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Cost of living crisis causes exodus of doctors from Nigeria

Africa's largest economy, Nigeria, is in the process of introducing new banknotes for the first time in more than 20 years. The move is an attempt to reignite confidence in the currency, the naira, which is under severe pressure. With inflation at more than 20%, people are struggling to cope with the rising cost of living. It is leading to the largest exodus of young professionals in years.

"Imagine going to the grocery store one day, and everything has tripled in price? How do you even cope? You have a family at home. What do you cut out of the budget?" Oroma Cookey Gam tells me by Zoom, her face incredulous.

The fashion designer left Nigeria's biggest city, Lagos, with her young family a year ago for the UK capital, London. Her husband and business partner Osione, an artist, was granted a Global Talent visa, which enables leaders in academia, arts and culture, as well as digital technology to work in the UK.

She says it had become too expensive to raise their young family in Lagos. "Our money was buying us less and less. We weren't able to pay our bills, we weren't able to do normal things that we were doing."

Oroma studied law at the UK's University of Northumbria and moved back to Nigeria almost 20 years ago, keen to use her degree to help develop her country. Along with Osione, she eventually set up This Is Us, a sustainable fashion and lifestyle brand that uses local materials and artisans, including cotton grown and dyed in northern Nigeria.

Initially, the cost of living crisis wasn't impacting them.

"Because we are 100% sourced in Nigeria, things were not as terrible for us as it was for other people," Oroma says. "So when everyone was increasing their prices, we skipped a couple of increases because we could manage."

But eventually their Nigerian customer base was finding it harder to afford non-essential items like clothing - particularly when food accounts for 63% of their spending. This means when the price of food goes up, people have less disposable income.

Oroma says it is particularly bad for young Nigerians. "Speaking to my mum, one thing that I realised is that when they were younger, things were a lot easier for them. They could afford to buy houses, cars.

"I always felt like: 'What is going on with me?' I'm failing because I can't do all the things my mum was doing, but I realised that the country is not working for me."

She is not the only one to feel this way. Nigeria is experiencing its worst wave of emigration in years. Reliable statistics are hard to find, but the number of Nigerians granted UK work visas has quadrupled since 2019. And 700% more visas have been awarded to Nigerian students.

There are long queues outside immigration processing centres and embassies every day, and everyone here seems to know someone who's leaving or trying to relocate abroad.

The term "japa", which means "to run, flee or escape" in Yoruba, has become a popular topic of conversation online, as well as on radio and TV chat shows.

Most of those who can afford to leave the country legally are well educated. They include doctors, nurses, engineers and IT professionals. It's led some to call the exodus a "brain drain".

The Nigeria Medical Association, says at least 50 doctors leave Nigeria every week to work abroad. Poor working conditions, coupled with bad pay and the rising cost of living are the main factors.

Kunle Ibisola is a junior doctor who used to work at the University College Hospital (UCH), in the south-western city of Ibadan. He now works for NHS Scotland.

"My story is the story of most Nigerian doctors," he tells me over the phone. "I never wanted to leave Nigeria. My intention was to start my residency there, become a consultant and practice in my country.

"The main reason I left is salary, and the cost of living. In the UK, if I work six to eight hours of locum work [overtime] and I convert that to naira, it will be the equivalent of my monthly salary in Nigeria. And that's not even including my main UK salary."

He says a year ago his hospital in Nigeria started haemorrhaging doctors.

"Some doctors didn't get paid for six to nine months, because there was an issue with the federal payment system. Some senior colleagues couldn't afford to drive to work or send their children to school. That was an eye-opener for a lot of people."

His wife and children are planning to join him in Scotland soon. When I ask him what he thinks the future holds for Nigeria, he grows pensive.


"If I think about it too much, it's depressing because even people currently in medical school are all planning to leave. If you aren't planning to leave, people think you're unfortunate or you don't have money."

I have spoken to half a dozen doctors, all with similar stories. Overworked and underpaid, they all decided to relocate over the past two years.

For those left behind, the pressure is immense. Cheta Nwanze, an economic analyst at SBM Intelligence, says Nigeria's current high rate of inflation is mainly caused by food inflation.

"SBM has this proxy for food inflation called the Jollof Index," he explains, referring to the tomato-based rice dish, popular across West Africa. "We calculate the average cost of making a pot of jollof rice for a family of five. It was just under 4,000 naira at the start of 2016, and now it's around 10,000 naira [$22, £18] - so it's more than doubled in five years."

