Nigerians decry high cost of food items as inflation bites

With food inflation at around 37 percent, Muslims in Nigeria are celebrating the yearly Eid-el-fitr which signifies the end of the annual 30-day fasting period in a rather unusual way, devoid of the usual sharing of foods and travelling to be with families due to the high cost of of food items and living in the country.

According to Alhaji Kayode Akintola who resides in Abesan Estate, Mosan Okunola LCDA area of Lagos state, the rising inflation and attendant cost of living has forced him to have the celebration in low key.

“Normally, I used to share food among my non-muslims friends, but this year, I have tactically avoided that. I only went to the mosque to pray and then attended only to my immediate family needs,” he said.

He said the high cost of food items to him is the beginning of wisdom, “It is not about reducing, I am tired, we aren’t getting friendly on the prices at all, it’s not funny,” he added.

Alhaji Abimbola Oke, also lamented that for the first time, he couldn’t take his family out to visit relatives as was his custom.

“Things are just not as they used to be. The high cost of things is suffocating,” he added.

Frozen food dealers were not left out, as they expressed their displeasure in pain over the poor electricity supply and the cost of frozen foods.

Mrs Adeboye , a frozen food dealer in the Jikwoyi area, said that the poor electricity supply was alarming and had caused a lot of damage to his business.

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According to him, my big generator which normally supports when there is no electricity power is not functioning well and we have been experiencing poor electricity supply.

“Most of my frozen foods are spoiled, in fact, I am frustrated over the situation, it’s really tough on all of us, may God help us out of this mess,” he said.

According to the survey, a Kings’ oil, formerly N17,000 per carton, now goes for N23,500, some are selling at N25,000. Chicken flavour Maggi  is now N25,000  from the previous N15,00.

A cartoon of fish at the Ipaja market is now sold for N80,00 while a bag of rice is now oscillating between N88,000 and N90,000.

According to a trader, Mrs. Rashidat Balogun, the difficulties faced in sustaining customers as a result of the hike in food prices is unbearable.

She asserted that prices of goods were still manageable in late 2023, but suddenly skyrocketed which has further led to depreciation in customer patronage.

She said: “If you buy an item of N1,000 today, it will be N1,200 tomorrow. If you are buying one carton today, tomorrow is half for the same price because everything is going higher every day.

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“I agree there is no money in the town, if there’s money, it wouldn’t be like this. Let me tell you that Kings’ oil, formerly N17,000 per carton, now goes for N23,500, some are selling at N25,000. Chicken flavour Maggi was N20,000 last week, but rose to N25,000 this week.”

Mrs. Mojisola asserted that she had to drag her husband to the market for him to have firsthand information of the ugly development. While a retailer, Ibrahim appealed to the government to Increase workers’ salaries and find a lasting solution to increase in prices of foods.

A trader, who sells food items at Iyana Ipaja market, Mariam, said that the patronage this period had been low, adding that customers could only buy a few things.

“We, the traders and our customers are not happy with the current economic situation of the country, as consumers could barely afford to buy goods because of the hike in prices.

“As you can see, the traders are not in a festive mood as there is no hustling or bustling that usually characterises the season,” she said.