The streets of Nigeria’s largest cities Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt are seething with anger. People are protesting with signs reading “end bad government now” and “end hunger.”

The economic crisis in Nigeria, which has lasted for over 5 years, has now reached its worst: People are dying of hunger!

How it affects Land of Hope
Every single day, consumer prices for basic necessities such as food, fuel, and medicine rise.

A bag of rice used to cost 40,000 naira (approximately 23 Euro), but now costs 85,000 naira (around 50 Euro). Beans have increased from 56,000 naira to 108,000 naira (almost 65 Euro).

Our food expenses at Land of Hope have more than doubled in the past 5 years, meaning that we – like other ordinary, working Nigerians – have to cut back on overall expenses to maintain a minimal standard of living.

At Land of Hope, we have chosen to prioritize the following:

• All our staff receive salaries
• We have food for all meals throughout the day
• We have secured the most essential medicines
• And all our children continue to attend school

It has been possible for us to maintain this prioritization over the past 5 years because we have simultaneously worked to become self-sufficient by, among other things, growing our own vegetables and a chicken farm.

In return, we have paused maintenance work and minor repairs at Land of Hope – but we cannot continue this indefinitely. We are of cause concerned about the security of the children’s center.

How has the situation become so bad?
The rising inflation is due to several factors. Among them are falling oil prices, which are a crucial source of income for Nigeria, along with an inefficient economic policy.

Corruption greatly influences the country. Money that is suppose to help the poor has a way of “disappearing” – and at the same time, the number of poor people increases because unemployment rises, and many have lost their jobs due to the economic crisis.

Nigerians are protesting because they miss action from the government!

The economic reforms communicated by the government in the past year have not yet been implemented – and the situation has only worsened.

Already, several families have had to reduce the number of meals to just 2 a day, and children are no longer being sent to school because there is no money for school fees.

This is not a good development for Nigeria – a country with over 200 million people!

When you donate to Land of Hope, you can be sure that your money goes to the children and their food and education. We also continue to work on strengthening our position through increased self-sufficiency – but we need a helping hand to get through the crisis.