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• FCT residents lament increasing food prices
From Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
With the increasing prices of foodstuffs, residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, now resort to taking corn and groundnuts for lunch as snacks.
Despite not being as cheap as it used to be, some of the residents maintained that it is a better lunch alternative because buying N1,000 worth of corn and groundnuts goes a long way to sustain them for the day.
A civil servant at Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Christian Ameh, said: “This corn and groundnuts season is a blessing to many families considering the cost of foodstuffs. Price of corn has been inflated but it still preferable because it is fresh and healthier compared to other kinds of food sold out there.
“This season is very helpful to us, looking at the present cost of food. God created Nigerians in a way that we can easily adjust to situations. I’m already used to buying a cob of corn at N300 and some days I’m lucky, I can buy two cobs at N400.
“It has also saved some of us from huge amount for lunch. Some days I settle my family with less than N3,000 corns and groundnuts. The children even prefer it to some other foods.”
Another civil servant, Friday Ogbe, said: “I can’t stay a day without taking at least three cobs of corn. I have never taken my time to calculate what I’m spending on corns alone daily. But then I ended up not eating food some times after eating corn. It’s expensive, but I don’t blame the sellers as the cost of everything has gone up.”
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A cosmetic dealer in Utako Market, Emeka Ani, said: “Eating corn with coconut is sweet but with groundnuts is more delicious. It gives you an entirely different taste that makes you crave for more. I can eat corn for a whole day.
“I have stopped going for other food for lunch since we entered the corn season. It has not been easy these days because reasonable plate of food is between N3,000 and N5,000.”
A POS operator, Monica Eberechukwu: “I normally eat at least twice every day. It was affecting my take-home because what I make is not much. But with the availability of corn, I don’t have issues again. It is cheaper than other types of food, though not as cheap as it used to be.
“Despite its availability, the affordability of corn appears to be quite expensive this year, unlike the previous years. A sizeable corn now goes for N150 and above.”
Susan Zico, a corn seller, at Deeper Life Junction, Byazhin Kubwa, said: “We buy corn from Zuba. We sell according to how we buy it. Sometimes, it doesn’t have fixed prices. The price is based on the availability in the market. Corn is very expensive this year. But we have to buy and sell to keep body and soul together.
“In some instances, we won’t even see corn to buy. Some days, we buy and after everything we discover the corn don’t have seeds, which is a big loss. Yet, customers will not understand when we try to explain things to them. They think we deliberately want to raise the price to fleece them.”
Another corn seller, Mary Ochoa: “I use the opportunity to purchase other fruits to spice up my business. The cost of corn has soared. But we must do the business. For those who cannot travel far to those markets, truckloads of corn are supplied to them in their various areas, but at higher prices.”
