Households lament as costs of egg, pepper, others soar

Many families are feeling the effect of the hike in the prices of staples like rice, beans, eggs, tomatoes, and peppers, Sunday According has learnt.

Several mothers, who spoke to our correspondents, lamented that the prices of foodstuffs had continued to rise despite several interventions by the Federal Government.

Egg, for instance, which used to sell for around N2,700 for a crate in December 2023, has increased to almost N5,000. This has made one egg, which used to be N100, to sell for N200 now.

Long grain rice, which used to sell for around N47,000 for a bag in December, now goes for almost N80,000. This has made a paint bucket of long grain rice now sell for N7,000 as opposed to N4,500 in December.

Pepper and tomatoes have also become expensive, and some sellers only sell between six and seven balls of scotch bonnet pepper for N200. The same quantity of tomatoes, according to multiple market sources, now sells for above N200.

The prices of other staples have continually been on the increase for weeks, putting pressure on the pockets of families.

Many mothers lamented that the money given to them by their husbands for feeding was no longer enough to cater to the needs of the family.

A mother of four, Mrs Tomiwa Ogo, said with the increase in the cost of chicken and beef, her family moved to eggs as a cheaper option.

She said, “I don’t know what the government wants us to do. My family’s monthly feeding allowance for more than two years was N40,000. In January, my husband increased it to N60,000; I am shocked that it is still not enough. I carry everything I buy with that money in just two sack bags. I cannot even afford to buy rice and beans the way I used to.

“We stopped eating meat in my house in January. We opted for eggs. Now, I don’t know if buying meat is better than getting eggs. Egg now sells for almost N5,000 a crate. I bought it for N4,700 last week. How do we survive?”

Another mother, Mrs Tomike Adefarati, said a paint bucket of tomatoes, which she bought for around N2,000 in December, now sells for N4,500. The price of pepper, according to her, has also doubled.

“Now, they no longer sell pepper and tomatoes for N200 like they used to do. If they sell pepper and tomatoes for N500, you will be shocked about the outcome. It is very small. I counted just seven or eight balls of scotch bonnet (atarodo) peppers for N200. The situation is just too much for me,” Adefarati stated.

Another woman, who gave her name simply as Chiwendu, said she had to take her family members to the market so that they would understand the need to tighten their belts.

She explained, “When they saw that eggs were selling for N4,700 a crate, I didn’t need to tell them why they could only have one egg per day and could sometimes have their meals without any form of protein.

“As a mother, this is a very difficult time. I am not pleased at all with the way this economy has put pressure on my pocket. I always have to increase my budget when I get to the market because the prices I buy before always change. I wonder how people with larger families are coping.”

A pastor’s wife and mother of five, Evangelist Sola Omotola, said she had extra mouths to feed because of her role as a pastor’s wife.

Omotola stated, “Every Sunday, the number of people who troop to my house to ‘greet’ me is more than 20. And for every one of them, I have to offer something. I have five teenagers. One is 19 and has just been admitted to study Geography at the University of Lagos. The rest are hungry teenagers who need a lot of food to grow.

“The money my husband makes has remained the same for more than five years. I don’t work. I am a dressmaker, and I only get money when people order dresses. Is it not people who have eaten that will make new clothes? The strain on our finances is a lot, and we beg the government to intervene before it becomes too late.”

Food prices soar

Findings by our correspondents at the Ibafo Market, Ogun State, revealed that a bag of rice sold for N36,000 last year, but now sells for N79,000, while a paint bucket of rice now sold for N6,000 (foreign) and N5,000 (local) from the initial prices of N3,000 and N2,500 respectively last year.

A bag of drum beans has jumped from N40,000, which it sold for last year, to N145,000.

A carton of spaghetti, which sold for N9,000 in December, now sells for N16,000; a pack that was sold for N450 is now N950. Similarly, 10kg of semovita, which sold for N7,000, now sells for N14,500, while the price of a carton of small noodle packs sells for N6,500 from N3,200.

A kilo of kote fish (horse mackerel), which sold for N1,500 last year, currently goes for N3,200; sawa (herring fish) increased from N800 to N2,500. A kilo of Titus fish (mackerel) increased from N2,200 to N4,600; turkey which sold for between N2,500 and N3,000 a kilo in December, now sells for N6,200.

At the Mushin Market in Lagos State, the cost of foodstuffs has also soared.

According to sellers, a crate of eggs now sells for over N4,000, while a paint bucket of white garri goes for N2,800 and the yellow garri sells for N2,600.

