Christmas decorations light up Lagos as economic context overshadows festivities

Christmas time is in the air. The lights in the streets and buildings around Nigeria’s economic capital are testimony to this.

Twinkling Christmas Light Displays could be admired under Falomo Bridge, where portraits of the Chibok girls kidnapped by Boko Haram are painted or outside the Church of the Assumption in Lagos.

However, the festive season doesn’t mean that hardest hit by the cost-of-living crisis will experience a break.

At the Obalende market in Lagos, trade has slowed. When the few who can still tighten their belt/ buy presents, it comes with sacrifices.

Even though the government announced Wednesday it would subsidise the price of bus tickets to halve the cost between December 21 and January 4, some have sacrificed travelling to other regions and will thus far from their loved ones.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who was inaugurated president launched a reform agenda aimed at attracting investment and ended a costly fuel subsidy.

Nigerians now struggle with higher inflation, tripled fuel prices and a sharply weakened naira.