Kunle Adelabu
-Call on govt to intervene
Although, high cost of living is not something new to residents of Ikorodu Division area of Lagos State, Southwest, Nigeria, as it has always affected other parts of the country, but the latest experience has, however, caused unusual lamentation, agony and panic.
For about two weeks now, there has been outcry in various homes, markets and business places, especially those dealing in food items, as cost of food stuff and livestock has increased in a manner that has been described by many as ‘crazy’ and unbearable.
Mostly affected produce are onions, pepper, tomatoes and yam.
There is also outcry over the increase of cost of garri, beans and other food items as well.
Many have attributed this development to the unrest in the northern part of the country while other said that it is due to the clash between the Yorubas and Hausas in Ibadan.
However, one thing that many have agreed to is the fact that the situation is a warning to the southern part of the country to develop its agriculture and stop depending on the produce from the north.
News reports has it that the Amalgamation Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria (AUFCDN), an affiliate of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), had directed the strike allegedly responsible for the blockade of movement of cattles and food items to the South as a consequence for the demand for compensation and safety of their members affected by the #EndSARS as well as the violence in Ibadan.
A visit to some markets in Ikorodu by our reporter revealed the anguish that both the sellers and buyers are currently enduring.
Many turned down our reporter’s request for brief interview on the situation, stating that nothing is new about the situation as almost everybody in the country already knew about it.
Some of them requested to know if our reporter would get their complaints to the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, and the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo – Olu, to enable them find solutions to the high cost of food items and cost of living generally.
Others simply begged that our report should help them inform those in power to have mercy on the masses and intervene in their plights.
Current cost of Food items In Markets
Before now, cost of food items were generally high, a situation attributable to many factors, but the current increase has shot up the prices of many items to an unimaginable height which is out of reach of common people who are struggling to survive.
The situation has reportedly forced many residents with weak purchasing power to buy less. According to many, they can no longer prepare soup that would serve their families for two or three days due to the cost of food items.
Sellers in various markets visited by our reporters also complained that they can no longer buy in large quantities anymore because of high cost and poor patronage.
It was gathered that before the current predicament, a bag of onion that was being sold for N10, 000 but now cost N30, 000.
Also, potato which is a common food, was previously being sold for N10, 000 per bag but now costs between N18, 000 and N20, 000.
According to some pepper sellers at Kaniyi Owode market in Igbogbo and Allison market in Ikorodu, a basket of tomatoes that they used to buy between N7, 000 and N8, 000 is now being sold at N30, 000, while the basket of 'rodo' formerly being sold by the Hausas for N8000 (big basket) and N4000 (small basket) is now costs N24, 000.
Garri, one of the cassava bye – products which is a common food item in homes across the south, is another item that both sellers and buyers are struggling to cope with its current price. According to the sellers, a bag of garri that formerly cost between N2500 and N3500 is now being sold for N15, 000.
Suleiman, an Hausa man selling onion on the setback space at the Kaniyi Owode market in Igbogbo, speaking with THE IMPACT, said that the high cost is due to the fight between Hausas and Yorubas in Ibadan and that there is nothing that they can do about the increase in food items prices except to sell what they are able to buy.
A yam seller who volunteered to speak while some of his colleagues get agitated and uncooperative, said that:
”Before now, we are buying a bag of onion for N10, 000 but now, they are selling it to us for N30, 000. What do we do?” he queried.
“We have to sell what we have and we cannot make a loss. It is the fight among Hausas and Yorubas in Ibadan that caused the high cost of food items”, he told our reporter.
“See this onion (pointing to the displayed onions), we used to buy a bag for #10, 000 but now, we are buying it for N18, 000 and N20, 000”.
At Suleiman’s place, four medium size onions displayed on a spread polythene bag was being sold for N200 and N300, while four or five medium size potatoes that were also displayed, sold for N200 and N250.
A woman who sells tomato and pepper at the entrance of the Kaniyi market also lamented the high cost of food items.
“The situation is very terrible and it is badly affecting sellers and buyers. We, the sellers, can no longer buy baskets of tomatoes or any pepper again because of the high cost and lack of purchasing power on the part of our customers.
“Before, we used to buy a basket of tomatoes at N7000 or N8000 but now, we buy the same item for N30, 000, while the basket of ;rodo (small pepper) that was N8000 before now costs N27, 000”, she told our reporter.
“Customers these days just buy a set each of tomatoes, rodo and one other to cook. These are people that have been buying two or three sets of tomatoes. The situation is really affecting the masses and the government should assist us by making live bearable for us”, she pleaded.
An Ibo woman, who sells garri, red oil, magi, beans and other items, also speaking on the issue, became agitated to the extent of venting her anger on the high cost of items at the newly developed Kaniyi Owode market in Igbogbo.
“We are just working for nothing in this country. Most people are in the market to sell because they can’t sit down at home as the cost of food items have skyrocketed beyond our imagination.
“You as a young man should have a feeling of what is going on in the country. It is known to everybody that we are in dire situations.
“Cost of what we are buying has made what we are selling to go beyond the reach of average persons that constitute the majority in this country. Nothing is working again and those in power should have mercy on the common people that they sworn to protect.
