By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
Despite the widely publicised position of
the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that
Nigeria’s annual inflation rate dropped to 24.48 per cent in January from 34.80 per cent in December 2024 after rebasing, food prices are still very high in the markets across the cities in Nigeria.
The NBS had last month said that the food index for January 2025 was 110.03, resulting in a food inflation rate of 26.08 per cent year-on-year.
The Statistician General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of the (NBS), Adeyemi Adeniran, disclosed this in Abuja at the launch of the report of the rebasing of Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Tuesday, February 18, 2025.
The NBS said the rebased Consumer Price Index (CPI) reflects an updated price reference period (base year) of 2024 and a weight reference period of 2023.
“The All-Items Index which is used to measure headline inflation for January 2025 was 110.7, resulting in a headline inflation rate of 24.48 per cent on a year-on-year basis,” he said.
But in a survey of some markets in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja and other cities, Prompt News found out that the average prices of some key staples have not reduced significantly from what it was prior to the February 2025 announcement by NBS.
Also, the burden of high cost of food items on cash-strapped Nigerians who have been dealing with accelerating inflation since the 2020 pandemic seems not to be easing.
For example, basic foodstuffs such as rice, beans, yam tubers, flours, plantains, and potatoes have not experienced significant price reductions due to a combination of factors, including high transportation costs, supply chain disruptions and poor agricultural yields.
Specifically, the high cost of food commodities is mostly caused by insecurity, high cost of transportation of products, climate change, and the instability of the exchange rate of naira.
In fact, food commodities became even more expensive in Nigeria in the mid-2023 as Nigeria’s removal of the fuel subsidy has had a ripple effect on the cost of transportation, a significant factor in food distribution.
With fuel prices tripling since mid-2023, farmers and traders face higher costs transporting farm produce from rural areas to urban centres across Nigeria and the trend has not changed despite the marginal drop in the pump prices of petrol in Nigeria.
Expectations that Nigeria’s cost-of-living crisis will ease for the first time since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office in May 29, 2023, offering an unexpected respite for households when the Dangote Refinery came on stream last year, have since evaporated like the early morning dews.
This is because petroleum products marketers have refused to review the pump prices down along the adjustments made by Dangote Refinery management.
For this reason, a survey of major markets in Abuja like Wuse and Garki main markets; Kabusa village market, Dei Dei market; Orange market, and nearby markets in the city found that the average prices of some key staples are still high.
For example, a mudu of brown beans is N 3,700 while white beans are sold for N3,500; mudu of yellow garri is N1, 700 and white garri is sold for N1,500. A mudu of granulated sugar is N3,000 while a 10kg bag of semovita flour is sold for N18,000 (it was sold for N15,000 before last Christmas and New year).
Also, surveyed markets in Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital, like Ojuwoye market showed that the average price of a 50 kg bag of foreign parboiled rice sells for N100,000 while a 50kg of local parboiled rice sells for an average of N95,000 in the city depending on the brand and size of the grain.
The prices of provisions, household pastas, and
perishable products like fresh tomatoes have not dropped in Abuja, Lagos, and other cities, contrary to what the government agencies are saying about the cost of staples declining in the market.
It thus appears that these government agencies are not in touch with the present economic realities millions of poor Nigerians are putting up with in 2025.
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