Rising food prices, poor sales threaten our livelihood – Kwara traders lament

By Mike Adeyemi

Traders and buyers of essential commodities have continued to lament the escalated prices of food items across Kwara State markets, National Pilot learnt.

Our correspondent who made a market survey in Ilorin the State capital reports that most marketers in the state have folded up their businesses as buyers no longer patronize them following the high cost of commodities.

A trader, Risikat Olohunoje, who deals in palm oil said, “I always go to the South East and bring them to Kwara State for marketing but the business has been moribund” she lamented.

Olohunoje added that by the time she calculates her expenses and adds it up to the market price, the buyers would feel cheated, pointing out that the high cost would discourage people from buying since they always complained that they could not afford such an amount.

“Nigerians were happy when president Buhari announced the reopening of the borders, believing that things would get better but the prices of essential commodities especially food items continue to escalate with more than 50 per cent increase”

A grains seller at the popular Mandate market, Sulaiman Yakubu , complained that the increased prices of foodstuff had reduced the number of buyers to the market and affected his daily sales and profit.

Yakubu while giving a breakdown of prices of some of the grains said, “A bag of foreign rice (50kg) now sells between N27,000 and N28,000 while in July, it was between N28,000 and N29,000.

“Meanwhile, from January to May, it sold for N24,000 and in June it rose to between N27,000 and N28,000.

He added, “White garri, between April and July, sold for N25,000 per (50kg) bag. We now sell it for N19,000. Corn now sells for N39,000. In June and July, we bought it for N29,000. The prices of beans increase every day and it is becoming unbearable.

“As of last year, a tin of beans costs N400 but from January, it increased to between N500 and N550. A bag of oloyin beans (50kg) is N38,000. A bag (50kg) of drum beans is now N85,000 whereas from June, it was N80,000. In January it was N75,000.”

He also stated that, the increased prices had reduced his profits. He said, “Customers do not buy as much as before and it is affecting business. They complain of the price increase. At the end of the day, I do not have the amount I usually deliver to my boss.”

Juliana Inwachukwu, a trader at Obo market lamented the hike in the prices of commodity have goes beyond reach of common people.

“Prices keep increasing and I can’t even remember most of the prices in the past months because they keep changing,” she said.

She further said, “A bag (50kg) of Nigerian rice having stones now costs N23,000. The one without stones costs N24,000 and the one that looks like a small grain of foreign rice costs N26,000. A bag of foreign rice; long grain, costs N27,500 while a  small grain costs N25,000. As of January, a bag of Nigerian rice with stones was N20, 000.

“The price of beans has been increasing since the first week of May. A bag (50kg) of drum beans was N52,000,  now it is N84,000. White beans was between N30,000 and N32,000, now it costs N78,000. Butter beans (oloyin) now costs N42, 000, meanwhile, in January, it was sold for between N26, 000 and N28,000.

“The increase in the price of garri also started in May. Yellow garri is now N13,500 while white garri is N20,000 whereas from January, it was sold between N15, 000 and N16,000.

“The price of egusi is now N78,000, whereas in January, it was N46,000. Our egusi supplier told us that egusi was not planted much this year and that made it expensive. The increase is much and no one understands what is going on.”