Coronavirus: Nigerians Groan Over Hike In Food Prices

By Akinwale Kasali

Sellers of food stuffs and commodities are  capitalising on the shutting down of markets, and the restrictions placed on movements, to make a kill. They have inflated the prices of commodities by over a 100 %.

Helpless buyers are complaining.

Buyers are also angry, and have  frowned at this development. Consequently, they are calling on the government to look into this issue urgently.

For example, before the Sunday broadcast by President Muhammadu Buhari which locked down two States – Lagos and Ogun – as well as Abuja, and gave a tacit support to the closure of state borders by state governors, in a bid to contain the spread of  Coronavirus, a Derica of Rice went for N350 but now it is being sold for between N420-450.

The price of Cassava flakes, popularly known as Garri, has also skyrocketed.

It increased from N500 per plastic paint to N1,000. In some parts of the country, it is selling for as high as N2,000.

Spaghetti, which sold for between N200-220  has increased to N250-270 depending on the brand of Spaghetti one is  buying.

A sachet of pure water is selling for 20 naira, as against 10 naira.

In a chat with some residents in Iyana Ipaja, Ikeja and Alimosho Local Government Areas of Lagos State, unarguably the most populous areas in the State, they lamented that government needs to curtail the excesses of these sellers, who have cashed in on the present situation to hike the prices of commodities.

A shocked buyer, Mrs William, lamented:

“This is Nigeria for you. Any opportunity like this, we capitalise on it by inflating prices, later we will be blaming the government.

“Is it not the same Rice she has in her shop over two weeks ago that she is still selling? Why then increase it, because the demand is high. The government should look into this issue before it gets out of hand”.

Another resident, Nosa Ephraim, said that what baffles him is that it is the essential food people cannot do without that the prices are being increased.

“This is another crisis brewing if not addressed, because, how can you increase the price of Garri, that is the only available option? This is disheartening”, he concluded.

It is, however, worse in the South- east and the South-south.

In Owerri, for instance, a paint of Garri which sold for N600.00, now sells for N2,000. A bag of Rice, which sold for between N25.000 and N27,000, depending on the brand, now goes for between N35,000 and N38,000.

A Paint of Tomatoes now goes for N2,500, up from N750.00. It is the same thing in parts of the South-South.

An average tuber of yam, sells for N1,500, as against N600. And, Lemon, which profile has gone up since its unproven efficacy for Coronavirus, now sells for between three or four for N1,000, depending on the size.Co

Both the people and the traders blame this situation on the government and security personnel.

The government, they say, did not factor-in the poor man when they shut down markets and interstate borders.No Food at Home

Only those who have money can stock food items, they chorus.

Some people depend on every day sales to feed their family, they explain.

“My children and I are going to be hungry,” one woman lamented in tears. She is a widow, and had four children. The eldest is 13 years.

They also accuse security personnel of making things more difficult for the people.

For instance, even though President Buhari did not restrict the movement of food items, Soldiers in Asaba, Delta State, for example, are not allowing trucks carrying food items to drive past.

In other places in the South-east, a number of Policemen and Soldiers are making a kill by demanding bribe money from even those carrying food items, before allowing them a passage. “When we pay them to move food items, we add it to the cost when selling,” they say. They ask that such unscrupulous security personnel be called to order.

Recently in South Africa,  the South African Government promulgated and gazetted, as a crime, any hike in the prices of food, and any item, whatsoever, throughout the period of the lockdown, until further notice.

Olalekan Ologbon, a social commentator said that a government that has the interest of its citizens at heart will never miss this vital aspect for any reason whatsoever.

Ologbon stressed that traders in Nigeria who have hiked the prices of food items should be made to face the wrath of the law and be severely dealt with to serve as a deterrent to others.

“The South African government, in addition, subsidized companies that produce food items, including their transportation and distribution costs.

“This was done to complement the emergence law against hike in food items, which was a total package. This is what governments do. Not only borrowing money that they plan to loot”, Ologbon concluded.