SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:
In Nigeria, the holidays are less festive this year, as the country is in the grip of one of its worst economic crises in decades. The government imposed a set of controversial economic reforms that critics say have only made poverty worse. And despite recent quarters of economic growth, inflation has soared. NPR's West Africa correspondent, Emmanuel Akinwotu, joins us now. Hi, there.
EMMANUEL AKINWOTU, BYLINE: Hi. Good morning.
MCCAMMON: So just paint a picture for me. How difficult is the economy for people right now?
AKINWOTU: Well, for many people in the country, it's been just a brutal year. The central bank puts inflation at 34%. You know, the cost of food, energy, just basic necessities have become so expensive. And then, in the last few weeks, there have been this series of shocking events that have really crystallized the struggles people are facing. Local police say about 60 people have died in three stampedes at different charity events around the country, where people were giving out food and cash donations. One of those events was for children in Ibadan. It's a city just outside Lagos. And thousands of people arrived there with their kids, many of them arriving a day before the event even started. But then this charity event just became a tragedy. About 35 children died.
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AKINWOTU: And on local media, there were these just tragic scenes of mothers weeping, looking for their children. The organizers of the Ibadan event have been arrested and have come under a lot of scrutiny. But these incidents - three incidents in a short space of time - have just really demonstrated the struggles people are facing.
MCCAMMON: Yeah, just an absolutely tragic example of how these economic struggles are hurting people. But what is the underlying cause of the economic situation?
AKINWOTU: Well, the government introduced a string of reforms that were largely praised by Western institutions like the IMF - the International Monetary Fund - and by the U.S. government. But they've had a major impact on people's lives. The government devalued the currency. They cut an electricity subsidy. But really, the most important one was the end of a fuel subsidy, which was one of the few benefits that Nigerians receive. Previous governments tried to end it, but they backed down because of huge protests.
But it was also a really expensive subsidy for the government, and the effects of cutting it were just swift. The price of fuel soared, which has had this huge domino effect. And the price of transportation has shot up. And people rely on generators for electricity because of power cuts, so the cost of that went up, too. And, you know, people expected that the subsidy might go, but they didn't expect - they didn't think it would go as quickly as it did, especially with so little put in place by the government to soften the blow.
MCCAMMON: So, Emmanuel, what is the government doing to soften that blow that you just mentioned for the people in Nigeria?
AKINWOTU: Well, what they've largely done is call for patience. The government says it's aware of the economic pain, but that it's necessary and temporary. And they've also almost doubled the minimum wage - although, in real terms, a lot of that raise has been wiped out by inflation. They've also started cash grants, but just to the poorest people. Really, the feeling I hear day to day is this sense that the political class still don't truly grasp just how challenging things are.
MCCAMMON: NPR West Africa correspondent Emmanuel Akinwotu. Thanks so much.
AKINWOTU: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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