He explains that although Nigeria has been affected by some of the same drivers of inflation as elsewhere in the world, namely the war in Ukraine and the 2020 pandemic, there are additional factors unique to the country.

He says that many farmers in the north, where much of the country's food comes from, have been unable to plant their crops in recent years because of attacks by Islamist militants and kidnappers.

"When you couple that with the government's protectionist policies with respect to food imports, and Nigeria's growing population, it means there's less food for more mouths to feed, which drives up inflation."

The impact of this can be seen in the country's markets. In Ajah, a small food market in a residential suburb of Lagos, there are fewer people than usual.

Omowunmi Ajekigbe, a market trader, is grating okra under a huge parasol. "Things weren't too expensive last year," she tells me, "but this year, it's too much. You used to see lots of customers rushing about, but now... you barely see anybody.

At a nearby stall, Cordelia Fidelis, a young woman with long braids and a big smile, is haggling with a vegetable seller. She owns a catering business and comes to the market every day.

"The cost of goods is alarming - in just two months the price of yams has more than doubled. It's crazy, I swear it's crazy, everything is so expensive. A box of egg is expensive, beef is expensive, palm oil is so expensive."

Some have started taking drastic action to manage their expenses. Angela Chukwulozie is a retired teacher who now sells Italian shoes. "Since the price of everything has gone up, I've cut back on how many meals my family and I eat every day. Instead of eating three times in a day we now eat twice."

The economy is one of the key concerns for voters in next month's elections. Despite being Africa's largest economy, four out of 10 Nigerians live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank. All of the main candidates have promised to improve the country's economy if elected, but there is scepticism as to whether they can deliver.

The Central Bank says the change of currency, which must be completed by 10 February when the old banknotes will no longer be legal tender, will help bring some of the cash currently being hoarded by individuals and companies back into the banking system.

It says 80% of the notes currently in circulation are outside banks. The organisation hopes the change will give it a better understanding of the money circulating in the economy so it can better manage inflation. Whether or not it will be successful is debatable.

Back in London, Oroma is optimistic, despite the hardships her country is facing.

"There's no place like home. I go back to Nigeria every three months, because when I haven't been there, I literally feel like I'm dying.

"I feel like Nigeria is at the point where, if we can change now, it's not too late. We just need some basics: people need to be educated, we need electricity, we need roads. If we can just do these three things and improve security, I think the potential in Nigeria is amazing."

By Mayeni Jones, BBC

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Chaos in Nigeria as deadline on cash swap gets closer

Nigerians, from all parts of the country, will enter this weekend agitated and confused over the currency redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
While banks remain open to receive old notes till Tuesday, January 31, scarcity of new naira notes and rejection of the old notes, beginning from today, by retailers and many sales outlets, is driving the citizenry into panic mode as the deadline stares them in the face while still having large amounts of the old N1,000, N500 and N200 notes.

Few days before the deadline, the exercise had led to chaos, as well as over-stretching bank workers due to the breakdown of counting machines in many of the branches.

Findings by The Guardian showed that the breakdown of the counting machines due to heavy pressure has resulted in bank tellers now counting monies in bulk manually, making many customers wait long hours on the queue before being attended to.

The Guardian gathered that not only are bank workers overstretched, the health implications of counting mutilated notes manually remain a concern. National President of the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institution Employees (NUBIFIE), Anthony Abakpa, who said the situation has not been brought to the union’s attention, called for compensation for the categories of staff, especially the bulk tellers and the notes counting officers at the end of the exercise.

He called on employers and management of banks to ensure that workers’ safety were more paramount, by giving them all the necessary gadgets and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), like nose masks and hand gloves to protect their fingers from germs.

This was similarly echoed by the National President of the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI), Olusoji Oluwole, who cited the stress and health implications on workers.

AMID the confusion overheating the polity, a Professor of Law, Joshua Alobo, has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, urging it to among others, restrain the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and its Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, from implementing the January 31 deadline.

The request form part of the reliefs being sought in a suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/114/2023. Alobo also wants the court to issue a mandatory order, compelling CBN to extend the “duration where the old notes cease to become legal tender to period of three weeks when the redesign notes will be sufficiently dispensed by the commercial banks.”

