The Nation Newspaper

Tag: SELLERS

  • Consumers face expensive yam as sellers raise prices

    Consumers face expensive yam as sellers raise prices

    Consumers  of yam across the country are battling expensive price of the commodity after sellers have increased the prices in response to a shortage, hurting family budgets already squeezed by high food prices.

    According to analysts, the rising prices of food commodities have a direct bearing on inflation, exerting  additional pressure on the cost of living.

    The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)  said  the constant increase in food prices was largely responsible for the upsurge in inflation figures.

    In some areas in Lagos, such as Ikeja, a big tuber of yam sells for between N1,500 and N2,000. While on the Mainland, it goes for N700 to N1000.

    In August last year, a  sizeable tuber of yam sold for  between N300 and N350. It shot up to  N550 to N600.

    Speaking with The Nation, a food stuff seller in Shomolu area of Lagos, Abia Onyeka explained that the increase in yam price was expected with only old yam in the market.

    He explained that  since the new yam  was not yet out, the old yam  in the market is now expensive.

    New yam  was supposed to be out since March, but has starting coming out.. Old yam is finishing so the few left will be very expensive.

    With new yams coming into the market, Onyeka maintained that the price would soon drop from N900 to N600.

    He believes the market forces of demand and supply are playing out at the moment, noting that high demand for yam has sparked an increase in price.

    The situation in Enugu State is however, different, as high cost of yam in the state is not due to scarcity, but cost of transporting the commodity from the north to the state.

  • Plank sellers cry out over task force ‘invasion’

    Plank sellers in Akowonjo, Lagos, yesterday cried out over what they called “incessant harassment” by task force officials

    They alleged that the officials came to their Sawmill again on Wednesday to remove numbers-plates of cars parked at Pako bus stop.

    The Nation reported on Monday that the officials stormed the area on January 15 and removed the car number-plate of Mr Adebayo Fowosere whose vehicle broke down on the road-side.

    Fowosere and Sawmill, Ona Ara Black Market Vice Chairman, Mr Tunde Olatieye were arrested. They reportedly paid N66,000 to bail themselves.

    The plank sellers said they did not move close to the operatives during the operation, which lasted for about 30 minutes to avoid the Fowosere and Olatieye experience.

    A victim, Mr. Colomobus Ogbe, alleged that the officials removed the number plate of his parked at a bus stop on Shasha Road.

    “I just came back from the market when the task force officials blocked our vehicles, removed our number plates and went with them. We were afraid to talk to them because we didn’t want to be put inside the Black Maria, like they did to two of our people the last time they came around,” he said.

    Mr Opeyemi Ajide, said six car number plates were removed, with one of them belonging to his brother.

    “The task force officials removed the number-plates from two cars, two buses and two pick up vans.  The vehicles were parked where we normally park our cars at Pako bus stop. But the task force officials came to the area around 9am and just started removing the number-plates. After removing the number-plates, they drove off. They said we should come to their office to claim our number-plates. They were in the area for about 30 minutes. We did not confront them while they were removing the number-plates because we did not want them to beat, injure, or arrest us like they did in January. Due to this, we all left them hoping that when they remove it, we will spend N20,000, the payment for the return of each number plate, instead of being arrested, beaten and get bail of almost N70,000,” he said.

  • For fruit sellers, Ramadan is boom time

    For fruit sellers, Ramadan is boom time

    Fruits are essential commodities during the holy month of Ramadan. This is because Muslims use them to break their fast in the evenings. Fruit sellers across the Lagos metropolis say this is boom time for them as they now make bountiful sales. In spite of an appreciable increase in the prices of fruits, they say demand for them is on the rise too, TONIA ‘DIYAN reports.

    Last week, Nigerian Muslims joined their counterparts across the world to start observing this year’s Ramadan fast. When it is not Ramadan, some of them do not see the nutritional benefit of adding fruits to their daily meals. Some say they patronise fruit sellers only during Ramadan when they have to break their fast first with fruits and then, their meals.

    However, the last two months have seen price-sensitive markets across Lagos suffer from higher food costs. This higher prices have not affected the demand for fruits  in Lagos.

