Nigerians Lament Hike In Price Of Tomatoes, As Housewives Opt For Tomato Paste

By Akinwale Kasali

Prices of Tomatoes have skyrocketed in the market, and Nigerians are lamenting the present situation.

Many had thought that the hike in the price of tomatoes and pepper  was as a result of the Sallah Festival, but this isn’t the situation, as the prices have further skyrocketed.

Ile Epo Market in Oke Odo Local Council Development Area in Alimosho Local Government play host to the Market where edibles are sold in large quantities.

As early as 4:30am on  daily basis, the Market is  a beehive of activities, as people stroll in to purchase food items which early in the morning is cheaper.

Sadly, this isn’t the present situation as there is scarcity in tomatoes and pepper.

This has prompted housewives to ditch tomatoes.

Three small pieces of tomatoes is been sell for N200 while three big ones sell for N500.

Most housewives to opt for Tin Tomatoes.

In a chat with some women in the market, they said they are disheartened with the situation of things, saying that they now resort to the use of dried pepper and tin tomatoes to make stew.

The Home of Affordable Edible Foods in Lagos, Mile 12 Markets, where people go to purchase the edibles is also the same situation as people who were interviewed said they have opted for tin Tomatoes in place of fresh ones.

In Abuja, the nation’s Capital, it is also the same situation.

Some housewives said they have resorted to using garden egg plants and carrots in their stew.

They said garden egg, called ganyen gauta in Hausa, igba in Yoruba and anara in Igbo, could blend very well with rice in the same manner as tomatoes.

Others said they were exploring pumpkin, pawpaw or traditional soups like white soup and palm fruit soup popularly called banga soup in place of tomatoes stew.

Lamidi Jummai, a housewife and mother of three said that this present situation has made her resort to using Pumpkin, Pawpaw and traditional soup as stew.

“We like Rice in my house and we need to use stew, with the scarcity and high cost of tomatoes, her family was exploring garden egg stew.

“Since tomatoes became very expensive, we decided to use garden egg for stew and it is as sweet as tomato stew.

“The only major difference between garden egg stew and tomatoes stew is the colour.

“We also use pumpkin stew with rice sometimes and although it has its unique taste, it blends well with rice.”

It is also reported that a sizeable basket of tomatoes which hitherto sold for about N10,000 now sells for about N35,000 while big baskets cost more.