Abuja, Nigeria. December 30th, 2023 - A new public opinion poll has revealed that most Nigerians (66 percent) are dissatisfied with the year 2023. Geo-political zones analysis reveals the North East region (76 percent) has the highest number of Nigerians who made this assertion. According to the poll, Nigerians highlighted four major areas that influenced their dissatisfaction with the year 2023 and this includes hunger and economic hardship, increased inflation, things not working well, and a poor economy. The subsidy removal by the federal government in May this year without introducing wide-reaching palliatives to cushion the effect may have contributed to the proportion of respondents who expressed dissatisfaction. The report of the World Bank further corroborates the Poll findings released this year that more than 4 million Nigerians have been plunged into poverty in the first six months of the year 2023 and a further 7.1 million Nigerians will enter poverty if adequate measures are not put in place[1].
Explicitly, the poll revealed that 37 percent of respondents stated that they were dissatisfied with the year because of the economic hardship and hunger they experienced in the year 2023. While 22 percent of the respondents stated high inflation as the reason for their dissatisfaction, 17 percent stated things not working well as a reason for their dissatisfaction with the year 2023. Other factors attributed to the dissatisfaction of Nigerians include poor economy (5 percent), and bad leadership (4 percent). Fuel subsidy issues, food insecurity, and worsened insecurity all tied at 3 percent, with scarcity of cash (2 percent), and irregular power supply at (1 percent).
On the flip side, 34 percent of respondents claimed that they were satisfied with the year 2023. Of the 34 percent who expressed satisfaction, 29 percent stated that ‘they thank God for life’, 16 percent stated ‘because the government is trying their best’, and 11 percent stated, ‘my business has improved’. Other reasons adduced by respondents include ‘security is gradually improving and ‘prompt payment of salaries both tied at 7 percent, ‘slight improvement in electricity supply (3 percent), and improved infrastructure (2 Percent) amongst other reasons put forward by respondents.
It is important to highlight that 34 percent of Nigerians still find reasons to be satisfied with the year 2023 despite the challenges a lot of Nigerians experienced over the year. This can be attributed to the unwavering, unflinching, resolute, and undying spirit of Nigerians in the face of hard times which should be commended and applauded. Regardless, the government must pay attention to areas highlighted by Nigerians that made them dissatisfied with the year 2023. These include hunger and economic hardship, high inflation and things not working well, as well as a poor economy to improve the living conditions of Nigerians in the coming year 2024.
These are key highlights from the End of Year Poll conducted in the week commencing December 18th, 2023.
BACKGROUND
Christmas and New Year festivities over the world always climax at the end of the year, and usher in the new year in a dynamic and celebratory mood. Christmas day which is observed every 25th December is set aside as a day to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ by Christians and use the day to share love and care to loved ones and the needy among them. The days after Christmas up to the new year are also days to celebrate and thank God for life, the gift of friends and families. Many Nigerians use this period to travel to the countryside to visit their families and relations with re-uniting intentions, others use the period to reflect on the outgoing year, especially in areas they will need to work hard to have a better year ahead.
However, due to the economic challenges occasioned by the effects of the fuel subsidy removal which ultimately led to a high cost of transportation, a lot of Nigerians did not travel this year, 2023. Also, the high cost of food items has made a lot of Nigerians celebrate Christmas low-key with hopes that the government will expedite actions in tackling the many socio-economic issues currently plaguing the Country. Most Nigerians are looking up to the new year with optimism and hope that they will experience a turn-around of things at the earliest so that they can breathe a sigh of relief and experience a new lease of life.
Against this backdrop, NOIPolls surveyed to seek the views of Nigerians regarding how they fared in the year and their aspirations for the new year and hereby presents its findings.
Survey Findings
The first question gauged the level of satisfaction of respondents with the year 2023, thus asked respondents’ satisfaction with the year 2023. The poll result revealed that most Nigerians (66 percent) asserted that they were not satisfied with the year 2023. Analysis by geo-political zone revealed that the North-East zone (76 percent) had the highest proportion of Nigerians who made this assertion. Also, with regards to age group, the analysis showed that the level of dissatisfaction is highest among respondents within the age group of 36-60 (68 percent).
On the other hand, 34 percent of the respondents mentioned that they are satisfied with the year 2023, and Nigerians living in the North-West zone (41 percent) had more respondents who stated this.
Subsequently, 66 percent of the respondents who stated that they were dissatisfied were further probed and analysis showed the 4 major areas Nigerians expressed dissatisfaction with include hunger and economic hardship, increased inflation, things not working well, and poor economy. Specifically, the poll revealed that 37 percent of respondents expressed dissatisfaction mostly because of the ‘economic hardship and hunger’ they faced this year. Also, 22 percent mentioned ‘increased inflation’, 17 specified ‘due to things not working well’ and 5 percent attributed their dissatisfaction to the ‘poor economy’ in the country. Other reasons mentioned are ‘bad leadership’ (4 percent), ‘fuel subsidy issue’, ‘food insecurity’, and ‘worsened insecurity’ all tied at (3 percent), ‘scarcity of cash’ (2 percent), and ‘irregular power supply’ (1 percent).
On the contrary, respondents who expressed satisfaction with the current year stated the top 4 reasons for their satisfaction are: ‘the gift of life’ (39 percent), ‘the government is trying their best’ (16 percent), ‘business has improved’ (11 percent) and ‘some sectors of the economy have improved’ (9 percent). Other reasons presented include ‘security is gradually improving’, ‘prompt payment of salaries/promotions’ both tied at (7 percent), ‘slight improvement in electricity supply’ (3 percent), ‘improved infrastructure’ and ‘improved job creation both tied’ at (2 percent) while 1 percent stated that there is no reason for their satisfaction with the year.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the poll result reveals that a large proportion of respondents (66 percent) are dissatisfied with the year 2023 highlighting key areas of their dissatisfaction which include hunger and economic hardship (37 percent), increased inflation (22 percent), things are not working well (17 percent) and poor economy (5 percent). These areas highlighted by respondents are critical for the survival of Nigerians. They will require the government of the day and relevant stakeholders to expedite actions, which include poverty reduction, job creation, and consistent economic growth in tackling these challenges so that Nigerians will experience a new lease of life in the coming year 2024.
Survey Methods
The opinion poll was conducted in the week commencing December 18th, 2023. It involved telephone interviews of a proportionate nationwide sample of 1,000 randomly selected phone-owning Nigerians aged 18 years and above, representing the six geo-political regions 36 states, and the FCT of the country. Interviews were conducted in 5 languages – Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba, Pidgin English, and English. Although we can say with 95% confidence that the results obtained were statistically precise – within a margin of error of plus or minus 4.65%; we recognize that the exclusive use of telephone polling has its limitation of excluding non-phone-owning Nigerians. Nonetheless, with the country’s tele density put over 100 percent by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), we consider our telephone polling approach appropriate. Also, given the rigorous scientific process of randomization and stratification applied, we can confidently stand by the validity of our methodology and approach: NOIPolls Limited, No. 1 for country-specific polling services in West Africa. We 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 that form the subject matter of the document. Kindly note that while we are willing to share results from our polls with the public, we only request that NOIPolls be acknowledged as authors whenever and wherever our poll results are used, cited, or published. NOIPolls hereby certifies that all the views expressed in this document accurately reflect the 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 facts, or any views expressed herein by NOIPolls for actions taken because of information provided in this report. Any ratings, forecasts, estimates, opinions, or views herein constitute a judgment as of 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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