Defendants in the suit are the CBN, Emefiele and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN). Alobo, who accused commercial banks of failing to make the new naira notes available to their customers, stated that as of January 25, he was still handed the old notes on the counter and through the Automatic Teller Machine (ATM).

Few days before the deadline, the exercise had led to chaos, as well as over-stretching bank workers due to the breakdown of counting machines in many of the branches.

Findings by The Guardian showed that the breakdown of the counting machines due to heavy pressure has resulted in bank tellers now counting monies in bulk manually, making many customers wait long hours on the queue before being attended to.

The Guardian gathered that not only are bank workers overstretched, the health implications of counting mutilated notes manually remain a concern. National President of the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institution Employees (NUBIFIE), Anthony Abakpa, who said the situation has not been brought to the union’s attention, called for compensation for the categories of staff, especially the bulk tellers and the notes counting officers at the end of the exercise.

He called on employers and management of banks to ensure that workers’ safety were more paramount, by giving them all the necessary gadgets and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), like nose masks and hand gloves to protect their fingers from germs.

This was similarly echoed by the National President of the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI), Olusoji Oluwole, who cited the stress and health implications on workers.

AMID the confusion overheating the polity, a Professor of Law, Joshua Alobo, has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, urging it to among others, restrain the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and its Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, from implementing the January 31 deadline.

The request form part of the reliefs being sought in a suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/114/2023. Alobo also wants the court to issue a mandatory order, compelling CBN to extend the “duration where the old notes cease to become legal tender to period of three weeks when the redesign notes will be sufficiently dispensed by the commercial banks.”

Defendants in the suit are the CBN, Emefiele and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN). Alobo, who accused commercial banks of failing to make the new naira notes available to their customers, stated that as of January 25, he was still handed the old notes on the counter and through the Automatic Teller Machine (ATM).

THE commercial banks, yesterday, told the House that they were bound by CBN guidelines, as their regulator in the implementation of the cashless policy. The banks in a meeting with the adhoc committee of the House set up to interface with them on the withdrawal of old notes said they are getting allocation of the new notes from the CBN and dispensing same to their customers through the ATMs. According to them, the January 31 deadline of the CBN was still sacrosanct.

It will be recalled that the committee chaired by the leader of the House, Ado Doguwa had invited the various commercial banks to confirm or refute the claims by the CBN that there was sufficient new naira notes in circulation.

Represented by their various staff, the banks took turns to respond to the issues. They said that due to the cashless policy, they were not expected to collect as much money as deposited with the CBN, stressing that the public should first understand the import of the policy. They also revealed that the new notes can only be accessed through the ATM and not at the counters.

While the debate raged over his non-appearance at the House, Emefiele unveiled the Nigerian national domestic card scheme. The move, the apex bank added, is part of efforts to reshape the country’s payment landscape.

“The domestic card scheme is expected to strengthen the national payments system and deepen the usage of electronic platforms in Nigeria,” Emefiele said at the virtual launch.

He maintained that the new scheme is set to provide more options for domestic consumers and promote the delivery of services in a more innovative, cost-effective, and competitive manner.

Emefiele also assured Nigerians that the move will bring more opportunities to integrate the informal segment of the country’s economy, reduce shadow banking and bring more people into formal financial services.

THE Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged CBN to extend the deadline. NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, who stated this in Abuja, yesterday, also faulted the policy as one that was not properly thought through.

He argued that the newly redesigned notes are not widely circulated for the citizens to use, adding that CBN will throw many Nigerians, especially those in rural villages, into more hardship if it goes ahead to enforce the decision on the last day of January.

“We align ourselves fully with the position of the National Assembly because we go to the rural areas. We have workers in rural areas. We have many of our local government areas that don’t have banking facilities and some of those areas are even very hard to reach.

“So, we call for this policy to be reviewed and to give an extension so that all old notes can then be mopped up by the bank. We call on CBN, particularly in areas where you don’t have banks, don’t just go to one or two local governments as they did in Borno. Don’t select places and then tell the media that you are doing the right thing, you are doing the wrong thing.

“The new notes are not in circulation and the old notes are being rejected. They are pushing people to the wall and very soon people will react. Importantly, even in city centres, where we have banks, banks’ ATMs are not dispensing new notes.

“ CBN did not think through this policy very well. If it is targeting the rich, the rich are the owners of the banks, the rich are already spending dollars and the rich are spending other currencies. So CBN is targeting the rich, but punishing the poor.”

