The Vanishing Dream of Nigeria’s Middle Class

In Ilorin, federal university staffer Yusuf Mogaji says his pay check is ‘just for food and the remaining to transport yourself to work, there is nothing left.’ In 2015, his ₦46,000 salary could feed a family and even buy land. Today, despite higher nominal pay, it barely covers rice and nappies. In Lagos, mother of five Antonia Arosanwo waits at a bus stop, her daily ride from Ojuelegba now more than ₦700 since the fuel subsidy removal. ‘I am angry,’ she says, as she is forced to choose each week between food, transport and power. In Abuja, taxi driver Farouk Ibrahim loses hours in fuel queues. ‘No fuel, no light, even to eat is a problem,’ he explains, watching his earnings vanish before he finds passengers. From Ilorin to Lagos to Abuja, and across the nation, the stories converge: Nigerians are being squeezed by a cost-of-living crisis that erodes the basics of daily survival.