As the ongoing rise in the cost of living continues to affect citizens, especially after the removal of fuel subsidies and the floating of the naira, artisans and technicians across Nigeria are expressing urgent concerns and calling for government intervention.
- President Bola Tinubu is being urged to take decisive actions to alleviate the economic burdens faced by these workers, many of whom report severe hardships.
- Numerous artisans are sharing distressing stories about how their livelihoods are threatened; some have revealed that financial pressures have forced their children to drop out of school, while others struggle to provide even a single meal a day.
- Many technicians have lost clients, which has significantly impacted their income.
- In a recent interview with Vanguard, Solomon Akorshu Ajiir, an auto mechanic on the Kubwa Expressway in Abuja, described the dire state of his business, stating that he has not had a single customer for over a week.
- Ajiir lamented that many of his regular clients are abandoning their vehicles and choosing to travel by bike instead, saying, “The economic situation is tough, and customers are finding it increasingly hard to cope with their expenses.”
He said, “Definitely, the present economic situation has affected us. For over a week, none of the customers had come to patronize me. Some of my customers have parked their cars and some have started going on bikes. Even the people who are selling spare parts around us are not getting patronage because of the situation.
Things are getting harder every day due to the fuel price increase.I don’t charge my customers a high amount. Most of them are complaining that they can no longer cope with the situation. We have not increased our charges. It is the fuel subsidy removal that has affected so many things, even the food items in the market, and the transporters now complain about fuel every day.
I believe if the price of fuel is reduced, most of our customers will start moving around with their vehicles.”
