Let the poor breathe…

On Sunday, Akin Rotimi, the spokesperson of the National Assembly, affirmed prior media speculations that all 360 members of the assembly would receive one new Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) each.

While Akin did not state the exact cost of the vehicle to be received by each representative, he said the house was in the process of procuring and distributing the operational vehicles to its members.

This is bad news to a lot of Nigerians who are currently grappling with rising inflation amid a steady decline of the naira.

To understand if an average federal government worker could still buy a car, FIJ visited some car dealers in Lagos.

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‘NIGERIANS CAN NO LONGER AFFORD CARS FOR LUXURY’

Gil, a middle-aged man who has been a car dealer for over 20 years, stretched out on a green plastic car. He had tiny white hair sprouting out of his clean-shaven face and two keys dangling from one of his fingers. A black-colour gazebo shielded him from the blazing sun as he tiredly stared into space.

Gil told me that the car business enjoyed more patronage two years back than now. When FIJ asked him what kind of car the average Nigerian on the street could afford, he laughed and said, “Have we eaten, not to talk of purchasing vehicles?”

“Outside politicians, I see every other Nigerian as a poor person.”

He said more Nigerians now opt for Nigerian-used vehicles over the ones from the United Kingdom or the United States of America due to affordability.

“For now, most people buy Nigerian-used vehicles, but besides that, the bigger cars are only purchased by the people in government.”

Gil pointed at a black bulletproof car to buttress his point. “This kind of armoured car can only be bought by someone in the government,” he said. “Where will an individual in this present Nigeria get the money from?

“The vehicle, alongside G-Wagons, Prados, Landcruisers, Tacoma, Hilux vehicles, is priced between N40 and N100 million depending on the year and model. This price puts the purchasing power only within the means of politicians.

“It is unusual to find an individual demanding for these kinds of vehicles.”

The car dealer twirled his keys in his hands and said that Nigerians can no longer afford cars for pleasure or luxury due to inflation.

“When the average Nigerian wants to buy a car, you will find them going for the Toyota Camry, which 2008 model costs about N6 million,” he told FIJ.

“Now, people buy cars because they want to invest it. They buy it for Uber and other e-hailing ride purposes because they need to make money.

“Nobody is buying a car again for the sole purpose of pleasure or luxury. Those that do so either work with the government or multinational companies, or have people bankrolling them.

“Some even use their supposed expensive SUVs for Uber in a bid to make ends meet.

“The prices of the cars even depend on the year. A 2013 Corolla I have here is currently sold at N9 million or more. This was a vehicle that only cost N4 million before Tinubu became president.

“A more recent version of the fairly used Corolla, let’s say 2016, is now between N12 and N13 million. It used to be N6 million.

“The same Camry, which is now what the average Nigerian can afford, used to be about N2 million. But now, times have changed.”

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‘BUYING CARS WITH A N35,000 MONTHLY WAGE IS DELUSION’

He told FIJ that the loss of purchasing power by most Nigerians has slowed down car sales as only a few people now buy vehicles.

“Before now, you could sell about three to four vehicles in one week, but now, the cars are there with no one to buy them.

“If those who earn more are losing their purchasing power, how then can someone in today’s Nigeria who earns N35,000 monthly be able to afford any car?

“It is simply open-eye dreaming and delusion. A dream that will never come to pass or see the light of day. The person does not need to save for a number of years; it will not just happen.

“But despite this, the National Assembly is proposing to buy SUVs worth between N150 million and N160 million for members in the House of Representatives. It is outrageous when the average cost of living is rising daily.”

Gil said that the rising cost of vehicles is also partly caused by exorbitant duties levied on car importers by the customs.

When FIJ asked if any Nigerian can afford brand new cars considering the current economic reality, Gil said that only Nigerians who are senior officers in multinational companies, those with very successful businesses or a wealthy inheritance can afford cars.

“You just have to be very rich to afford a new car. You will need at least N20 million for starters,” he said.

“If you don’t meet any of these conditions, when will you save the money to be able to afford it?”

Another car dealer who offered to speak anonymously told FIJ that even 10 years of continuous loan servicing can’t get an average federal government worker a car.

“Someone that earns N35,000 can’t afford any car because there are other expenses from the same salary. Now, imagine if the person is a parent and has bills to pay.

“Even if the person gets a loan, it would take about 10 years to pay for that just one car. At the end of the day, it is a vague dream that is not worth the pursuit.”

He corroborated Gil’s claims that it is only politicians and people in government who can afford to patronise the car industry today.

“Currently, we only get patronage from politicians, people in government, business moguls and Uber drivers,” he said.

“For the Uber drivers, the car they get is the 2007 Toyota Camry downward, which is currently priced between N4.5 million and N5 million.

“Before now, it was between N2.5 million and N2.8 million. In fact, its current price is the lowest of any car you will find in Nigeria.

“Sales that we would usually make sometimes every day have now been reduced to a few times in a month or two.

“Everything has just turned upside down.”

He also told FIJ that it was not possible for an average Nigerian to buy a new car.

“You can’t ever afford a new car today as an average Nigerian except if you have stolen a lot of money from the government and seek a way to squander it.”