Celebrated Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has expressed grave concern over the worsening economic hardship in the country, saying the rising level of suffering among ordinary Nigerians troubles her deeply.
In an interview on Channels Television’s Amazing Africans, Adichie said she is alarmed by how the current economic situation has pushed many Nigerians, including members of the middle class, into poverty and desperation.
“Life has become so hard in Nigeria, and me I can see it,” she said. “For example, people who were formerly kind of securely middle class, not that life was rosy for them, but they got by—are now people who beg and are in need. That worries me greatly.”
She stressed that the true measure of any government’s performance lies not in stock markets or economic figures, but in the daily lives of its citizens.
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“The level of suffering, how expensive food has become… I think the biggest political judgment one can make is about the lives of ordinary people,” she stated.
“People talk about the stock market. Personally, I don’t really care about those sorts of things. What I care about is: that person earning minimum wage, how is that person getting on in this economy? It’s the suffering that worries me the most. And it’s terrible.”
Adichie also warned that rising desperation could lead some to consider actions they ordinarily would not.
“It’s not to excuse crime, but I think when life gets very hard, even people who before would not have considered certain things suddenly are willing to, and that’s dangerous to society,” she said.
Her comments come amid soaring inflation and rising food costs that continue to overwhelm millions across Nigeria.