She said that a plastic paint of garri that is sold for between N250 and N300 is now being sold for N450 and N500 because a bag of garri that they used to buy at N3000 and N3500 is now selling for N15, 000.
Mrs Titilayo Omotosho, who sells onion, maggi among other items at the market in Igbogbo, was also full of lamentations on the instability in the cost of food items and its adverse effects on sellers and buyers.
A pepper and other food items seller along the NBC Road in Ipakodo condemned the situation where common people can no longer get food that is supposed to be readily available.
“If we cannot get food to buy and feed ourselves, what then is bearable in this country?, she asked.
“We are not the cause of high cost of food items, rather, we are just buying what we are able to get from the sellers. It is very crazy. Aside the high cost of food items, we are also dealing with the high cost of transporting them too”, she said.
A woman who spoke with our reporter after buying food items at the Allinson market in Ikorodu, said that a country that cannot feed its citizens is in trouble.
She called on the government to do something quickly to prevent insurrection by the masses.
Cattle Dealers Lament Unavailability of Cows, Goats
Many sellers that deal in cow and goat, popularly called ‘malu’ and ‘Ogufe’ in the local parlance respectively, have been unable to buy and sell even at high cost since the blockade started.
When our reporter visited the Igbogbo Slaughter Slab on Wednesday, March 03, 2021, dealers were seen sitting around without doing anything. Those that spoke with our reporter said that it was due to the fact that there has been nothing for them to do for the past few days.
The ever busy slaughter slab which used to have many cows, only had four when our reporter visited. The medium sized cows among those on ground were said to have been bought from Sabo market in Ikorodu at the rate of N350, 000 and N250, 000.
Before the blockade, between 10 and 15 goats were being slaughtered at the slaughter slab a day, but only one was killed on Wednesday when our reporter visited.
Those cows available at the slaughter slab were those that dealers said they could not even dare to buy for #150,000 before blockade.
They also lamented that they currently buy big cows between N650, 000 and N700, 000.
Mr Olalere Taofeek, a dealer in cattle in Igbogbo, said that they stopped going directly to the northern part of the country to buy cows because of insecurity.
“We used to go to the north to buy cows but we stopped because of insecurity that prevails in that axis as our people were being killed and robbed along the way. I actually lost a friend who went to the north to buy cows.
“So, we resorted to buying the cows at any rate that they gave us at Sabo in Ikorodu from those Hausa men that bring them.
“Look at this cow (pointing to a cow) that we used to buy for N150, 000, it was bought for N350, 000. Unfortunately, we do have many on ground for you to see, there are some that we bought for N650, 000”, he added.
He said that the state government should intervene by developing cattle farms to prevent Lagos State, which is the largest economy in the country, from depending on the north.
He also called for provision of loan and assistance by the government in bringing cows from Niger, Cameroon, Burkinafaso and other neighbouring countries.
“I think that government can start breeding and rearing farm so that the state, which is number one in the country in term of population and economy, can be self – sustaining”, he said.
“We don’t have to be dependent on the north for what our people eat on a daily basis.
“Government can also provide us with loan facilities to bring in cows from Niger, Cameroon and Burkinafaso in large quantities. This will save us from dealing with killings of our men in the north and the high cost of cows anytime there is situation” he suggested.
Mr Bashiru Olajire, another dealer who spoke with our reporter, said that many of their colleagues are now in debt.
“The situation we are facing is very depressing. Many of our colleagues are now in debt because they are operating at a loss, while many are not getting cows to buy because of the high cost and are also unable to service their debts”, he lamented.
“In actual fact, people are struggling to buy what we have at very high cost”, he added.
The man, who slaughtered the only Ogunfe at the Igbogbo Slaughter Slab on Wednesday, said that they are not bringing the goats anymore.
“They are not bringing ‘Ogunfe’ anymore. The only one that we bought today is small and it was sold at N65, 000. This is a place that we used to kill between 10 and 15 ‘Ogufes’ daily.
Another woman, a restaurant operator that came to buy large quantity of ‘Ogufe’, complained about the cost.
“Look at what is contained in this bucket (pointing to a bucket on the floor containing parts of the slaughtered Ogunfe), I bought it for N50, 000”, she said.
Meanwhile, Ms Abisola Olusanya, the Commissioner for Agriculture in Lagos State, speaking with our reporter in a phone conversation, said that the state government under the leadership of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is doing everything to make the state self – sufficient through many agric interventions and programmes currently being embarked upon.
Speaking on the request that the government should provide interventions through loans for cow dealers and also get cattle supply from Mali, Niger and Cameroon and other countries, the Commissioner stated that the government is doing something in that regard too.
“We have actually started something in that regard. The commodity market in Imota will take care of that.
She said that the government’s plans on food security is also on course.
Commissioner Olusanya, however, warned that the government is not relenting in its efforts to clamp down on illegal slaughter slab across the state while also stating that Ikorodu slaughter slab (Odo Eran) and the one in Ijede are the only two approved slabs in Ikorodu Division.
She added that the government is also encouraging private participation in managing existing slabs across the state with expression of interests.
