Dr. Samson Ayokunle, a former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Nigerian Baptist Convention, has urged the Federal Government to take urgent and decisive action to address the escalating inflation in the country.
Speaking on the socio-political program Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, aired on Channels Television on Friday, Ayokunle expressed deep concern over the economic instability that has plagued Nigeria over the past year.
Ayokunle shared a personal anecdote to illustrate the impact of inflation. He recounted an incident from earlier in the year when he was building a poultry house and needed to purchase cement.
“I was to do a small poultry and they [the bricklayers] said I would need a small house which they call the pen.
“They would floor it and buy cement. By that time, cement was N5,300. When I learnt that cement was N5,300, I shouted. Only one bag?!
“I paid for the number of cements that was needed for that small pen. But unfortunately, the estimate was not right because the bags of cement couldn’t complete it.
“They came to me and said everything has changed, and a bag of cement became N11,000. I said, ‘What!’ I almost fainted. How many weeks difference?” he explained.
Ayokunle highlighted that such drastic price fluctuations are symptomatic of a broader issue of economic volatility in Nigeria.
“This is the Nigeria we are talking about where the economy is not stable at all. You can’t predict the prices of goods. What is even worse is the price of medicine,” he lamented.
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