    Visits to some fruits market in Lagos showed that the holy month  has turned into boom time for fruit sellers who are enjoying high demand. Every year, there is a surge in spending before, during and after Ramadan, with increase in prices of food items and fruits in the traditional markets across the country. Market survey showed that demand for fruits tend to increase by around 60 per cent during Ramadan compared to other months.

    Fruit traders have revealed that demand for fruit is up this Ramadan despite significantly higher prices compared to last year’s regardless of price hikes.

    Market sources say the supply of fruits to the metropolis has risen by between 35 and 40 per cent in wholesale fruit markets particularly in Ketu fruit market. However, they have said it will go up further in the course of the 30-day fasting period.

    It was also discovered that demand for fruits such as apple, citrus fruits such as oranges and tangerine, water melon, pineapple and banana have considerably increased but sellers say patronage remains high.

    Speaking on the development, Ketu fruit Market Association President, Madam Adebayo Balogun said: “There is increase in the supply of fruits in this market because we are aware that this is a major market for all kinds of fruit in mainland apart from Idi Oro market at Mushin. We have stock of varieties of fruits and we are seeing huge patronage from customers. We are selling more oranges, water melon, pineapple and apple now. We get apple from Cotonou and other fruits from the north.”

    For Adebayo Bello, a fruit shop owner in Agege, Ramadan  has been a boom time. Bello neatly packed fruits in different basket sizes and displayed them as ‘fruit hampers’. According to him, before the Ramadan, his shop usually sells about 10 baskets of fruit per day. Sales have jumped up to about 50 baskets over the past few days because of Ramadan .

    “I have reached my best sales this week. I am busier than I used to be since Ramadan  began. Most times now,  it is hard to find a good time to eat lunch. I think people are more enlightened about the importance of fruits to the body and they have decided to take advantage of the season.”

    Bello’s story is not alone in this holy month of bountiful harvest. His colleague, Aruna Muritala, said prices have gone up thanks to the rising demand. With an average shopper spending N15, 000 or more to buy fruits that will last his household for two weeks, it is really a boom time.

    “The fact that prices of fruits have gone up and their quantity reduced doesn’t make patronage low for us. There are few people however  who have reduced the amount and quantity of fruits. At weekends, the Christians who buy to eat and traders who buy to resell in bits, also buy in smaller quantities. But our Muslim customer’s, particularly the traders, buy more than they did at this time last year.”

    Kafayat Jimoh, a roadside fruit seller who operates at the retails end of the business along Awolowo Way, Ikeja, agrees no less with Muritala. She said:  “By yesterday, a basket of small-sized oranges increased from N300 to N600 per basket. Prices for lime has however remained the same, standing at N150 per paint container. “I believe that fruit prices will return to normal after the Ramadan.  This is the usual change in price that occurs yearly and we are used to it,” Jimoh said.

    At Mile 12 market in Kosofe, demand for fruits as well as other food items has risen from 20 to 25 per cent.  A source also told The Nation Shopping that Ramadan  is also a great boom for some companies specialising in beverages, saying more than half of beverages annual sales happen during the month of Ramadan.

    A farmer who transports fruits from the north, Abubakar Sanni, said last year, he and his team brought 20 trailers of fruits to Ketu fruit market in Lagos. This year, the number of trailers increased to 40 loads because of demand for fruits. “We are receiving many more orders for Ramadan this year than last year; people are making very good profits selling fruits during Ramadan.Dates, apples, orange, pears, grapes and bananas are the most popular fruits consumed  during Ramadan,” he said

    Several other market fruit vendor The Nation Shopping spoke to reported similar increases in business.

    At Mushin, a fruit seller simply known as Iya Mariam who sells fruits in small sizes of N50, said she makes sales better than she made last year. She said it is common with the Ramadan season. “Sales this Ramadan  is better than what it was last year. I am counting my gains. I have more Muslims patronising me to break their fast daily with fruits before their meal. I think it is better to buy fruits in bit because of its preservation and affordability. Here, you can get fruits worth N50.

    “I make profit of N5,000 daily on all the fruits I sell and I finish selling them before night. I buy from Ketu fruit market and Arena market in Oshodi because I am sure of getting cheap bargains at these markets because they stock fruits in large quantity.”

    Iya Mariam  cannot afford to buy in large quantities, so she buys in dozens. According to her, a dozen of water melon costs N3,500, a dozen of pine apple-N1,200, 30 pieces of orange-N1,300, a medium-size bunch of banana-N3,000 and N4,000 respectively.

