Abuja, Nigeria. 24 December 2013 – The Annual Special End of Year Poll conducted by NOIPolls has revealed that 8 in 10 Nigerians (80%) anticipate a general rise in the prices of goods and services, particularly food items, this festive season; while about 55% have indicated that they will be staying at home to relax for this year’s holiday. Compared to 2012 results, there was a 16-point increase in the proportion of Nigerians that have decided to stay at home and relax; and a 7-point decline in the proportion that said they would be travelling during the festive season.
Furthermore, the majority (77%) perceive the states where they will be spending their holiday as “Peaceful & secure”; while 87% are confident in the ability of the Police to respond to any security alerts this season. Compared to 2012, there was a drastic 23-point increase in the proportion of Nigerians that have a positive perception about the state of security in the country. The current result demonstrates improved perception regarding the state of security in the country. Finally, most respondents wish fellow Nigerians “Peace and prosperity” during the year end festivities.
Nigerians typically celebrate the end of the year with different festivities such as parties, social gatherings and family reunions. Furthermore, throughout December a variety of events take place including the Calabar Carnival, Akwa-Ibom 9,999 Carol Night and Port Harcourt Carnival amongst others. Traditionally, many Nigerians also take advantage of the holidays to travel to their home towns or villages in order to visit and celebrate with family members. These towns and villages come alive towards the end of the year with the influx of natives that typically work in more cosmopolitan cities such as Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.
Against this background NOIPolls conducted this special edition poll to explore the plans and expectations of Nigerians for the 2013 end of year festive season. This poll results release further trends current results with results of the first edition conducted in December 2012.
Respondents to the poll were asked a series of questions to ascertain their plans for the festive season. First, respondents were asked: What are your plans for the holidays? Responses show that the majority of the respondents (55%) indicated they will be “staying at home to relax”; while 32% said they “will be traveling” for the festive season. A further 7% said they “will be attending events”.
Analysis by geo-political zones shows that the North-East zone (78%) has the highest proportion of respondents who indicated they will be “staying at home to relax”; while the South-East (48%) has the highest proportion that indicated that they “will be traveling” for the end of year holiday.
When current findings are compared with poll results from 2012, there was a significant 16-point increase in the proportion of Nigerians that indicated that they will be staying at home to relax in 2013. In addition, there was a 7-point decline in the proportion of Nigerians that will be traveling in 2013.
The poll also sought the opinions of Nigerians with regards to a general rise in prices and respondents were asked: Do you anticipate a general rise in prices during this festive season? The findings reveals that80% of Nigerians responded affirmatively indicating they anticipate a general rise in prices; while 18%responded “No” and 2% of respondents said “Not really”.
Analysis by geo-political zone shows that the South-South (88%), South-East (87%) and North-Central(85%) zones have the highest proportion of respondents that anticipate a general rise in prices during the festive season; while the North-West has the highest proportion (33%) that responded negatively.
Furthermore, when compared to responses from the previous poll conducted in 2012, there was a significant 15-point decline in the proportion of Nigerians that anticipate a general price rise during the 2013 festive season; and a corresponding 14-point increase in the percentage of Nigerians who do not anticipate price increases this season.
Subsequently, respondents that anticipate a general rise in prices (80% of the total) were further asked:Which item do you anticipate a rise in price? The results indicate that 65% anticipate a rise in price of food items during the 2013 festive season; followed by 17% that also anticipate a rise in the price of clothes, and16% who anticipate a rise in the cost of transportation.
The North-West geo-political zone has the highest proportion of Nigerians (80%) that anticipate a general increase in food prices; while the North-East has the highest proportion that anticipate increase in prices of clothes (34%), with the South-West having the highest proportion (24%) that anticipate increase in transportation cost.
When current results are compared with results from 2012 there was a 7-point decline in the percentage of Nigerians that anticipate an increase in the cost transportation; as well as an 8-point increase in the proportion of those that anticipate increase in the price of clothes.
Furthermore, respondents that indicated they anticipate a general rise in prices (80% of the total) were also asked the following question: How will a rise in price affect your spending? In response, 68% of respondents stated that the anticipated rise in prices of goods & services will Increases their spending; while 17%stated thatthe rise in prices will “Have no impact” on their spending. A further 14% indicated that the anticipated rise in prices will reduce their spending.
In comparison with results of the 2012 poll, there was a 7-point increase in the proportion of Nigerians that anticipate an increase in their spending; as well as a corresponding 7-point decline in the proportion of those that anticipate reduction in their spending.
