Kwara residents lament biting cost of living

Residents of Kwara State widely regarded as a civil servant state are lamenting the rising cost of living in the country.  The sudden increase in the price of foodstuffs has caused untold hardship to many people. The price of food items is very high that only a few people could cope with the inflation. Civil […]

Residents of Kwara State widely regarded as a civil servant state are lamenting the rising cost of living in the country. 

The sudden increase in the price of foodstuffs has caused untold hardship to many people. The price of food items is very high that only a few people could cope with the inflation. Civil servants who work with the federal, state or local government are mostly affected. 

Speaking on the issue, a civil servant, Mrs. Olaniyi Lydia, who works with the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, expressed her dissatisfaction over the sudden increase in the price of foodstuffs. 

According to her, the money which is used to purchase 10 goods is what is now used to buy only one product. 

Lydia said, “If one is given N200 before, one will prepare a good soup for the family but taking N10, 000 to the market now, you will think you have lost some money on the way.  

 “We are now in a situation where parents don’t care for their children’s satisfaction again not to talk about caring for other relatives. We are no longer satisfied, all that we do now as parents is to make sure that children get little materials and food needed to survive. We hardly eat balanced diets. 

“Before, we used to eat more than three times a day, but now, we eat once a day. We do delay the meal till afternoon time, once we eat for that day, that’s the end till the next day. That’s how we have been managing to survive.  

“Everything is becoming worse especially in this Nigeria where we have many people suffering from extreme hunger. And this has resulted to depression, many people have killed themselves because they have lost hope,’’  she said. 

Aleji Deborah Opeyemi, who sells food items at Ojatuntun market in Ilorin, the state capital narrated how the increase in the price of commodities has really affected sales. 

“We sell foodstuffs like semovita, noodles, pasta among others. The increase in price is really affecting us. For instance, a 10kg bag of semovita, which was sold for N1600, is now N4800 to N5000.  

“Even N20, 000 can’t get a bag of rice again. We sell more goods before compared to now. Before we can sell a truck of Semovita for a week but now, even a month, the goods will still be in the store and this is really affecting the manufacturing industry in the country,” Opeyemi submitted.  

A food vendor, who seeks anonymity, lamented that the hike in the price of foodstuffs has affected him.   

He said, “The high price is really affecting me. For instance, I filled my 12kg gas for N4,000 but now it has gone to N8,000 and still rising. 

“Same with the price of vegetable oil of 25 litres, which was formally N6,000 but now N28,000. A bottle of vegetable oil now is N950 as 5 litres is sold N4500, all these things are really affecting us.’’