By Chidera Prisca Nwokeukwu
As at June 29, 2024, the price of garri, a common food especially in Eastern part of Nigeria, has skyrocketed, making it unaffordable for average Nigerians.
Garri, which years ago, was seen as an option for the indigent, has now gone beyond the reach of the poor. This alarming trend is causing significant concern among residents of Awka, Anambra State.
One of the residents, Martha Igwebuike, who just returned from market as at the time of the interview, shared her surprise at the market. “I was shocked when I spent ₦8,000 on just two painters of garri this morning. The last time I bought garri, it was ₦2,400 for two painters.
“I have been eating almost a bag of garri produced by my mother in the village for almost eight months now with my family. I didn’t understand what people were saying until I went to the market to buy common garri”.
Stella Egooyibo shared her distress, “Garri, which used to be the commonest food and a quick means of survival, is now food for the rich. The price of a painter of garri has doubled in just a few months.
“I don’t know how we, the average Nigerians, will survive if this continues. It is already becoming unbearable. I wish the government would do something urgently to alleviate our sufferings.
Another resident, Ebele Dike echoed deep feelings of dissatisfaction. “I can’t afford to waste even a handful of garri now because it is now priced like gold. The cost of a cup of garri has tripled, yet our incomes are not increasing. The government needs to address this as the price of food skyrockets in this country. I pray we don’t get to a time hunger will begin to kill people. Are we even sure this is not already happening,” he queried rhetorically.
For Ifeanyi Chukwu, any family that still maintains its previous consumption level must be very rich in the Nigeria of today. “Garri is no longer food for the poor. A painter that used to cost ₦1,200 now sells for ₦3,500 to ₦4,000 for white garri. How many poor Nigerian households can afford that? No one knows what the prices will be tomorrow. We are in God’s hands in this country.”
Francis Anaenechukwu has closely followed the historical trend in the prices of garri in the state. “There was a time it was sold for ₦450 a painter. It rose to ₦1,200 and then to ₦2,000. It is now ₦4,000. I am becoming hopeless in this country if garri, which is locally produced, continues to increase in price with no hope of a decrease”.
Apart from garri, the prices of foodstuffs keep going up every day. I fear for the average Nigerian because it is not easy being a Nigerian currently.
Some of the respondents strongly advised Nigerians to go back to farm as the only means of survival. “I am going back to farming immediately because I don’t think this price is coming down soon or ever,” Igwebuike said supported by Anaenechukwu.
“The only solution is for people to take agriculture seriously. We can’t keep buying everything we eat and expect things to come down.”
They also appealed to the Government to strive towards addressing the precarious economic situation in the country to give the suffering citizens a sigh of relief.
