Nigerians still enjoy the lowest cost of living in Africa

TRUE: ‘Nigerians still enjoy the lowest cost of living in Africa’

Claim:

The Nigeria government has claimed that ‘Nigerians still enjoy the lowest cost of living in Africa’.

Verdict: 

True.

Full Text:

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, criticized the Bola Tinubu-led administration over the state of the economy, and its biting hardship on many Nigerians. 

According to a PUNCH report, Atiku on Sunday, said in a statement that “Tinubu’s poor response to Nigeria’s economic challenges is setting the stage for a prolonged and deeper domestic economic crisis.”

The statement further reads: “His economic policies, drawn from a so-called renewed hope agenda, are ironically dashing hopes, creating pain and causing despair. The private sector is shrinking by the day as small businesses are emasculated and as Multinational Companies, confused and weary of the economy, leave Nigeria in droves.

“The intense cost of living pressures has created more misery for the poor in towns and villages. There is hunger in the land as basic commodities, including BREAD, are becoming out of reach for average Nigerians.

However, on Feb. 4th, the Presidency countered Atiku in a statement signed by Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga.

In the statement, Onanuga told Atiku to admit that  “President Tinubu inherited a weak economy,” adding that “his (Atiku’s) claim that the government’s policies have created intense cost of living pressures are also not grounded on facts as recent comparative cost of living indices show that Nigerians still enjoy the lowest cost of living in Africa.”

Verification: 

Twentyten Daily reviewed a 2024 report by Numbeo, a platform providing data on cost of living,  quality of life and various socio-economic factors from across countries. 

Findings show that Nigeria is at the bottom of the table of African countries with low cost of living. 

What this mean is that, Nigerians benefit lowest cost of living in Africa. 

Nigeria ranked 24th –  with a Cost of Living Index of 19.0 – among the 24 African countries identified.  

Although BusinessDay’s monthly TalkExchange poll reveals that Nigerians are lamenting about the economy. According to the report, “100% of respondents are dissatisfied with the current cost of food, and 75% believe the government isn’t doing enough to address the issue.”

Conclusion: 

A 2024 data supported the Presidency statement that ‘Nigerians still enjoy the lowest cost of living in Africa’.