The price of cassava flakes, otherwise known as garri, in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, is above N100 per cup for the first time.
This is as prices of other food items have ballooned since the beginning of the year, posing a severe threat to many families.
A PREMIUM TIMES survey of markets and retail shops in Uyo in the last week of March shows that the price of garri jumped by 50 per cent in the state capital.
The survey showed that a cup of garri, which was N100 in December last year, now sells for N150, while four cups are now N500 against five cups.
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A five-litre container of garri, which under the same period, was sold at N1, 000 now goes for N2,200, an increase of over 100 per cent, while a bag (100kg) of garri increased from N40,000 to N75,000.
“The hardship is too much. It’s never been this difficult,” Christiana Akpan, an aged woman who was at Itam Market in Uyo on Friday to buy garri, said.
“Garri’s price has never gone above N100 a cup in this state before. I don’t know what the leaders are doing,” another woman, who gave her name simply as “Mfonobong”, told PREMIUM TIMES.
Otobong Kenjoshua, who owns a retail shop, Otty’s Complete Kitchen, at Afaha Ube Road, off Ikot-Ekpene Road in Uyo, said garri producers attributed the high cost of the commodity to the exchange rate and transportation cost.
She, however, expressed dissatisfaction that producers have not reduced the price of the staple food despite the naira appreciating against the United States dollar of late.
Garri may be N200 for one cup from March – vendors
There are indications that the price of garri may increase to N200 a cup in the new week, according to vendors.
A garri vendor, Unwam Okon, told this newspaper that the price of a basin of garri has increased by N6,000 in Cross River State, where they buy it in bags.
According to her, the commodity was sold to them at N18,000 a basin last week (the third week of March), but the price went up to N24,000 on Saturday.
Another garri vendor, Nseobong Edet, a member of the Foodstuffs Association in Akpan Ndem Market in Uyo, corroborated Ms Okon’s claims.
Mrs Edet blamed the increase on the cost of transportation, increased cost of cassava stems and other production costs.
She also buys garri at Atam, Cross River State.
According to her, garri vendors must sell the commodity for N200 a cup from next week to cover up the increment.
Ms Okon said the increased price is not peculiar to garri.
“It is not just garri. As of today (Saturday), beans is N350 a cup. Yes, the price of garri has never been this high, but nothing in this country has ever been costly the way it is this year. I’ve not seen it before,” she said, apparently defending the price of garri.
According to her, the garri producers complain that if they sell the produce at a lower price, they will still have to buy rice and other items at higher prices.
“The price of grinding cassava (diesel cost) is no longer the same. The transport fare to the farm is no longer the same,” she added.
Hardship
Residents of Uyo blamed the hardship and skyrocketing price of commodities on President Bola Tinubu’s withdrawal of petrol subsidy, a policy that has tripled the price of petrol and transportation fare across the country.
The policy has further pushed the inflation rate from 29.90 per cent in January to 31.70 in February, according to the country’s data bank, Nigeria Bureau of Statistics.
The statistics office also reported that on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation in the country has also increased by 9.79 per cent points higher than the rate recorded in February 2023.
Nigerians are facing severe hardship due to the subsidy removal, which has pushed the price of commodities to a record high, particularly petrol, which is now sold at N700 and above.
For instance, the price of rice and beans, other staple food items, have doubled between December 2023 and March 2024.
This newspaper observed from the survey that a cup of rice (foreign), which was N150 and a cup of beans, N200 as of December, are now selling at about N600 and N350, respectively.
Similarly, a 50kg bag of foreign rice has almost doubled within the period, increasing from N58,000 to N95, 000 while local rice increased from N45,000 to N55, 000. A five-litre container is now sold at N9,000, while local rice goes for N7,000.
Also, within the period, the price of a pack of Knorr (seasoning) has increased from N8 00 to N1, 500 while Star, another brand of seasoning) has also increased from N600 to N1, 200.
The price increase has affected other food items like palm oil used for cooking, crayfish, a significant ingredient for soup, tomatoes used for stew and eggs, a primary protein source.
Within the period under review, the price of 60cl of palm oil has increased from N600 to N800. The price of crayfish in a five-litre container has also increased from N3,000 to N4, 500 while the same quantity of tomatoes rose from N3,000 to N4,000. The price for a crate of eggs has increased by over a hundred per cent – from N1 700 to N3 600.
For poultry farmers, the increment is as a result of the cost of feed, which they blame on the cost of importation and high exchange rate.
But many Nigerians are worried that prices of commodities have not gone down despite the naira appreciating against the United States dollar – dropping from N1, 800/$1 to the present N1,200/$1.
Disappointment
Grace Usen, a television presenter and mother of two, took to Facebook to express disappointment that the prices of items are still the same despite the naira appreciating against the dollar.
“For more than five days now, people have not rushing to reduce prices of items; the story now is ‘, we bought them at a high rate, we must finish selling the old stock.’ But was that the case when the price went up?” she queried, adding, “Did you say let us sell out the old (cheap) stock?
“We are still buying at the price when the dollar was N1,800. The same people who could not wait to confirm the actual exchange rate are turning deaf ears to N1,200 per dollar now.”
Continuing, she wrote, “A certain company producing seasoning reduced the number of cubes from 50 to 45 and now to 40 cubes in a pack and sold at N1200.”
In response to the ballooned prices of food items, particularly staple foods, the Akwa Ibom State Government established a Bulk Purchase Agency to buy food items in bulk for the purpose of selling them in retail to the vulnerable people in the state at subsidised rates.
The state government later made adjustments to its earlier plans and is now giving out rice, garri, and beans at 5kg each for free to the vulnerable people in the state who have been enrolled in the state social register.
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