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Saturday, April 30, 2011
Weekly Trust
Business
Food price hike: Consume'r sblame it on lack of control mechanism Amina Alhassan, Dibal Pupwaya Timothy Abbas Jimoh Abuja, Yahaya Ibrahim, Maiduguri,Bashiru Abdullahi,Plharcout,lsiaka Wakil,lokoja. INCE the post election crisis th at took place in some northern parts of the country, the prices of commodities and consumables have risen adding further burden to the ordinary Nigerian citizen. Buyers and sellers have been lamenting the unexpected increase in the prices of virtually all items both consumable and non consumables. Speaking with one of the traders in Utako market who sells tomatoes, pepper and onions Muhammadu Mande said that a basket of tomatoes which they buy at the rate ofN1500 is now sold close to N2500. He also said that because of the prices they are selling the small size at N1000, instead of the normal price ofN500. Speaking to Mr. Ibrahim in Kubwa village market, the trader said he buys tomatoes in Suleja at the rate of N3000 as compared to the past when it used to sell for N 1500. He blamed the post election crises for the hike because according to him, t~e prices rose almost immediately the crisis began. He appealed to the government to look at the issue of insecurity because it affects everyone directly or indirectly Meat has also increased in price as a kilo is sold at NI000 as against the actual price of N800. A buyer that this reporter met bargaining for the commodity said she finds it difficult to buy meat because of the cost. Most of the butchers in Karu abattoir have attributed this hike in price to the fact that they can hardly travel to get cows and goats. "We can hardly travel now to get these cows down here and even when we do, we are somehow affected by the curfew imposed by these states and it affects our time and by extension, the extra cost of hiring the vehicle. Any time wasted in these places is money and we have no choice than to recover it in the sales of the meat. Transporting them down here costs much money becau~e the transporters also hiked their fares during tbis crisis" said Ibrahim Doma, a butcher in Karu abattoir. A market survey carried out at some major markets in Maiduguri by Weekly Trust revealed that prices of some food items are on the increase. Some of the traders who spoke to our correspondent
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attrib uted the hike in the prices of food items to high cost of transportation and also the recent crises that er upted in some parts of the countr y Emeka Lawrence, a garri seller at Baga market in the m etropolis, told our reporter tbat . price of garri has increased due to the h igher cost of transportation arising from the recent crises which led to short supply of the product. "The product is brought to this place from the south and tl,ere is short supply of the product because the transporters were afraid to come to tbis place:' He said. According to him a bag of red garei wh ich went for N6000 is now N8000 while a bag of white garri which sold for N4000 is now N5500. Weekly Trust gathered that prices of fruit like banana have also soared due to the cost of transporting the product. Ironically while prices of food stuff went up the price of stock fish has reduced. According to a fish dealer who is also the secretary of fish dealers association at the Baga market, Alhaji M uhammed Musa, a (Rothmans) cartoon of fish which cost between N 17500 to N20000 last year has reduced to N 12,000. He attributed it to the high level of water at the Baga river. "There are times when the prices of the fish used to be expensive and sometimes it used to be cheap, it depends on the level of water at the river which will determine the aVailability of the fish inside rivers:' He explained. Howeve r, he said "There was problem taking the fish to southern part of the countr y during the post election crises that erupted but the it's a little belter since the beginning of this week, we load more than tbirty trailers of fish to the south" O u r correspondent who visited some markets in the Rivers state capital, Port Harcour t yeste rday, gathered that the prices of major foods like beans, yams, onions and gro und nut oil have gone up. Most of the
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ONIONS, even before the latest rising trend in essential commodities prices . . _ .... . _ _ . _ • . _.
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traders who spoke to Weekly Trust blamed the price hike on the political tension in the north, where some of the food stuff are transported from down to the south. "We use to buy a bag of beans for N 10,000 before now, but now we get is at N 14, 000. They say it is because of the thing that happened in the north. People who go to the north to bring them are scared of going there and those who bring them from there also complain of high amount paid in transportation due to the crisis in that part;' says Chucks Chiweze, a trader in Mile one market, Port Harcourt. A big bag of onion that was sold at N 9,000 is now N 15,000. Salihu Mohammed, who deals in onion business says even though o nions have been expensive this year due to the Goronyo dam disaster last year, "this present increase is because of the reduction in the number of lorries that transport these products [rom the north to this part of the country as a result of the insecurity witnessed recently:' He is optimistic that if government improves on the security of lives and properties, the prices will come down. There is however, a little increment in the prices of garri, plantain and rice. A bowl of garri which was sold for N 200 is now sold for N 250. A bag of rice has increased from N 100 to N200 making it N7,100, according to Mohammed Sani, a trader in Port Harco urt. This, according to traders is a seasonal problem. "People that fry this garei have now gone to their farms to produce new crops. When new ones com e out, the prices will come down," says an elderly garri seller at tl,e mile one market Port Harcourt. Most buyers who spoke to Weekly Trust lamented the increment in the prices of foods stuffs and blamed the government for not putting in place a price control mechanism to protect the rights of the ordinary man and blame the s uppli ers for taking undue advantage of situations. "You can imagine something you bo ught for a hundred naira yesterday and tomorrow they say it is three hundred . naira. It affects m)' family. The salaries
they are paying worke rs cannot meet up the demands. We are not even to ld why they increase the prices of food stuffs;' Lamented Chioma Nyemen, a buyer in Port Harcourt. She called on government to intervene. "Government should introduce a price control that will check the rising prices of foodstuff rather than concentrating only on politics;' says a buyer, who simply introduced herself as Mrs Bokoko. In Lokoja, the state Kogi State capital, reports are not different. Mallam Abubakar Aliyu, a 59-year-old trader from Kano State, who sells beans at Palta Market in Lokoja attributes the rise in the price of his commodity to high cost of transportation. According to him, "The problem is not really that there is an increase in the price of beans from Kano where I buy my wares in large quantities. The problem is that drivers have increased their fares with no just cause, and that is why we too have increased our prices". In view of the iJlterdependent nature of the Nigerian regional societies, experts see a situation where the country's disunity will be of dire consequence to the overall wellbeing and even livelihood of ordinary Nigerians. If indeed a short term crisis in one part of the country, like the one recently witnessed, could result in a spontaneous hike in the prices of goods almost in every other part, one does not want to imagine what the situation will be like should Nigeria become a failed state as it seems some disgruntled persons prefer, it is observed. A SOCiologist and lecturer at the General Studies department of Nuhu Bamali Polytech nic, Kaduna, AbdulKadir Jaafar, said the post-election violence was due largely to poverty and illiteracy. He said, "If Nige ri a can fight corruption at allleve", other problems will be solved. The wluespread irregularities that characterised the las t elections were part of the corru ption. The breaking up of Nigeria will not be in the interest of anyone, so the leaders mus t demonst rate openness and sincerity. The people definitely know when the leaders are sincere and which make them to revo lt if they witness the contrary:'