Subsequently all respondents were asked: What item will you be spending on most during the festive season? The majority (64%) stated that they will spend the most on Food items during this festive season, followed by 15% who said they will spend the most on clothes. A further 10% stated that they will be spending most on gifts; with another 10% stating that they will be spending most on transportation.
When compared with results from the 2012 poll, there is a significant 16-point increase in the proportion of respondents that said they will spend most on food, and a 7-point decline in those that will spend the most on clothes in 2013. Furthermore, there was a 19-point decline in Nigerians that indicated they will spend the most on transportation and this can be partly explained by the decline in the proportion of Nigerians who indicated that they will be travelling during this festive season.
Respondents were further asked: At present, how would you assess the security situation where you will be spending the holidays? The findings showed that 77% of Nigerians were of the opinion that the state of security in the states where they will be spending their holidays is “Peaceful & secure”, while 18% said the security situation is “Peaceful but not secure”. Only 4% perceived that the states they will spend the holidays is “Tense & insecure”.
Analysis by geo-political zones indicated that the South-West and South-East have the highest proportion of respondents that indicate the security situation is “Peaceful and secure” (both 85%); while the South-Southhas the highest proportion of respondents (31%) that thought the state of security is “Peaceful but not secure”. Also, the North-East has the highest proportion of respondent (9%) that describe the security situation as “Tense & insecure”.
Furthermore, when compared with the results from the 2012 poll, there was a drastic 23-piont increase in the proportion of respondents that describe the states they will spend the holiday as “Peaceful & secure” and a 21-point decline in the percentage that indicated “Peaceful but not secure”. This current results demonstrates the improved perception of Nigerians regarding the security situation in the country, compared to the same period last year.
Furthermore, in order to assess the perception of Nigerians regarding the readiness of the Police command to handle any security issues during the festive season; respondents were asked: Do you believe your state police command is ready to respond to any security alert during this season? Responses showed that the overwhelming majority (87%) responded “Yes”; while only 13% responded “No”. Further analysis by geo-political zones revealed that while the North-Central zone had the highest number of respondents (94%) that said “Yes”; the South-West zone had the highest proportion of respondents (18%) that responded negatively.
Comparing the current results with those of the 2012 poll indicated a significant 24-point increase in the proportion of respondents that indicated they believe the state police command is ready to respond to any security alert during this season. This current result further demonstrates an improved perception of Nigerians regarding the state of security in the country and the improved confidence in the ability of the Nigerian police to maintain peace and security during the festive season.
Finally, respondents were asked the following question: What do you wish your fellow Nigerians this festive season? From the responses, majority of respondents (54%) wish their fellow Nigerians “Peace & prosperity” during this festive season; followed by “Good health” (13%) and “God’s blessings” (11%). Overall, responses show that Nigerians generally have positive feelings towards one another during the year end festive seasons.
In conclusion, the current poll results have revealed that 80% of Nigerians anticipate a general rise in prices of goods and services during the festive season, particularly on food items. Also, majority of Nigerians (55%) have indicated that they will be spending this year’s festive season at home, relaxing with their family & friends. The poll further demonstrates an improved perception of Nigerians regarding the security situation in the country and improved confidence in the ability of the Nigerian Police to respond to any security alerts this season. Finally, most respondents wish their fellow Nigerians “Peace and prosperity” during this end of year festivities.
Survey Methods
The opinion poll was conducted on December 18th to 20th 2013. It involved telephone interviews of a random nationwide sample. 1,000 randomly selected phone-owning Nigerians aged 18 years and above, representing the six geopolitical zones in the country, were interviewed. With a sample of this size, we can say with 95% confidence that the results obtained are statistically precise – within a range of plus or minus 3%. NOIPolls Limited, No.1 for country specific polling services in West Africa, which works in technical partnership with the Gallup Organisation (USA), to conduct periodic opinion polls and studies on various socio-economic and political issues in Nigeria. More information is available at www.noi-polls.com
Disclaimer
This press release has been produced by NOIPolls Limited to provide information on all issues which form the subject matter of the document. Kindly note that while we are willing to share results from our polls with the general public, we only request that NOIPolls be acknowledged as author whenever and wherever our poll results are used, cited or published.
NOIPolls hereby certifies that all the views expressed in this document accurately reflect its views of respondents surveyed for the poll, and background information is based on information from various sources that it believes are reliable; however, no representation is made that it is accurate or complete. Whilst reasonable care has been taken in preparing this document, no responsibility or liability is accepted for errors or fact or for any views expressed herein by NOIPolls for actions taken as a result of information provided in this report. Any ratings, forecasts, estimates, opinions or views herein constitute a judgment as at the date of this document. If the date of this document is not current, the views and content may not reflect NOIPolls’ current findings and/or thinking.
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