As Christmas celebration draws nearer, prices of some food items have crashed while others were stable in the last one month in Kaduna metropolis.
A check by the News Agency of Nigeria at Central Market Kaduna on Wednesday revealed that the prices of rice, beans, millet, maize, wheat, tomatoes, and pepper have decreased.
A 100kg of local rice which sells for between N27,000 and N28,000 now sells at N25,000 while a 100kg of white beans fell from N30,000 a month ago to N25,000.
A measure of millet sells for N200 as against N250 while that of garri costs N150 as against N200 a month ago.
Also, a basket of tomatoes and pepper currently sells at N5, 000 and N5, 500 as against N6, 500 and N7,000 in the last one month.
Meanwhile, the prices of 25kg of Semovita and 50-cube pack of maggi have remained stable, selling from N2, 900 to N3, 000 and N380 to N400 respectively.
However, the price of a 25 litres of palm oil has increased from between N6, 500 and N7, 000 to between N12, 600 and N12, 500.
A 50kg bag of onions also increased form N30, 000 a month ago to N35,000.
One of the dealers, Mrs Joy Emmanuel, attributed the fall in the prices to the high supply of food items usually experienced during harvest season.
“It is harvest time, so the prices of food items are falling day-by-day as new ones from the farms flood the market,” she said.
Mallam Usman Abdulazeez, also attributed the crash in the prices of vegetables to the season, adding that the price of onions increased because it is going out of season.
Abdulazeez, however, stressed the possibility of an increase in the prices in the next few weeks when residents begin shopping for Christmas.
A consumer, Malama Hajjo Ado, expressed joy over the development and prayed that it remained so throughout the Christmas celebration.
“This is a good development, particularly that there is little money around for people like us to spend.
“We pray that the traders will not take advantage of the festive season to increase the price,” a resident, Hajiya Fatima Sule said.
