A cross section of FCT residents on Friday expressed divergent views on why they patronise roadside food vendors popularly known as “mama put’’.
The residents, in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said they patronise mama put food outlets because they are affordable and have unique tastes.
Mr Amos Ebube, a mechanic, said the reason why he patronise roadside food vendors most time was because of the varieties and the unique tastes of the food.
According to him, ‘”variety is the spice of life and the best place for me to get my food is at mama put with quality food.
“With the recent hardship in the country, it is much cheaper to buy food from mama put, with little money, you will get satisfied in a day.”
Mrs Chioma Jude, a nurse, who described herself as a regular customer at the one of the outlets said, “there is a lot of difference between mama put and some food outlets in terms of purchasing power.
”It is much cheaper and more delicious compared to restaurant.”
Jude added that mama put food tastes so delicious due the method and technique some of them applied in preparing the meal, coupled with the ingredients they used as well.
“Some Nigerians cannot afford going to restaurants because the meals there are expensive, in some restaurants.
“ Food in some fast food joints costs much while in mama put, you can still get a plate of food for between N300 to N400,” she said.
Mr Vincent Onyibe, a businessman, said food vendors were a source of help to bachelors, especially the ones that can’t cook.
According to him, ”why stress yourself to cook when mama put is at your beck and call?
“Most men prefer to patronise mama put rather than pass through the stress of cooking.
“One good thing about mama put is that they never fail to deliver by giving you what you asked for and what you don’t ask for.
“Mama put also rescue most men that cannot eat the food their wives cook at home.
“Mama puts are playing vital role in rescuing the stomach from hunger and providing income for many,” he said.
Meanwhile, some food vendors that spoke with NAN decried the hike in the prices of food stuffs, adding that the development was seriously affecting patronage.
Mrs Bosede Oluwafemi, a food vendor, told NAN that ‘ mama put’ business used to be lucrative years back, compared to the recent times due to high cost of food items.
Oluwafemi said high cost of cooking ingredients in the market was becoming worrisome, ”because it had taken a negative toll on the business of mama.
“What I spent in buying food items had doubled and as a result my consumers are no longer enjoying the quantity of food I used to dish for them.
“In this our axis, previously, a plate of rice with meat was N300 but now it is N400 , while a plate of rice with fish was N400, but now it is N500.
”The quantity expected by customers is not encouraging and had really affected patronage.”
Another food vendor, Mrs Agnes Oni, popularly called ‘mama Arha’ said that many customers understood the plight of the food vendors and the situation of things in the country, as regard to high cost of food items.
“The truth is that things are very expensive, food vendors are not enjoying the increase in the prices of goods, not even our customers.
” They called me ‘Mama Arha’ because of the way I used to dish food for my customer when food stuffs were much affordable.
”But now the name ‘mama Arha’ is not working because of high cost of food items.
“A lot of Nigerians are finding it difficult to buy things or eat to their satisfaction, unlike some years back.
” In this area, it is a bit cheaper when it comes to the prices of food but not the same in other places,” she noted.(NAN)
