiday, particularly in what they give out.

READ ALSO: Nigerians Pay Triple for Food 17 Months After Tinubu’s Initial Food Security Declaration

Odunayo Niyi, a young writer resident in Lagos, told EQ on Wednesday that she invited three of her friends to the cinema and paid for their ticket in 2023. This time, she couldn’t afford to do the same as the prices had increased.

She added that apart from not being able to cater for her friends, she is now forced to spend the holiday indoors due to the expenses.

“In 2023, the prices of movie tickets were around N4,000 and I went with three of my friends whom I paid for,” Niyi told EQ.

“However, this year, the same tickets have gone up to N7,000 and N8,500. I can’t afford them and we are now enjoying the holidays in our homes.”

Opeyemi Folarin, a realtor, has also been forced to withhold his charity on Christmas Day in 2024. He said that he would singlehandedly buy a bag of rice and share it with his neighbours and those around him every year but he couldn’t afford to do the same in 2024.

He said the price of a bag of rice last Christmas was N39,000 but the same bag cost more than N85,000 at the time of drafting this report which was beyond his financial capability.

“This year, I can’t even purchase a bag of rice to share with people. But this was something I could conveniently afford the previous year when the price of one bag was N39,000,” the realtor said.

“Today, it is more than N85,000 and I can’t afford to go the same route of charity. And I feel pained I am not putting a smile on the faces of people expecting yearly gifts from me.

“The leadership of Nigeria has failed to meet and fulfil its responsibilities, especially where it concerns the welfare of citizens.”

Grace Emmanuel, a working wife and mother, corroborated Folarin’s concern.

She said her family used to give out bags of rice to the people they care about but they have been forced to reduce the quantity to what they could afford in 2024.

“When we celebrated Christmas in 2023, we gave out over two bags of rice. This is because a bag of rice was pocket-friendly, but this year we could not afford to do so much.

“A bag was hovering around N50,000 but this year, the same bag is between N90,000 and N95,000. Things were not this bad.”

Emmanuel said her household has been forced to downsize the quantity of gifts due to the increasing cost of goods.

“We still gave out gifts to people but it wasn’t as much as what we gave out last year. This time around, we barely gave out one bag. And some people who we won’t give rice to, we had to give them small cash gifts not up to the value of rice,” she explained.

Eghosa Agho, an Information Technology support professional, told EQ that the present holiday is different from every other one he had celebrated because so many plans had to be shelved.

Agho told EQ that he was nearly dealing with an empty food store — something that had never happened before — due to the rising inflation.

“First, my family reunion, where everyone meets at my elder brother’s place, did not hold because of finance, we had to postpone it indefinitely,” he said.

“Besides the reunion, I have not been able to go shopping because I know doing that now will cost an arm and a leg. Before now, I usually stocked my house full of different kinds of foodstuff but as we speak, except for the cooked food in my refrigerator, there’s no raw food in my house, except for a small quantity of rice.”

READ ALSO: REPORT: More Nigerians Insecure About Food Compared to 2019

Agho explained that the change in his holiday spending was caused by an increase in the cost of goods and services nationwide. He said other expenses took up what could have been used to have a good celebration.

“Many other expenses have eaten up the funds I would usually have to prepare for the holiday. The increased cost of foodstuff in the market can give one heart attack before getting there,” Agho added.

Ayo John, a resident of Ondo State, said in her case the Christmas celebration was different in the value of what could be bought with the Naira in 2023 when compared to what she saw in December.

“In my office every month, we contribute N1,000 each until November so we can use the money to buy foodstuff in bulk. Last year, we contributed and got six kongo (a local measuring unit) of rice each,” John said.

“But this year, the same amount could not even get rice at all. We only got two litres of groundnut oil and two sachets of seasoning cubes.”

EQ recently reported how Nigerians paid three times more for food than before President Bola Tinubu assumed office. This was despite his promise of food stability and security two months after his inauguration.

Also, a National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report from November revealed that Nigerians were more insecure about food compared to 2019.

Nigeria’s increasing inflation rate hit 34.6% in November, a weakening naira continues to hurt people’s purchasing power, insecurity ravaged farmlands in the eastern and northern geopolitical zones and inadequate food production has made costly supply meet more demand.
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