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No jara today, come tomorrow!

By Eseoghene Laba
10 July 2016   |   4:30 am
The Hausa call it ‘Jara’. The Yoruba call it ‘Eni’. For the Igbo, it is ‘Mmezi’. No matter what anyone names it, there is a consensus: all buyers love it.
Market scene

Market scene

The Hausa call it ‘Jara’. The Yoruba call it ‘Eni’. For the Igbo, it is ‘Mmezi’. No matter what anyone names it, there is a consensus: all buyers love it. As old, perhaps, as the dawn of local business transaction, the practice, however, is passing through redefinition, and may well disappear, no thanks to a pinching economy.

The scenario is familiar. “Madam, how much is a measure of rice?” a prospective buyer asks. “It costs N20.00,” the trader replies, and to which the buyer says, ‘Give me five measures.” But having received the purchased item, a question follows, “Madam, won’t you put extra for me?” the buyer asks. The trader, again, dips the cup into the mound of grains, scoops a little, and pours it into the buyer’s bag. And the transaction is done.

But while the buyers depart with the satisfaction of having struck a favourable deal, it appears many sellers are beginning to regret the experience, and some are even devising ways to beat their customers to the game.

The economy has indeed been unfriendly. With petrol now selling for N150 per litre as against N96, and almost non-existent electricity supply in many parts of the country, a spike in the cost of goods and services is rippling across nooks and crannies.

To make ends meet, therefore, traders must wise up without losing their customers or going under. It is often a dicey situation for the seller – give in and win the heart of a buyer, refuse and risk losing him or her to a competitor.

“The price of everything is high, yet we are expected to give extras. If you do not, most customers will stop doing business with you. So, I still give, but I have reduced the quantity a lot and have limited it only to regular buyers. This was particularly after I ran into a loss,” said Priscilla, who sells tomatoes at Alaba Suru market.

According to her, there are times the goods she buys come very expensive and she is forced to devise a strategy: tie the tomatoes and pepper in transparent nylon bags and display them on her table, leaving no extras anywhere. And when a buyer asks for Mmezi, he is promptly informed that there is none, but with a promise that he or she could be lucky the next time.

Mrs. Emotimi Theresa, a vegetable seller, has stopped giving extras to customers. She has also placed a ‘ban’ on demand by buyers for additional nylon bags to carry purchased items.

“Things are very hard; I don’t give Jara anymore. Even when I do, it goes to my most regular customers who buy in large quantities and keep insisting for it. But even this is rare. Giving extra nylon bags to buyers is also hard; we buy these bags from the little profits we manage to make. We, therefore, cannot give them away indiscriminately.

“Since the administration of President Buhari came on board, things have been very hard. We have to manage the situation carefully so that we remain in business. Often, some buyers threaten to go elsewhere, if we do not give them Jara. We leave them alone, to try other places. Eventually, they realise that the constraint is the same everywhere, except of course if the seller is humanitarian and feels like sharing his goods to the public,” said Theresa.

But not all traders have completely shunned the idea; some, like Mr. Uzo, who sells melons also at Alaba Suru market, have evolved clever ways to make room for the demand, retain their customers, and still stay afloat.

“If I buy a bag of melon for a particular amount, I calculate how many cups are in it and how much I can sell them, so that I can have room for Jara, without incurring a loss, even if I give the buyer a handful or two handfuls.

“Given the kind of item I sell, buyers are sure to ask for extra, unlike they would for things like plantain or vegetables. These buyers are ready to go elsewhere, if they are not well treated. So, it is up to us to devise a method that makes both of us happy, and nobody feels shortchanged. So far, this is what I have been doing, and I have been selling fine,” said Uzo.

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