For beans, a paint bucket of honey beans sells for N6,000 instead of N3,000 it sold last year.

A pack of spaghetti retails for N900, and a pack of super pack noodles now sells for N500.

Traders lament

Some traders, who spoke to one of our correspondents at the market, lamented the struggle they face daily to sell their produce to buyers as a result of the increased cost of foodstuffs.

According to them, the high cost of foodstuffs has made it difficult to sell to customers and also make profits.

A foodstuffs seller, who gave his name simply as Divine, said he was afraid of how much foodstuffs would cost when he next went to stock his shop, noting that the cost of buying in bulk was scary.

A foodstuffs wholesaler, Emma Azubike, said, “The cost is not only affecting the customers, but is also affecting us the sellers because you have to speak so much to convince some customers that the prices have increased.

When you tell them the prices and you don’t explain more to them, they will leave and not everyone will come back when they eventually find out in other places that what you told them is true. So, it is affecting the sales.”

A trader in Lagos, Madam Ireti, said, “We only know the price of the foodstuffs today, you don’t know what will be tomorrow and that is the major problem. As you are aware, we also buy from people; they can come today and by tomorrow the cost of an item will have increased; you will not have a choice but to buy it and also increase the cost.

“It is like a chain that when anything happens at the top or the middle, it will affect the bottom. We only hope that the government does something as soon as possible to resolve these issues before things get out of hand.”

On his part, a foodstuffs retailer, Mrs Katherine Ajao, said, “It has been difficult. The patronage has reduced from what I used to have before because of the increase in prices. The problem is that I can go to the market to buy some food items today, but by tomorrow I will hear that the items have increased, so instead of making a profit with what I have in stock, I will be looking to borrow to add to the items on the ground. This is making doing business so difficult.”

A foodstuffs vendor at Oja Tuntun, Ilorin, Kwara State, Suliat Olanrewaju, expressed deep concern over the current high costs of goods amid the weak state of the economy. Comparing prices from last year to now, she noted a significant increase in the price of noodles which rose from N4,000 to N10,000 for a table and from N12,000 to N20,000 for a small pack.

She said, “This surge in food prices has made it difficult for many people to afford necessities, with some now struggling to purchase even a fraction of what they could afford previously.”

Despite selling noodles, Suliat stated that she had been unable to afford them herself this year due to the increased cost.

“Rice and garri, staple foods once considered affordable for the poor, are now priced at N2,500 for eight cups of rice compared to N800 last year. I urge the President to address the current economic challenges promptly,” she added.

Economists weigh in

Meanwhile, an economist and former director of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof Akpan Ekpo, has suggested measures the Federal Government can take to mitigate the daily rise in food prices and other essentials.

According to him, the government must set short and medium-term goals to make living easy for the citizens.

Ekpo noted that whenever the prices of goods go up, they hardly come down.

He said, “In the short term, we have no choice but to import food for people to eat because prices are going up every second. Also, I don’t know how they will do this; they have to return to manage float because what we are seeing is exchange rate pass-through.

“The naira has a free fall and because of that, it is passing through to prices. If we can return to a managed float and we do that managed part very well, we may have some relief.”

Reacting, a professor of Economics at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Sheriffdeen Tella, said the cost of foodstuffs had continued to increase due to lack of sufficient food production.

He stated that the government should adopt a medium-term plan to curb the continued skyrocketing of prices.

“The prices can’t come down immediately because there is not enough food production, and that is why there is scarcity. There is still insecurity in food production. When the dollar-naira rates begin to stabilise, there will be some shortfalls in food production. The government should have a medium-term strategy like releasing food from warehouses. If it can go round, it will bring down the prices of commodities,” he said.

Export Prohibition Act

Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu has ordered total compliance with the Export Prohibition Act to check the smuggling of food items out of the country.

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Mr Wale Adeniyi, disclosed this during a meeting with the leaders and members of the Dawanau International Grains Market, Kano, on Friday.

He stated that the Act had not been implemented in the past because Nigeria had food sufficiency.

Adeniyi said now that the country was passing through a food crisis, the President had directed that the Act must be fully implemented to ensure that food items were not exported when people were in dire need of them.

The comptroller-general urged the grain dealers to assist the government by complying with the directive banning the exportation of food items to provide enough food for the people.

Adeniyi stated, “It is unwise for a reasonable and sincere country to embark on the exportation of food items when her citizens need them.

“You are big stakeholders in this direction and these are the reasons why I am here to interact with you and solicit your support.”