Residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, are beginning to experience a slight reduction in the prices of staple food items, especially rice, across several markets.
Naijaonpoint reports that findings across various markets reveal that while grain prices, particularly rice, have dropped when compared to early-year figures, the cost of cooking essentials such as oil, tomatoes, fish, and meat remains significantly high.
However, many believe the marginal decline is not enough to ease the financial strain currently faced by most households.
At Kubwa Market, a 50kg bag of rice, which sold for between ₦88,000 and ₦90,000 in January, now goes for as low as ₦75,000, depending on the brand.
Similarly, a 25kg bag previously priced at around ₦43,000 now sells for ₦37,500 and below.
According to a Daily Sun report, in Nyanya Market, another satellite town, prices are even more favourable. A 50kg bag of rice that once sold for ₦90,000 to ₦93,000 is now available for between ₦70,000 and ₦72,000, also dependent on the brand.
Meanwhile, in Wuse Market and other city-centre locations, rice prices remain relatively higher. A 50kg bag currently goes for ₦78,000 to ₦80,000, down from ₦92,000 in January, while the 25kg version is pegged between ₦39,000 and ₦40,000.
Ingredients Still Beyond Reach
Despite the drop in grain prices, residents say the cost of cooking ingredients is still unbearably high.
“Though the reduction is not much, it is a relief. People are suffering,” said Oluchi Benson, a civil servant in Jabi.
“I go all the way to Mandala to buy foodstuffs because their prices and measurements are better.”
Another resident, Christy Okoye, who lives in Kubwa, said grains may be cheaper, but other items have become luxuries.
“Tomatoes, oil, fish, these are the real issues. Even iced fish, once seen as the ‘protein of the poor’, is now a luxury. It’s cheaper to go for beef than fish. A kilo of beef is over ₦7,000 in some areas, and you won’t find any fish below ₦1,500,” Daily Sun quoted Okoye as saying.
In Utako Market, a trader known as Mama B acknowledged that while rice prices have reduced, basic food diversity is now a struggle for families.
“Are we going to eat rice alone? What about protein, oil, or snacks for our children? Most families have forgotten things like noodles and biscuits. I now make pancakes and zobo (hibiscus drink) for my children because that’s what I can afford,” she said.
A mother of four, Maria Ayo, who resides in Dutse Alhaji, shared her coping strategy. She said, “I stopped buying foodstuffs in small quantities. I now use the contribution method, and it’s helped my family manage better. But eggs, meat, yams, fish, they’re still too expensive. Government needs to step in to improve the livelihood of the average Nigerian.”
Traders Link Slower Sales to Rice Contributions
In Wuse Market, a trader, Mallam Aliyu, complained that demand for rice has dropped since the Christmas season, attributing it to the widespread practice of rice contribution groups, where families pool funds to buy bulk quantities at the end of the year.
Aliyu said, “Many families are still eating from what they got during last year’s contribution. That’s why sales have gone down.”
While the gradual drop in rice prices offers a glimmer of hope, Abuja residents insist that the high cost of cooking essentials and protein sources continues to frustrate daily survival.
Naijaonpoint reports that the overall consensus remains: until there’s a broader reduction in the prices of all essential food items, the majority of families will still struggle to feed themselves adequately, regardless of what the statistics say.