Thelma Osatohanmwen
Traders in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State Capital, have lamented over the recent surge in the prices of goods, calling for government intervention.
NEWSTODAYNG Reporter gathered that the bulk of traders in the market are going through phases, with various complaints about how it’s difficult to attract customers as a result of the sudden hike in food prices which has affected their businesses.
A trader at Oke-Isa market identified as Nelson Negene shared his plight, asserting that prices of goods were still manageable in late 2023 but suddenly skyrocketed which has further led to depreciation in customer patronage.
His words, “If you buy something of N1,000 today, it will be N1,200 tomorrow. If you are buying one cartoon today, tomorrow is half for the same price because everything is going higher everyday.
“Government should provide more funds and should bring the prices of things down.
“I agree there is no money in the town, if there’s money, it wouldn’t be like this. Examples of prices that went up, Kings oil, formerly 17k per cartoon, I’m now buying it for N19,500, some are selling 20k. chicken flavour Maggi was N18,500 last week, but rose to N22,500 yesterday.
“Viva soap was N5,900, but when I went back that same evening, it has skyrocketed to N6,200 and all these things is affecting us, as business men.”
Another trader, Sunday Ovoke, said: “There are no much customers because there is no money in the town, people are not selling anything, government is not doing their job.
“Prices of products have gone up, I sold pants for N250 before but it’s now N800.
“Government should make everything the way it was before, market is too costly, customer will not want to believe that sales are affected and there is no money to take home and pay dues.”
Also, Monisola Salanor, a mother of 3, said zero funding is the major issue as a result of the recession mitigating against the country.
According to her, “It didn’t use to be this bad. I sold a Congo of Egusi for N1000, N800 before but it’s now N2200.
“Things in the market are now costly, we are losing customers because negotiations from them are not favourable to us.
“Government should help us, if they give us grants, it will be helpful but they should help reduce cost of living, so we can help our family.”
While the traders appealed to the government to support their businesses, they also called for a price control policy so that prices of foods become stable in the market.
