Award-winning Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has voiced serious concerns regarding the severe economic hardship currently gripping Nigeria, stating that the middle class is now being pushed to the point of begging.
In a recent interview, Adichie explained that life has become “extremely hard,” even for those who were once considered financially secure. “I can see it in how people who were formerly securely middle class—and not that life was rosy for them, but they got by—are now people who beg and who are in need. That worries me greatly,” she said.
The acclaimed author highlighted the soaring cost of food and basic necessities, which she says is driving many Nigerians into desperation. She emphasized that the true measure of a political leader’s success is not found in abstract economic indexes, but in the daily reality of ordinary people.
“When people say the stock market, I don’t really care about that sort of thing. What I care about is that person who has an almost minimum wage job—how is that person getting on in this economy?” Adichie explained.
She also issued a stark warning, noting that prolonged hardship can lead people to make choices they might never have considered under better circumstances, which poses a serious danger to society.
