Several West African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and the Gambia, proudly compete for those who make the best “Jollof Rice” that makes rice cooked in spicy tomato sauce. However, in Nigeria, this cultural staple is becoming luxurious due to rising inflation, but government support remains slow and insufficient.
Last month, geopolitical research and strategic communications company SBM Intelligence released its latest SBM Jollof index. The report entitled “Staple Under Stress” tracks food costs from September 2024 to March 2025, revealing that the cost of cooking a pot of Nigerian Jollof Rice jumped from 21,300 to 25,486 naira (₦) with a 19% spike. The prices of essential ingredients such as rice, onions, tomatoes, and peppers are rising rapidly.
News and academic reports show that Nigeria is in the worst life crisis in nearly 30 years. With the Nigerian budget and economic outlook in January 2025, global advisory firm Pricewaterhousecoopers warned that inflation combined with inadequate social protection could lead to poverty of 13 million Naira Nigerians this year.
The recovery from the economic challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has been curtailed by a series of poor policy decisions in 2023, including the sudden removal of fuel consumption subsidies without adequate compensation.
It is important for the government to move away from fossil fuel subsidies that disproportionately benefit the wealthy and slow the transition to renewables, but it is equally important for the government to ensure low-income households, which may rise at costs after lower elimination, have access to essentials such as electricity, transportation, goods and services.
Nigeria does not have a comprehensive rights-based social security system that guarantees income support for a person’s lifelong life. As of 2022, only 14.8% of the population had access to at least one social protection benefit.
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In October 2023, the government announced cash transfers of 25,000 people from 15 million households over three months to mitigate the effects of inflation. But so far, only about 5 million households have received payments. Officials told Human Rights Watch that the programme has slowed implementation due to efforts to “improve accountability” by linking national social registrations used to identify “the poorest of the poor.”
Generally, such programs are often expensive to manage, prone to high exclusion errors, bureaucratic hurdles are responsible and ultimately condemn the beneficiaries.
Instead, authorities should take steps to create a social security system that aligns with universal rights backed by clear strategies and progressive funding to provide comprehensive support to people.
Only then can staples like Jollof Rice remain something that everyone enjoys, not just a privileged minority.
Anietie Ewang, Researcher, Africa Department
