As it was during the Yuletide when residents contended with exorbitant prices of goods, so it is in the New Year as parents struggle to return their children to school. SUNNY NWANKWO reports
Prices of goods are on the high side,” declared Mrs Ihuoma Chike, sadly. “The traders are taking advantage of the rush, especially on educational materials, to sell at exorbitant prices. Prices of such things as toiletries have been increased by 50 per cent from what they were last year.”
The Yuletide was largely forgettable, but the New Year has offered little cheer so far in Aba, Abia State’s commercial nerve, as Mrs Chike observed.
Between December 25 and 26, most markets and shopping centres lacked the customary crowds. Why? Prices of goods were prohibitive, and the pangs of the economic recession were still fresh. So, many would-be shoppers stayed away. The famous Ariaria Market and Ahia Ohuru or New Market, usually patronised by traders from far and near at this time of year, were unrecognisably scanty.
At Good Morning Market, a bag of pepper which usually sold for about N4,000 before December 25 was sold for between N1,800 to N2,200.
While some loading bays at the Aba Central Motor Park charged the usual fares, others seized the opportunity of the Christmas rush to jack up their fares.
Chairman, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Ututu-Aro-Ihechiowa loading bay, Mr. Marcus Iroamachi also lamented low patronage, saying that they had no need to increase fares because of the recession and the fact that there was no increase in the pump price of petrol. Yet, fewer people travelled.
Beauticians also explained why they charged N1,500 for pedicure instead of N1,000, and N400 for manicure instead of N300, saying that the little increase was because of the cost of materials. Like others, they equally bemoaned poor patronage.
Even the churches, according to our correspondent, recorded low patronage, as many worshippers retreated to prayer camps, hoping for a better year from on high.
Perhaps only the security community buzzed, as various agencies mobilised to secure residents and keep robbers, kidnappers and fraudsters at bay.
Health workers of the Abia State Teaching Hospital, Aba had a bleak season too, as they protested the non-payment of their over eight months’ salary and pension arrears of about 18 months.
Some said they hoped 2017 would be better.
Well, January of the new year is in its second half and there is pretty little to lift the spirits. Business and commercial activities have gradually started picking up in the state’s commercial hub after the celebrations but residents are still grappling with exorbitant prices. Our reporter who visited various markets in the city reports that most shoppers who came to textbooks, exercise books and other educational materials ahead of the resumption of schools in the state found the prices prohibitive.
Mrs. Chike, who complained about soaring prices, said, “We don’t have any other choice but to buy [the school materials] because our kids and wards will definitely go back to school and these are some of the basic and essential things that our children will need when they go back to school especially the ones living in the dormitories.”
Reacting to the allegation by parents, some of the traders said that the sharp increase in the price of goods weas not their making.
“Many companies are yet to supply new stock to us and people who stored the products in their respective warehouses are selling their own at exorbitant prices,” said one of them. “So, there is no way we are going to sell below what we bought them. Some of us have placed orders for goods, but we were asked to wait. The companies where I buy are still taking stock and are yet to conclude whether to review their price or not. So, until they are through with what they are doing and start supplying us, the market price of goods will be determined by what we buy from the people that have the old stock in their warehouses,” Ifechi said.
Respondents at some banks visited told our reporter said they were to complete payment for their children or ward’s school fees among other payments as demanded by their schools. Others stated that they were at the bank to carry out several transactions, though they lamented the queue that was building up at the banking hall and the slow pace of service delivery by the bank officials.
Some of the bank staff who spoke to our reporter said that they were well prepared to handle the crowd in the banking halls because it has been the situation over the years.
A visit to Aba North and South Local Government Area Councils showed that the workers reported to work and in high spirits to perform their duties diligently after enjoying what they described as “a long holiday that doesn’t come quiet often.”
Some of the children that accompanied their parents to the market said that they were in high spirits to go back to school after a long holiday, adding that they couldn’t wait to see their teachers and friends who they said that they have missed so much.
The only concern is that their parents are not quite as excited. Blame the slump in the economy and the prohibitive cost of goods.