    Alhaji Yakubu Mohammed, an orange vendor, attributed the increase to the high cost of transporting the items from where they are supplied.

    “The cost of transporting these fruits is high; therefore, we increase our prices. This is coupled with the security challenges in most parts of the north which has made movements difficult. If you can’t be daring, you can’t be in the business, because soldiers harass us on the road when we go up North to buy the fruits. So we end up spending more money and more days on the road, and you know all these will be eventually included in the final cost of the goods,” he said.

    Also speaking, Suraju Shuabu, a water melon seller, said the high cost could be attributed to the cost of supply.

    According to him, their suppliers in the north have increased their prices. But Malam Oseni, who said he was in the market to buy oranges and water melon, attributed the situation to the “simple economics principle of ‘the higher the demand, the higher the price.”

    According to some Muslims, people consume a lot of fruits during Ramadan  due to the change in the digestive system as well as the spiritual blessings of consuming it before breaking the fast.

    So they believe that when sellers see that the demands are higher, they increase the prices too. However, water melon happens to be the most expensive fruit in the market, as the increased demand keeps raising its prices beyond the N500 and N700.

  • Meat sellers groan as sales slump

    Meat sellers groan as sales slump

    Meat sellers at abattoirs across the Lagos metropolis would be counting their losses today. This is because of the general elections scheduled for tomorrow, TONIA ‘DIYAN reports.

    Ideally, Saturday is supposed to be the peak of their weekly sales due to the fact that it is about the only day in the week that most families have the time to stock their deep freezers with meat, for meat sellers across the country, this may not be so.

    This is because of tomorrow’s general elections. Already, most meat sellers and butchers are gnashing their teeth because tomorrow will not fetch them any dime.

    There are fears that there will likely be scarcity of meat as well as a hike in the prices of food items across Lagos markets this weekend. According to Lagos abattoirs, the northerners that  transport cows from the north to Lagos  have registered for the elections  in their various states and as such, will want to stay back to perform their civic responsibilities in their states.

    At the Oko Oba abattoir in Agege area of Lagos,  Chairman, United Butchers Association, Alhaji Umar Adams, lamented that beyond the fear that the presidential elections for tomorrow will obstruct business activities for them at the abattoir, they have been experiencing scarcity of cows since the announcement of the elections for tomorrow and April 11.

    Adams who is popularly called Galadima Yama told The Nation Shopping that Oko Oba abattoir slaughters between 600 and 1000 cows in the week, adding that Saturdays are the days more cows are slaughtered. According to him, between 1000 and 1500 cows are slaughtered. “Tomorrow’s election will affect our business, we slaughter more cows today and tomorrow, but we won’t be able to do so tomorrow. This means no work and no income,” he said

    To meet up with the demands of the crowd who would be buying meat today, meat sellers  in Lagos have said they will slaughter more cows than they have ever done on any Friday before. This is because there would not be cow slaughtering tomorrow evening after the elections. The abattoirs will be empty tomorrow as meat sellers would also be at the polling booths to carry out their civic responsibilities.

    One of the workers in the abbatoir, Kamurudeen Ayodele said: “The election is a day and it is most important to all Nigerians. Therefore, we will go out and vote tomorrow. Our business will wait,” he said.

    Adams said these abattoirs are equipped with cold rooms to preserve unsold meat. This takes care of the fear that unsold meat would get bad before the following day. The case will not be different by tomorrow when these abattoirs will be closed, Unsold meat today will be preserved and sold on Sunday.

    Retailers who won’t be able to buy fresh meat to resell tomorrow when sale of this staple food item will highly be driven, will have to wait till Monday to buy fresh meat from the abattoirs.  Findings have it that cow slaughtering business is a profitable one depending on the type and size of the cow.

    A member of Lagos State Butchers Association, Itire Branch, Mr Ogun Omomeji  said 150 cows are slaughtered on Saturdays alone, adding that during the week, about 100 are done. But  tomorrow’s case will be different as the abattoir will be shut and every butcher will be at their various polling booths to cast their votes.

    He said: “Since election date was announced, we began to reduce the quantity of cows we buy on a daily basis to avoid waste of meat at any point in time. Some of us slaughter three cows daily depending on how financially buoyant we are and we make over N500, 000 particularly on Saturdays.

