By Juliet Jacob Ochenje
Traders of tomatoes and pepper have urges President Bola Tinubu to address the rising prices of tomatoes and pepper in the market.
They made this appeal when African Health Report (AHR) on Saturday took a trip to Dutse Alhaji Market, popularly known as Monday Market, to speak with traders on how they are coping with increasing prices of food.
Mrs Precious John, who is a foodstuff businesswoman lamented to AHR that high transportation following the removal of fuel subsidy, is taking a toll on her business. She explained that where she used to pay N250 for transportation is now N600 and where she used to pay N100 is now N150.
“They keep on increasing it because of the fuel subsidy government removed,” she lamented.
Mrs John noted that a small basket of tomatoes now costs N27,000 and the bigger basket, N57,000. She added that a bag of pepper she bought on Wednesday for N15,000 is now N32,000, and because of the price increase, she ended up not buying.
The trader, who also sells frozen food, complained that she heard of a planned hike in electricitt tariffs, saying she doesn’t know how Nigerians will cope if that happens.
Another foodstuff trader, Mrs. Gloria Bassey Michael, while echoing the same views of Mrs John, added that though traders know that the food items they sell cost more each day, they cannot do anything about it because it is how they buy that they sell.
She said, “When you buy food stuff in the market and it’s too costly, you have to sell it costly so you can get your gain. For example, fresh pepper is very costly in the market, likewise tomatoes. Imagine, tomatoes I used to sell for N200, is now being sold for N500 and basket of tomatoes that I used to buy for N15,000 to N20,000 is now being sold for N50,000 to N60,000 presently.”
She concluded that if the federal government can reduce the price of fuel, food prices will come down.
For a mother of seven, Mrs. Lydia Johnson Ayoogun, this is the time to stop buying fresh tomatoes as she can no longer afford to do so.
“Imagine buying five tomatoes for N1000 to feed a family of seven, and I used to buy the smallest basket for N1000 or N1500 before! Egusi (melon seeds) is presently N3,000 a mudu, while garri that used to be N200 is now N600 a mudu.
“I am pleading with the federal government to come to our aid, because things are really getting out of hand. “
