Traders at the Variki Market in Okene in Kogi State are not happy. They are experien-cing low patronage.
They said the market used to be very busy. But the reverse is the case now as their trade can no longer earn them a living.
The market leader, Oniayi Omeneke, said: “Though the market is always full, not all of the people are buying; some have only come to window shop. Business is not moving like it used to; traders are not happy at all.”
Other traders in the market said their daily sales are below N5000 unlike before when they were making N20, 000.
“Some of us come to the market, and at the end of the day, we don’t sell up to N20,000 compared to when business was flourishing,” she said.
Mrs. Omayoza Haruna sells rice at the market, she said the countries economy is not encouraging her business. I think money is not going round; most of our customers are government workers and are facing financial difficulty,” she said.
A local government worker, Mr Augustine Kayode, said the poor economic situation is bad that he doesn’t get full salary and sometimes doesn’t get paid at all.
“After paying my children’s school fees and meeting other immediate needs, I barely have enough money to buy foodstuffs and resort to buying on credit from these traders to pay later. Some traders have stopped selling to some of us because it is posing a lot of threat to their business,” he added.
