Christmas: Rising Prices Of Rice And  Other Commodities 

Christmas: Rising Prices Of Rice And  Other Commodities 

The high price of rice is a major concern for many Nigerians, who rely on it as a staple food. It is particularly concerning for low-income households, who may struggle to afford rice at all during the holiday season.

A market survey was done by the whistler, revealed that the price of rice has increased significantly in recent months. In Abuja, a 50kg bag of Nigerian rice now sells for N49,000, up from N34,000 three months ago. Foreign rice is even more expensive, selling for N55,000, up from N37,000 in July.

As Christmas approaches, Nigerians are facing the prospect of paying N60,000 or more for a 50kg bag of rice. This is due to several factors, including the removal of fuel subsidies, banditry, flooding, and unstable foreign exchange.

Rice dealers say that the high cost of transportation, banditry, ban on foreign rice, and flooding are all contributing to the rising price of the commodity. They also say that demand for rice is expected to increase in the lead-up to Christmas, which could further push up prices.

This means that the prices of most goods and services in Nigeria have increased significantly in recent months.

At the Wuse market, another rice dealer who identified himself as Umar Abubakar lamented the high cost of transportation, among others, as partly responsible for the high prices of rice in the country.

Now that rice is like gold, some people no longer buy a bag of rice as they used to, what they do is to buy in Mudu.

The country is hard, and even we the rice sellers find it hard to get rice, everything is now costly. Transportation has tripled, bandits won’t let farmers go to farm, borders are closed and we don’t produce enough.

“That’s why rice, beans, and other things keep going up, with 50kg of foreign rice going for N55,000 and our local Rice N49,000, how many people can afford it except for the rich?” Umar said.