Naira redesign: Price of food items crashes in Kebbi

As the lingering scarcity of naira notes continue to bite harder, traders in Kebbi State have been forced to crash the prices of foodstuffs and other perishable items, to avoid running at a loss.

Investigations by The Guardian revealed that the traders crashed the prices to as low as 30 per cent, to avoid total loss, due to unavailability of naira notes.

During a visit to Bayankara perishable market and Makera central market at the weekend, it was discovered that a basket of tomato previously sold for N15, 000 and above, now goes for N3, 000. In Makera market, where a module of maize sold for N500 and above, the same size now sells for N200.

A Federal Government agency official in the state, Mr. Maruf Ismail, who visited the market, applauded the Federal Government’s policy on the naira design, saying if the policy can bring down the prices of food items, it should be welcomed. 

“I came into the market today and I was very surprised to see the prices of food items have gone down. The price of beans has reduced to N300 from N1000, even the price of maize and other essential food items are now cheaper compared to days ago,” he said.

Alhaji Hassan Birnin Kebbi, who also visited the market, commended the naira redesign policy for forcing traders to bring down the prices of goods.

“I’m surprised to see how prices of food items have gone down. The traders need cash to exchange their goods, but they couldn’t get customers who will buy because the naira is scarce. This has forced down price of items,” he said.

One of the traders, Alhaji Muhammadu Gwadangwaji, who lamented the poor sales recorded so far, said they are forced to crash the price, so as not to run at a total loss and also to get money to restock. 

“We also want the prices to go down, but the only thing remaining now is the availability of the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) at the fuel stations. We want the Federal Government to make fuel available, as this will also help our businesses,” he said.