By Kola Alhassan & Oyinyechi Ugwoke
There are concerns by citizens and traders over inflation and unstable prices of commodities. Prices of goods have largely remained unstable due to crippling inflation and cost of production.
Nevertheless, traders have urged the Federal Government to ensure it further regulate prices of commodities to ease the pressure on masses who find it difficult to afford daily meals.
IkejaBird reporters at the weekend went round stalls in Obada Market around Ikeja to feel the pulse of traders and residents.
Aliyu Mohammed, who operates a grocery store, wants government to fix the economy and stabilize foreign exchange. He also urged leaders introduce policies that would benefit the masses.
He said: “Prices of goods are shooting up, thus it really impacts on sales. Something you bought last week for N1500, suddenly the price rises to N2500 or N3000. Therefore, I have observed that people are not buying much. People are managing to buy. Usually, on Saturdays I get good patronage, but today as you can see, the whole place is dry. There is no money in town.
“The reason for inflation is that the dollar exchange rate is high. Previously, dollar was N365 or thereabout, but it is now over N500.Manufacturers are buying raw materials in dollars.
“Government must try to fix the economy. It is not the duty of citizens. It has to stabilize the foreign exchange. Government should strive to make the common man smile.”
A pepper and tomato seller, Abdullahi Lateef wants government to further regulate prices of commodities for citizens to be comfortable.
While giving a rundown of prices of tomatoes and pepper, he said: “A basket of tomatoes sold for N10, 000 before, now it is N20, 000.
“I travel to the north to purchase it. A basket of pepper is now N30, 000, before it was around N40, 000/50,000. It is gradually reducing. Before, we don’t really make gain, now we are making little profit with the reduction.
“We are still not comfortable with these prices, the Federal Government should ensure everything normalises for every citizen to be able to eat three square meals comfortably.”
A resident of Ikeja who simply identified herself as Temi, who said she came to the market to buy groceries and soup ingredients, complained that she had almost exhausted the money on her; yet, she had not bought half of what was on her list.
She, however, wants government to encourage local production of goods.
“Government should build factories where we can also locally produce, instead of regular importation. This will boost the economy and reduce inflation,” she said.
Oluchi Eze, a soup ingredient seller said: “During the week, sales are dull, especially Monday through Wednesday. But weekends are better. Saturdays are better. We sell well. Another thing is the price of commodities is going up. The price of a milk cup of Ogbono as of last week was N500, now it is N700. Banga used to be N300 as of last Wednesday, it is now N400. Prices of ingredients are skyrocketing and it is really affecting sales.”
A food stuff seller who identified himself as Emmanuel Chukwuma, said: “A bag of rice was N30, 000; it is now N28, 000. A derica which was N500 before is now N450. A bag of beans was N75, 000/80,000; it is now N60, 000. A derica went for N600 before, it is now N500. A bag of garri was N16, 000/16,500; it is now N15, 000. A derica is now N200, it was N250/300.
With the slight drop in prices, he still complained of poor patronage. According to him weekdays are nothing to write home about compared to weekends.
He urged government to further regulate prices of goods to ease the burden on masses.
