What Was the First Purchase That Made You Say, "Nigeria Has Changed"?

There's usually an item you buy that makes you say to yourself, "Nigeria has changed." Funny enough, it is not a phone or the latest gadget people worry about; it is the things of necessity like tomatoes, pepper, garri, and so on.

My mum was telling me how she used to buy four rubbers of garri for just ₦1,200. Each sold for ₦300. I also witnessed how Egro jumped from ₦50 to about ₦600 today. But the one that shocked me the most was a crate of eggs.

Prices of eggs sourced from the internet are as follows:

2021: ₦1,500–₦2,200 per crate (NaijaSabi)
2022: ₦2,200–₦2,800 in many markets (The Guardian Nigeria)
2024: Around ₦6,000 per crate in many locations (BusinessDay)
2026: Roughly ₦6,500–₦8,500 depending on where you buy (NaijaSabi)

Inflation hits hard when you start buying things yourself. You begin to wonder how prices have increased so dramatically. Sometimes, the price stays almost the same, but the quantity drops drastically.

My brother gave an example using Bullet, the alcoholic drink. He said it doesn't "shark" like before. 😂 I also saw the price of Milo on the internet and was wowed. No be Milo be this, I said to myself.

I was telling some kids that there was a time I paid ₦30 for transport to school, and they were like, "You're lying." 😂 Nigeria sha really don fall.

People don't even spend like before because of how dramatically the naira has lost value, reducing the purchasing power of Nigerians. Everything keeps increasing in the market, but salaries remain the same.

What was the first item that made you realize Nigeria had changed?

Do you still buy it today, or have you reduced or stopped buying it?

If you could show someone Nigeria's inflation using just one everyday item, what would it be?