Edith CHUKU
As price of food items in the market continue to skyrocket, traders in Rumuowha gate market in Eneka clan, Culvert market in Rumunduru and Eliozu market, all in the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, are begging the state government for business grants.
They lamented that the incessant price hike has made it difficult for buyers to afford food stuff and sellers to restock their goods.
When TNN visited the markets, the traders and buyers expressed their displeasure, noting that the hardship in the country was hitting hard on them even as they described the Nigeria economy as extremely harsh.
They lamented that the cost of living has become very difficult with most parents struggling to afford two manageable square meals for their children in a day.
The respondents who spoke with our correspondent expressed concern that the hardship in Nigeria could led to more havoc in homes, society and nations at large.
The market women believe that most ladies who went into prostitution, hookups and young men who are into armed robbery, internet fraud known as yahoo, yahoo, were driven into it by the lack of job opportunities and inability to afford one’s basic needs.
At the Eliozu market, one Mrs. Nnenna Osuobri said, “my sister eh no easy, we are suffering in this Nigeria I swear, suffer dey, very serious one.
“Who dey sell dey cry, who dey buy too dey cry. Everything is very expensive, maggi ooo, salt, pepper, not to talk of garri, oil, rice, beans.
“Ordinary pure water sef is costly. Who use meat cook, no go buy fish. You buy meat N1,000 or this ice fish stock fish N500, food don done. Poor people are really suffering in this Nigeria I tell you. Just tell me one thing that is cheap that anybody can buy. Even N50 groundnut to use drink garri no dey again. It’s terrible.”
Osuobri suggested that, “the solution is government, Rivers State government should give us money, we need finance, grant to support our business.
“Load wey I collect since, I never fit meet up to pay, please government should help us.”
A butcher in same Eliozu market, Mr. Ibrahim Hassan revealed that, “everything is the problem in Nigeria. Road is bad to bring things, even cow, na em make it’s expensive. Road no good, sometimes you go run round oooo, just to bring onion, tomatoes, pepper to the South and East.
“Again too, petrol expensive, transportation eh dey high, so we add all this money. Onion five naira that time, now na N200.”
When asked who should be blamed for the hardship in the country, Hassan said “na government na em make people dey suffer.”
At Culvert market, Mrs Oluchi Ovunwo who came to get food items said, “my dear it’s outrageous the way things are so expensive, God forbid. Now even the rich also cry.
“The worst part is that some of the things we eat are not good. Some garri is like poison, you can’t even drink it. I have stopped my children from drinking garri, it’s very dangerous. You buy rice, stone, stone everywhere.
“Five to eight sticks of small vegetable N200. Ordinary maggi now is how much. Fish now is N5,000, N3,000 and when you cook with it, you will be looking for it inside the soup as if it disappeared. It’s terrible.”
Mr. Lazarus Junior, ” my own na make them pursue Tinubu from that seat wey em dey, na em make we dey suffer like this.”
Over at Eneka gate market, Mrs. Favour Wachukwu told our correspondent that government grants would go a long way to soften the sufferings of the masses.