IN the meantime, scarcity of the new notes is creating hardship for Nigerians, both in rural and urban centres. In Abuja, some workers lamented their inability to send money to their aged parents at home.

Ajibola Sunday said while he appreciates the need to prevent politicians from inducing voters financially, other collateral damages are creeping into the scenario.

“Yes, I understand what President Muhammadu Buhari is trying to do, going by his antecedents in 1984, but this is also affecting other segments of the society. For instance, my mother is finding it difficult to get new notes to buy necessities. Most people in my village now reject old notes even when new ones are not available. The CBN can stay in Abuja and speak all the grammar, the reality is that most Nigerians are not getting the new notes.”

Though the new notes are beginning to be available in a few ATMs, people are not allowed to withdraw more than N20,000 per day. Most Point of Sale (POS) operators around FCT have been off business as they decry the dearth of new notes.

Ebele Nwankwo, a POS operator in Central Business Area, said customers are rejecting the old notes. According to her, bank cashiers are still giving old notes to customers, insisting that are no new notes in the bank.

“Where are we supposed to get the new notes if not from the bank? This is why I am not open for business today,” she said.“I will go back to the bank tomorrow (Friday) to check if I will get new notes. I can’t risk withdrawing old notes that customers will reject from me.”

It was a similar situation at the popular Berger junction along airport road, as the pool of POS operators was scanty. Aliu Ahmed, one of the few POS operators with new notes described the day as his ‘lucky’ day. “I have had a lot of customers today because some of my colleagues are not here, they are looking for new notes.”

He explained that he withdrew the new notes from one of the banks in a nearby town yesterday morning. Aliu, however, said that he was only able to withdraw N20,000, being the highest amount a customer can withdraw per day.

“With that little amount, I was able to exchange old notes of N5,000 for new N4,000 instead of the regular charges of N100 for N5,000 as people are desperately in need of the new notes to exchange goods for cash on the streets,” he said.

Many customers have begun to reject the old notes in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, while ATM points in the ancient town are deserted. Traders, PoS operators and residents complained bitterly about scarcity of the new notes, which they said is hampering businesses and socio-economic activities.

Investigation by The Guardian indicated that many PoS operators have hectic time convincing their customers to accept the old notes. Mr. Ojo Isaiah, a PoS operator, said he withdrew N400,000 from the bank but old notes were given to him. He vowed to wreak havoc if any bank refuses to accept the old notes from him on Monday to beat the deadline.

He said: “I was informed there were new notes available, which was why I filled teller to withdraw N400,000 but there was no single new one in the notes I was given.”

PRESIDENT Buhari’s visit to his Katsina home state, yesterday, stalled many business activities, even as commercial banks were unable to provide needed services for customers.

Buhari is on a two-day working visit, where he is expected to commission some state, federal and private projects. Some of the projects being commissioned are located on major streets, especially the IBB Way, where most of the commercial banks are located.

For security reasons, roads leading to and from project commission venues were cordoned off, making it difficult for businesses to open. The development also put serious setback to efforts by residents to swap their old naira notes for the redesigned ones.

A visit to some of the banks showed hundreds of customers struggling to access the few ATMs dispensing old notes.

A customer, Mrs Sarah Okpanachi, said the late commencement of banking activities, which was due to the President’s visit, affected efforts to swap old notes.

“They told us to be patient, that they would soon load the ATMs with the new notes, but nothing has been done as at 2:30p.m.” Okpanachi said though she managed to deposit the old notes she came with at the bank, effort to access and withdraw the new notes from the ATMs, didn’t yield positive result as cashiers in the banking hall directed customers to the ATMs.

IN Enugu State, investigations by The Guardian showed that while banks have resorted to paying lower denominations of the currency, including N100 and N50 over the counter, ATMs that should disburse the new currency notes have become empty.

While some banks stopped receiving the old notes from Wednesday and approved such receipts in designated branches in the state, churches have asked their members not to send in the old notes from yesterday. Some businesses have also started rejecting the old notes.

Benson Ugwu told The Guardian that efforts to withdraw from ATM proved abortive as none was dispensing cash. Perturbed by the development, Igbo youths under the aegis of Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL) have called on CBN to extend the deadline for the use of old notes. They stated that they would embark on street protests to persuade the apex bank to review the deadline directive, its National Coordinator, Goodluck Ibem, stated.

