By Ikechukwu Samuel
A Nigerian development economist, Prof. Ken Ife, has described the rising food inflation in Adamawa State as a crisis, warning that Nigeria’s moderating headline inflation is failing to reflect the economic hardship confronting households.
Ife said the divergence between headline and food inflation had created “paradoxes of conflicting narratives”, with official indicators suggesting improvement while Nigerians continued to struggle with the rising cost of basic food items.
He cited Adamawa as a particularly troubling example, saying food inflation in the state had reached about 51 percent, while headline inflation stood at approximately 33 percent.
“That is a crisis,” Ife declared, questioning the implications of the development for Nigeria’s efforts to address food insecurity.
He said the situation raised fundamental questions about whether the government’s macroeconomic gains were translating into tangible benefits for ordinary Nigerians.
“If we can have this level of pronounced food inflation, then we have to ask serious questions about how macroeconomic gains are translating to the ordinary Nigerian,” he said.
According to Ife, the moderation in headline inflation was partly driven by the energy sub-index, which he said declined by about 2.3 percent during the period under review.
He explained that movements in petrol prices and the absence of an electricity tariff increase contributed to the decline, but cautioned that the figures did not capture the full pressure on household budgets.
Ife also warned that Nigeria’s strong capital-market performance should not obscure structural weaknesses, particularly the concentration of the market around a few large domestic conglomerates.
He said Nigeria’s market capitalisation remained relatively low at about 10 to 15 percent of GDP, compared with deeper markets such as South Africa.
The economist called for greater diversification of investment across sectors and company sizes, arguing that a broader capital market would reduce systemic risks.
He stressed that the real measure of economic progress should ultimately be whether macroeconomic gains translate into improved purchasing power and living conditions for Nigerians.