    “Election will affect the price of meat today and the quantity we sell normally for N2000 will cost N3000 and more.“

    He added also that the price of meat has been affected because of the fall in the value of the naira to the dollar.

    Alhaji Idowu Iwa Akinbola blames the increment in the prices of meat and other stapple items on the devaluation of naira. He said, he nolonger makes profit on the sale of  cows like he used to do, lamenting that he loses between N5000 and N10, 000 daily.

    Chairman, Lagos States Butchers Association, Itire Branch, Alhaji Sulaimon Yusuf, however, said shoppers have been patronising the abbatoir despite the distractions the country is facing.

    He said cow has been very expensive with the small size costing as much as between N100,000 and  N160, 000, a medium size cow costs N250,000. He  also lamented that tomorrow’s election has affected the prices of cows because those who bring them into Lagos from Niger Republic, Chad and other neighbouring countries are avoiding coming to Lagos now because of insecurity.

    He advise that it is better for the cow transporters to stay back at their places as election period is a time to protect onesself.

  • Second-hand clothes: Staple of nation’s capital

    Second-hand clothes: Staple of nation’s capital

    Life in the Federal Capital City (FCT) may not come cheap. Accommodation there poses a constant challenge, as do many consumables. But residents sure know how to survive. The used clothing market offers a lifeline.

    There they find shirts that fit, shoes that meet their tastes, even bras and underpants they can flaunt anywhere. And they also, most importantly, fit their pockets.

    Surely, the items were used and discarded elsewhere but in Nigeria and even its capital city, they are very popular.

    Karmo Market located on the outskirts of Life Camp in the federal capital may lack the trappings of a modern market but it is the centre of a thriving trade for second-hand clothes.

    Buyers are simply crazy over them. Most of them defy the bad state of the road to patronise the market which is on the rise.

    The market, which operates on Tuesdays and Fridays, has a unique quality that attracts buyers from every nook and cranny of the city. Wares are displayed based on the amount of space allocated to individual trader.

    For those who cannot afford the prices offered in boutiques and other stores around the city, Karmo Market provides an easy alternative, as it boasts materials ranging from shirts, trousers, footwear to boxers, underpants and brassieres, among others.

    Compared to Onitsha Market in Anambra State, Katangowa Market in Lagos, Karmo Market has become the toast of Abuja residents by virtue of its used clothes.

    One attractive feature of the market is that the prices of goods sold there are not just affordable to many residents of Abuja; they are also about the cheapest one can find in the city.

    For example, the prices for a pair of female pants, for adults and children, are between N100 and N120.

    Also, second-hand shirts are available for as low as between N100 and N 1,200, depending on the quality of the shirt. Some shoppers see these prices as fair when compared to what is obtainable in the boutiques.

    Shoppers of used clothes, however, seem to be making their purchases based on style, rather than sustainability or durability.

    Are used clothes for the poor alone?

    Mr. Okafor, a trader in used clothes, said: “It isn’t just the poor who shop here. Workers also come to the market looking for unique outfits. Some big girls and boys also come here to buy. Even boutique owners come here too.

    “Many relatively poor or absolutely poor people prefer second hand western clothing materials because they are often of better quality and have associations with the western cultural imperative. They also match what they see on TV,” Benjamin, a staff of one of the leading banks in the country said.

    Although there are claims by experts that used clothes come with diseases, some buyers differ on this assertion.

    Dismissing the claim, an undergraduate who identified himself as Endurance told our correspondent that “as long as they are properly washed, there is nothing to fear about used clothes. Besides, what assurances do people have that the so-called new clothes they buy from the shops or boutiques don’t come from these markets?

    “I know of a boutique owner who lines his shop with used clothes. The only difference is the prices.”

    Despite government’s ban on sale of second-hand clothes in the country, it is estimated that 80 per cent of Nigerians still patronise sellers of used clothes.

    The ban, ostensibly designed to protect local textile producers, is one of such imposed by the government to protect the country from being flooded with donated clothes from the western world.

    But the garments are moved into Nigeria illegally from neighbouring countries like Benin Republic and Togo.

    However, as long as consumers have these aspirations, and traders want to turn a profit, it seems unlikely that sale of used clothes in Nigeria will stop anytime soon, regardless of government’s policy.