A former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, yesterday, called on the Federal Government to find a permanent solution to the nation’s persistent scarcity and increase in price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, claiming that the unavoidably queues at the filling stations are intolerable and unacceptable.

According to Gana, the country’s economy has been severely hampered by what he described as needless scarcit.y The former Information Minister, who disclosed this at the 106th anniversary of the Archbishop Vining College of Theology in Akure, Ondo State, said drivers and commuters have been facing untold hardship nationwide.

Gana also expressed displeasure at what he termed needless difficulties Nigerians are going through over newly redesigned naira notes. He claimed that despite the approaching deadline, many citizens were unable to obtain the new notes.

To give the populace access to the new notes and head off the issue, he demanded a quick extension of the due date.
SPOKESMAN, Middle Belt Forum, Isuwa Dogo, yesterday, said Nigerians would soon realise the major error of allowing the CBN Governor to singlehandedly convince President Buhari to change to new currency notes without carrying the National Assembly along.

Dogo, while speaking with The Guardian, tasked the media to do thorough investigation behind the motives of Emefiele and those behind the new naira notes at this delicate election period.

He said: “The action of the CBN governor completely undermined the Constitutional role of the National Assembly, which represent the Nigerian populace. The action again undermined the fundamental rights of 200 million Nigerians, who were not given the opportunity to have input in such a critical and sensitive issue of currency change that have effects even on children that are in the womb.”

The Middle Belt Forum’s spokesman urged the National Assembly to use its constitutional power force the CBN governor to extend the deadline of January 31 to about six months.

By Collins Olayinka, The Guardian

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Domestic card scheme launched in Nigeria to promote cashless society

Nigeria's central bank on Thursday launched a domestic card scheme to rival foreign cards like Mastercard and Visa, hoping to enhance its drive to make Africa's biggest economy a cashless society and save the country foreign transaction fees.

The announcement by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor Godwin Emefiele follows the bank's decision last year to phase out old higher denomination bank notes.

Emefiele told a virtual launch of the "AfriGo" card scheme that although penetration of card payments in Nigeria had grown over the years, many citizens remained excluded.

"The challenges that have limited the inclusion of Nigerians include the high cost of card services as a result of foreign exchange requirements of international card schemes and the fact that existing card products do not address local peculiarities of the Nigerian market," said Emefiele.

AfriGo is owned by CBN and Nigerian banks and Emefiele said that Nigeria was joining China, Russia, India and Turkey in launching a domestic card scheme.

International card service providers like Mastercard and Visa would not be stopped in Nigeria, he added.

"Rather, it (AFRIGO) is aimed at providing more options for domestic consumers whilst also promoting the delivery of services in a more innovative, cost effective and competitive manner," he said.

Africa's most populous nation Nigeria, has more than 200 million people and the majority still use cash because they live in rural areas where there are not banks. 

By Camillus Eboh, Reuters

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Nigeria’s eNaira digital currency had an embarrassing first week

 

Bomb blast kills at least 50 in Nigeria

Dozens of cattle herders and bystanders were killed and several injured by a suspected bomb blast in Nigeria's north central region, a state government official and spokesperson of the national cattle breeders said on Wednesday.

The incident happened on Tuesday night between Nasarawa and Benue states in north central Nigeria.

The spokesperson of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Tasi'u Suleman, said a group of Fulani herders were moving their cattle to Nasarawa from Benue, where authorities had confiscated the animals for breaching anti-grazing laws, when an explosion rocked the area.

"At least about 54 people died instantly. Those who were injured were countless," Suleman said.

Nasarawa governor Abdullahi Sule did not say how many people were killed, but told reporters that a bomb blast was responsible for the deaths.

He did not say who was believed to be behind the explosion, but said he had been meeting with security agencies "to ensure that we continue to douse the tension" that could be caused by the incident.

North central Nigeria, also known as the Middle Belt, is prone to violence due to clashes between Fulani pastoralists and farmers, who are mainly Christian, which is often painted as ethno-religious conflict.

But experts say population growth and climate change has led to an expansion of the area dedicated to farming, leaving less land available for open grazing by nomads' herds of cattle.

The governor's spokesperson Abubakar Ladan told Reuters that mass burial for those killed were held earlier on Wednesday.

By Ardo Hazzad and Ahmed Kingimi, Reuters

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