BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
As Nigerians celebrate Easter on Sunday, traders across markets in Osun State have continued to lament that there are no signs of festivity as patronage is very low.
A visit to some markets in Osogbo on Friday revealed that traders and consumers are not happy with the current economic situation of the country, as consumers could barely afford to buy goods because of the hike in prices.
Also, the markets were not in a festive mood as there was no hustling or bustling that usually characterise the season.
Some respondents told The Point that “dryness” at markets and in the state at large was contributed by the ongoing Ramadan.
Others attribute the apparent bleak mood to cash crunch and economic woes battling the country.
A visit to some major markets in Oja-Oba, Alekunwodo, Igbona, Oluode and Old Garage showed skyrocketing prices of foodstuff have not rescinded.
Prices of rice, beans, livestock, groundnut oil, tomatoes and pepper are still on the high side according to consumers and traders.
Speaking, a rice trader in Alekuwodo Market,. Mrs. Muibat Adeola said a bag of rice is sold between N36,000 and 37,000.
Lamenting low patronage, she said, “There is nothing to show that people want to celebrate this Easter. Unlike few years back, by this time, our market would have been filled up with customers, but, as you can see, it’s dry. We have goods to sell but people are not patronising us as we expect. I feel this naira scarcity also contributed to it and the poor economy. I sell a bag of rice for N36,000, but if you go to others, they sell either N36,500 or N37,000.”
A resident of the state, Michael Ifagbile, said, “Everyone knows that there is no money in Nigeria like before, so, we are managing. For instance, I had planned to buy chicken for my family for this Easter but when I got to the market, the price is very high. You hear the sellers calling a fowl N10,000 for you. Where do they expect me to get such an amount of money? So, we will celebrate the Easter but on a low key. At least, I can afford fish.”
Meanwhile, checks by our correspondent revealed that motor parks in Osogbo were not different as people were not traveling as expected for the Easter celebration.
At a motor park at Aregbe area, the buses loading for Lagos and Ibadan got scanty passengers as drivers lamented low patronage.
“Maybe because today is still Friday, we have not been seeing passengers as we expected. We hope that Saturday will be better. We didn’t increase the transport fares,” a commercial bus driver who simply identified himself as Bade, said.
