As another year comes to an end, people are looking forward to celebrating in different ways so as to relax and kick start the 2016 calendar year. Most Nigerians (57 percent) have stated that they will be ‘staying at home to relax’ during the end of year festivities, whereas 27 percent confirmed that they ‘will be travelling’ during the period.
More findings revealed that majority of Nigerians (76 percent) anticipate a general rise in prices of ‘food’ (60 percent), ‘transportation’ (22 percent), ‘clothes’ (15 percent) and the cost of ‘fuel’ (1 percent) amongst other items this festive season.
Furthermore, a higher proportion of Nigerians (38 percent) have revealed the current state of the economy ‘will minimize their end of year spending’, while 35 percent stated that ‘it will increase their end of year spending’ (35 percent) amongst other effects. Nonetheless, Nigerians wish one another ‘peace & prosperity’ (31 percent), ‘Merry Christmas & Happy New Year in advance’ (16 percent) amongst other festive compliments.
Background
December 2015 marks another end of the year festive season. It is a period for different celebrations, from parties to carnivals, social gatherings, family/school reunion, annual sporting, cultural fairs and art events. Majority of Nigerians also make use of this holiday period to travel to their home towns and villages, to reconnect with family and friends.[1]
Against this background NOIPolls conducted this special edition poll to explore the plans and expectations of Nigerians for the 2015 end of year festive season. This poll results release further trends current results with results of the first, second and third editions conducted in December 2012, 2013 and 2015.
Key Findings
To gain insight on the plans of Nigerians during the end of year festivities, respondents were asked: What are your plans for the holiday? Most Nigerians will be ‘staying at home to relax’ during the end of year festivities as revealed by 57 percent of respondents surveyed, whereas 27 percent acknowledged that they ‘will be travelling’ during the period.
More analysis by geo-political zone revealed that the North-East accounted for the highest number of Nigerians who will be staying at home to relax, while the South-East had the highest number of respondents who will be travelling. On the other hand, Nigerians who would mostly be staying at home during the festive period are aged 61 years (67 percent).
When current findings are compared to responses from the previous poll conducted in 2014, it reveals a 6-points increase in the proportion of respondents who will be staying at home to relax and a 2-points decline in the percentage of Nigerians who will be traveling during festive season.
To gauge the perceptions of Nigerians on possible rise in prices, respondents were asked: Do you anticipate a general rise in prices during this festive season? Findings revealed that Nigerians anticipate a general rise in prices this festive season as confirmed by 76 percent of respondents and this cuts across gender, geo-political zone and age-group. On the contrary, 20 percent responded negatively to this question.
Trend analysis shows a significant 8-points increase in the proportion of Nigerians who anticipated a general rise in prices in 2015 (76 percent) from 2014 (68 percent).
Respondents who anticipated a general rise in prices were further asked: Which item do you anticipate will experience a price increase? ‘Food’ (60 percent) tops the list of items most Nigerians anticipate a general rise in prices. This is followed by ‘transportation’ (22 percent). Other items mentioned include ‘clothes’ (15 percent) and the cost of ‘fuel’ (1 percent) amongst other items.
Analysis by gender reveals that more female (64 percent) than male (55 percent) respondents indicated food as one of the items they will anticipate a rise in price.
Comparing current results with the poll conducted in 2014 revealed a substantial 8-points increase in the proportion of Nigerians who anticipated a general rise in the food item. On the other hand, there was a 7-points decline in transportation.
Subsequently, respondents were asked: How would the current state of the economy affect your end of year spending? A larger proportion of Nigerians (38 percent) stated that the current state of the economy ‘will minimize their end of year spending’ and majority (49 percent) of respondents in this category are from the North-East zone. This is closely followed by respondents who stated that ‘it will increase their end of year spending’ (35 percent) and most of the respondents (48 percent) in this category are from the South-East zone.
In order to ascertain what Nigerians wish fellow citizens this festive season, respondents were asked: What do you wish your fellow Nigerians this festive season? Findings revealed that Nigerians wish one another ‘peace & prosperity’ (31 percent), mostly from respondents (59 percent) in the North-East zone; ‘Merry Christmas & New Year in advance’ (16 percent) amongst other festive compliments.
Trend analysis from 2014 indicates that the number of people who expressed ‘Peace and prosperity’ wishes further decreased by 8- points in 2015.
The end of year poll result has revealed that almost 6 in 10 Nigerians have stated that they will be ‘staying at home to relax’ during the end of year festivities, whereas 27 percent confirmed that they ‘will be travelling’ during the period.
More findings shows that 38 percent of Nigerians ‘will minimize their end of year spending’ while 35 percent lamented that ‘it will increase their end of year spending’ amongst other effects. Finally, Nigerians wish one another ‘peace & prosperity’ (31 percent), ‘Merry Christmas & Happy New Year in advance’ (16 percent) amongst all other festive greetings.
Survey Methods
The opinion poll was conducted in the week of December 14th 2015. 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 is No1 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 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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[1] http://www.total-facts-about-nigeria.com/nigeria-christmas.html
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