Nigerians have continued to feel the effects of the numerous policy changes implemented by the government, particularly the most recent nationwide hike in petrol pump prices.

Within two weeks in September of this year, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited raised the price of petrol at the pump twice, from N617 to N855, N950 in Lagos state (depending on the fuel station), and above N1,000 in other states.

Nigerians have developed a variety of survival strategies in spite of these developments, which have had a significant impact on market prices and the cost of transportation.

However, the current increase has not gone down well, as some Nigerian workers’ lifestyle and economy have shown.

They are now unable to keep up with the rising expense of transit, which is severely cutting into their pay, so they are resorting to sleeping in their offices or quitting their jobs in order to save money.

“I live on the mainland and work on the island,” bemoaned Mr. Dotun Owoyemi, who works on the island and is paid a five-figure salary.

“I used to spend N800 travelling to and from my workplace.”I spend between N2,500 and N3,000 a day now.

“Those drivers of business buses are also not at all helping the situation.

“They raised the destination’s N200 fare to N500. between N100 and N300.

“I only make five figures a month, and I spend nearly half of it on transportation alone.”This is not at all humorous. The truth is that not all private organisations are able to pay the N70,000 minimum wage, which is why I had to go from my job.

The few who do not receive salaries benefit from this increase in fuel prices.You will be astounded by the detrimental impact of this new policy on product prices if you visit the market today.

Numerous companies have linked the recent rise in the cost of goods and services to the cost of fuel.
“I am still searching for a job near my home on the mainland that will pay less for transport than my previous job.”

Sandra Douglas stated, “I’ve already tendered my resignation. I worked at King Perekule, GRA, and I reside in the Elelonwo neighbourhood of Port Harcourt. In a month, I paid N52,000 for transport for a job where the maximum salary was N100,000.

“Despite working, I was unable to feed myself.”

“I worked as a midwife in one of the private hospitals in Marina but resigned recently due to the high cost of transportation,” says Mrs Dorcas Chukwuma, a midwife who works in Marina.I wasn’t the only employee in my place of employment to quit.We were four people.

Living on the mainland and working on the island is very difficult, particularly in light of the recent tripling of transit costs.

“Food and service costs have also increased.

Rather than using up my entire salary on transport alone so that I could work on the island, I simply had to look for another hospital on the mainland where I could work and pay less for my transport.

It is unfortunate that the government disregards the general public while enacting new laws.

The nation is now more impoverished as a result of the rise in fuel prices.

Our complaints were that people were suffering, that husbands would no longer see their families every day due to financial constraints, and that both young and old would have to leave their homes to beg because the relatives who are providing for them are barely able to support themselves.

In terms of country, we no longer even know where we are going.

“We’ve been let down by our government,”

In addition to quitting his jobs, Mr Tunde Ayeni, a Lekki resident, claimed that in order to save money on transit, he now spends his weeknights sleeping at the office and his Fridays going home.
“I live in Abule Ado and work in Lekki. My daily transport fare went from N2,000 to N4,000 in just two weeks following the increase in fuel prices.

I don’t get paid up to N100,000 every month.

“I therefore began sleeping at the office during the week and returning home on the weekends.

It is absurd because these private businesses are also having difficulty making ends meet and are unable to raise wages.

“Many workers will lose their jobs if private companies implement the so-called N70,000 minimum wage.”except from businesses—which, I doubt, exist—that are resistant to every impact of these economic practices.