•Market
Marketers in Kuje Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory have blamed the removal of fuel subsidy as the cause of low patronage and high cost of food products.
A visit to the main Kuje market, two marketers interviewed by our correspondent blamed the removal of fuel subsidy as the major cause of low patronage and high cost of food items, reports Vanguard.
A marketer, who identified herself as Mummy Ade and sells rice, beans, and major cooking items, said, “I’m just a year old in this market. My fellow marketers and I have really been complaining that people are not really buying much because of the prices now.
“Everything you see now in my shop has an added price; I am not selling them at the same price I was selling earlier this year and even last month. This is due to the increase in the price of fuel. These things we buy are transported from one place to another, so we do not expect that the price will not reflect on the food items we are buying as well.
“It is really affecting us negatively. Assuming customers were buying these things at a cheaper rate, people would have been buying these things more. The only thing I will beg of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is to bring down the price of fuel.
“If there is no increase in fuel price, everything won’t go up like this because I believe that fuel for Nigeria is like water, and without it we cannot survive.”
Another marketer, Jude Eze, also blamed the high cost of food items on the removal of fuel subsidy and appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to invite experts to deal with the situation.
He said, “Last year was better than this year, things were cheaper last year because there was no subsidy removal. But this year, take for example, my 25-litre Kings vegetable oil, as of last month November, I bought it at the rate of N35,000 and I was selling it at N36,000. But as of now, it is currently N38,500, which then means I will sell it now at N39,000/N40,000.
“As of last year, 50kg of rice was going for N30,000; now it’s N52,000. And as you can see it’s packed here all over, nobody is buying. Things are costly, we are not making profit. As a result of this people are leaving the country because the pressure and harsh economic conditions of Nigeria are now unbearable.
“If I were to directly talk to Tinubu, firstly I would thank him, because my bible tells me to give honor to whom honour is due. Secondly, the first thing I will ask him is does he know that people are dying outside and suffering? I will tell him to care for the poor masses, and if by any means he should settle this issue and crash the price of food items.
“Thirdly, this issue of fuel subsidy removal is the major cause behind all these. We are begging Tinubu to review this decision. If at all they do not want to reverse the decision and still remove fuel subsidy, there are experts they can bring into the situation to ameliorate the plight of the masses.
“But one thing that is killing us in this nation is tribalism. There are people who are capable of the job, but because he/she is not your tribal man or he/she did not support your campaign, an inferior person is brought in, and the plight of the masses is worsened.
“So I will beg Tinubu to help the lower class. If it is possible for him, let him remove the fuel subsidy but if it is not possible let him find experts that will help us handle the situation at hand, because it is hunger that brings fight. Before we know there will be different attacks in many states, and the nation might burn up in flames.
“But before it gets to this situation, let him take precautionary measures before it gets to a level where we cannot bring ourselves together again”.
