Prices of food items are gradually dropping in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) markets and environs, a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) survey reveals.
NAN correspondents who visited various markets in FCT and environs report that the prices vary depending on the market and its location.
NAN reports that food prices tend to be higher in markets situated at the city centres than those located at the satellite towns.
At Kado market, a 50kg bag of rice which sold between N97,000 and N100,000 in January was now being sold for N87,000, while a 25kg bag formally sold between N45,000 and N50,000 was now being sold for N43,500 depending on the brand.
In Garki market located at the city centre, a bag of 50 kg rice was now being sold for between N81,000 to N83,000 as against N92,000 in January, while a 25kg bag now sells for between N42,000 and N43,000 as against N45,000 sold in January.
In Nyanya market located at the satellite town, a 50 kg bag of rice formally sold between N90,000 and N93,000 in January, was now being sold for between N70,000 and N83,000 depending on the brand.
At Apo fish market, a 50 kg bag of rice sold for N105,000 had crashed to N93,000.
At the popular Orange market located at Abuja-Keffi expressway, a bag of onions which was sold between N90,000 and N100,000 as at January was now being sold between N50,000 and N55,000.
In Garki market, a bag of onions sold between N180,000 and N200,000 as at January now goes for between N55,000 and N60,000.
In Karu market, located in FCT satellite town, a bag of Bendel (yellow) garri was sold at N55,000 as against N57,000 to N60,000 sold in January.
For red oil, a 25 litre keg sold between N75,000 and N83,000 in January was now being sold between N55,000 and N50,000 in Nyanya market.
In Apo fish market, a 25 litre Terra groundnut oil formerly sold for N88,000 now goes for N84,000.
A four-litre keg of groundnut oil was now being sold for N15,500 as against its former price of between N17,500 and N20,000 depending on the brand.
Also, a big bag of white beans initially sold between N200,000 and N150,000 now sells between N115,000 and N120,000 at Kado market.
A module of white beans formally sold between N2,100 and N2,300 in January, was now being sold between N1,700 and N1,800 respectively.
At Orozo market, a module of brown beans formally sold between N2,200 and N2,800 was now being sold for between N1,800 and N2,000.
However, food items like yams, pepper, shombo and plantain had increased compared to their prices as at January.
At Wuse market, five pieces of medium sized yams sold between N8,000 and N10,000 was now being sold for N15,000.
At Lugbe and Orozo markets, the same size of yams formally sold for between N6,000 and N7,000, was now being sold for N10,000.
Also a bunch of plantain sold for N6,000 was now being sold for between N8,000 and N9,000.
A big bag of pepper was now being sold for N73,000 as against N31,000 in January.
A big basket of shombo was sold at N36,000 as against N30,000 in January.
Mrs Amina Suleiman, a mother of four, said that although prices of some food items in the market were dropping, the decrease was insignificant.
”I am happy that the prices of some food items are coming down, but I do not think it has gotten to a level where we will start jubilating.
“The government needs to do more on the area of security to enable farmers to farm more, improve infrastructure and ensure incentives to farmers.
“All these will reduce the cost of production and in turn further reduce the cost of food prices for the good of all Nigerians,” Suleiman said.
Mr Albert Okoro, a rice wholesaler in Gariki market attributed the drop in prices to the slight reduction in fuel price.
(NAN)
