Prices of Major Foodstuffs in South-West Markets Increase By 100 Percent

Azeez, who is the leader of onion sellers at Shasha Pepper Market in Ibadan, attributed the hike in prices of most foodstuffs to climate change and insecurity in many states of the North.

Mrs Omobonke Adunola, a tomato seller at Bodija market, Ibadan and Mrs Munirat Akinade, a housewife, decried the rate at which prices of foodstuffs kept going up in the last one month.

While Adunola complained of low sales, caused by the price increase, Akinade said that huge sums of money now chase fewer goods, with incomes remaining stagnant.

A civil servant in Ibadan, Mr Olusola Rowland, called on government to urgently address the looming food crisis in the country by introducing price control mechanism to save the masses from imminent hunger.

At Owode market, Ede and Igbona market, Osogbo, both in Osun, a 5-litre keg of palm oil is now sold between N2,500 and N2,800, as against N1,800 and N2,000 about a month ago.

The price of garri in the two markets has however, remained stable, at N300 per plastic measure, while the popular garri Ijebu, which is the most expensive, is sold between N600 and N650.

A rice seller at Owode market, Mrs Morakinyo Adeniyonu, said the closure of the nation’s borders and the coronavirus lockdown might have caused the upsurge in the price of rice in the market.

Mrs Abosede Adunlowo, a foodstuff seller at Akindeko market, Osogbo, said prices of food items had remained unstable in the last few months due to the coronavirus pandemic, compounded by the recent EndSARS protests across the country.

The traders appealed to government to help farmers, where necessary, in order to increase food production and, encourage the youth to go into farming to address food insecurity.

The situation was not different in Ekiti and Kwara, where residents, particularly housewives lamented the high cost of food items in the markets.

The market survey conducted in some markets in Ekiti showed an increase between 70 per cent and 100 per cent for some food items within two months, with traders and buyers calling for reduction in taxes as a way of bringing down prices.

According to them, the fast approaching Christmas and New Year festivities may be celebrated amidst uncertainties, unless something urgent is done by government to address the situation.

At the popular Oja Oba market and Bisi market, both in Ado Ekiti, a measure of white beans is now sold for N700 as against its former price of N300, while the brown specie that used to cost N500 is now N900.

NAN also noted that the prices of other food items, such as rice, yam, garri, onions, vegetable oil, millet, pepper, tomato and sugar, have also gone up in the market.

Mrs Susan Adeboye, a civil servant, said the sudden increase in the prices of food items without a corresponding increase in her monthly salary had impacted negatively on her purchasing power.

Mr Ayo Awosemo, a market leader and rice dealer at Aladetoyinbo Shopping Complex, Ado-Ekiti, described the development as unfortunate, stressing that it might continue unabated in the absence of necessary regulatory interventions by government.

However, Mr AbdulRazak Dauda, Secretary of Perishable Goods Association in Ilorin, Kwara, expressed optimism that tomato, pepper and onion would be in abundance during the harmattan season and their prices would be affordable.

A cross section of residents, who spoke with NAN in Ilorin, decried what they called astronomical rise in food prices in the last few months.

Mr Adebayo Micheal of Sabo-Oke area, Ilorin, lamented the hardship he faced in putting food on his family’s table, as essential commodities were fast getting out of the reach of the common man.

“Many people have resorted to buying what is known as broken rice, which is the least grade of milled rice, and even at that, a measure, which was sold for N300 before, is now N550, while a measure of guinea corn is now N400,”Micheal said.

A resident of Ilorin, Mr Sheu Ismail, with two wives, six children and a monthly wage of N50,000 said that survival for himself and his family was gradually becoming difficult.

“How do we survive in a situation where a 50kg of rice, which we used to buy for N13,000, is now sold for N26,000?” Ismail wondered.

A vulcaniser, Yakub Mohammed, who is a father of six, said it was indeed a trying moment now, adding that he had instructed his wife to cut down the daily food ration of the family.

All the stakeholders interviewed, called on government to further invest in agriculture and assist local farmers financially to be able to produce enough food items locally so as to subsequently force down prices.