As preparations to celebrate this year’s Christmas thicken, several Christians in Bauchi have cancelled plans to travel to their villages for Christmas and New Year festivities due to the country’s difficult economic situation.
Following the federal government’s removal of fuel subsidies, transport fares increased astronomically, reducing Nigerians’ frequency of travel.
In return, the problem affected the prices of food commodities and clothes, which are essentials for a merry Christmas and New Year celebration in the country.
LEADERSHIP learnt that rice, chicken, palm oil, and beef prices hiked beyond the reach of several poor and average-income Christmas celebrants in Bauchi.
A check at the popular Muda-Lawal market revealed that a measure of rice sales at about N2,300; a bottle of palm oil goes for N3,000; a kilo of beef N6,000; and an average chicken goes for about N9,000 and above.
As a result, Christians in Bauchi shelved routine yearly travel budgets and other necessities that previously used to be affordable to them but something they could no longer afford due to increasing hardships and inflationary trends in the Nigerian economy.
Mr Agwom Iliya, a resident of Yelwan Tudu, said he could not afford to take his family to his native Zabir community in Tafawa Balewa local government due to the cost of transport fares.
Mr Iliya, for the first time in over a decade, and his family are forced to celebrate Christmas in Bauchi, an unusual experience blamed on federal government policy.
He said at the current rate of transport fare, he needed about N40,000 to visit Zabir with his family. “This amount is half of my salary,” he lamented.
Also, John Ezekiel said he could not buy his children new Christmas clothes due to their high cost.
“I bought them used clothes commonly called ‘gwanjo’ because they seem to be relatively affordable,” he narrated.
Musa Lele, an employee of the NURTW Muda Lawal Park said the number of passengers travelling to villages during this festive period subsided after fares were increased due to fuel scarcity.
He said that about 20 buses had conveyed people to different places within Bauchi State in previous years.
“At the moment we hardly get seven buses due to low turn out of passengers contrary to the established norm during festive periods,” he said.
He said members have no option but to increase the fares to be able to continue being in business.
