Government at different levels in Nigeria are battling increasing food prices.
Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State has lamented the skyrocketing cost of pepper in the state and advised civil servants to take up farming as a hobby.
The price of pepper, an item used in food-making, has tripled within the past few months in the state.
Speaking in Uyo on Sunday at a Thanksgiving Service to mark this year's public service week, Governor Eno urged civil servants in the state to take advantage of the first and the last Fridays in the month designated as farm days by the state government to return to farming.
"We have 52,000 civil servants in the state. If 50,000 come together to farm. No matter how small, even half hectare, I am sure we'll be able to provide food for our state.
"I was told that pepper is three for N200. Are we not ashamed to be going to the market to buy pepper and everybody will be blaming government
"We are not lazy people. My grandmother used to have a farm in our house. All the leaves, pepper and she cooks three times a day," the governor said.
He urged the people to return to the days where farms were planted in front of homes, adding that the government would tackle fuel cost and other challenges.
"But food in Akwa Ibom should not be our problem because God has blessed us with the best of weather, greenery everywhere all year round," Mr Eno said.
Why pepper price is high - Vendor
A pepper vendor in Uyo, Philomena Adinya, told PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday that a quantity of pepper which was N30,000 last year has increased to N100,000.
Ms Adinya, who sells fresh pepper and garden eggs in bags, said the price of pepper has been hovering around N90,000 and N100,000 since the beginning of the year.
Prices of commodities have tripled after President Bola Tinubu in May last year announced an end to petrol subsidy, a policy that saw the price of petrol jump from N189 in May last year to N750 currently.
Explaining why the price of pepper has skyrocketed, Ms Adinya blamed it on the increase in the prices of other commodities and transportation costs.
She said "increase in the price of fertiliser, cost of labour and then to crown it all the decrease in the amount of rainfall this year has further worsened the yield of pepper."
She said her customers are complaining about the price increase.
"Last year, retailers used to have pepper for N100 but this year you barely see pepper for N200. You can get pepper from N500 and above because of the skyrocketed price."
Ms Adinya also blamed the increased cost of transportation which she said has doubled for a bag of pepper.
"As of last year, transportation cost for a bag of pepper was N2,500 but we are now paying N4,000 for the same quantity of pepper," she said.
Similarly, the price of eggs has also increased in Uyo. A crate of eggs which was sold for N3,400 in April now sells for N4,500.
A poultry farmer in the state, Namso Udoaka, who owns a farm in Abak Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom, blamed the increase partly on vendors and limited number of feed marketers.
"I think people are selling based on what they want to sell so that they can equally have money to meet the price of other commodities, not actually feed.
"Feeds is going at N13,000. When we were selling eggs N3,300, feeds was N12,700 depending on where you are buying. So the price of feed now moved to N13,000 - it is not enough for the price to move from N3,500 to N4,500," he said, adding that he sells at N4,000 a crate.
Crayfish price crashes
The price of crayfish, another item for food-making, has fallen by half in Uyo.
This newspaper last month reported how the price jumped to N10,000 for five-litre container, indicating an increase of 122 per cent from the N4,500 that it was sold in April.
Findings from PREMIUM TIMES indicate that the price of crayfish has crashed from N10,000 for five-litre containers in May to N4,000 in June.
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A crayfish vendor in the state, Otobong KenJoshua, attributed the development to good catch by the fishers and government ban on the activities of market unions.
Mrs KenJoshua, who owns a foodstuff shop in Uyo, said besides disallowing non-members to operate, the union members were fixing prices of certain commodities.
Ini Akpabio, a professor of agricultural extension and former dean, of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Uyo had also told PREMIUM TIMES, about a week ago, that market unions in the state are behind the hike in prices of some commodities.
Mr Akpabio said market unions were making more money than farmers. He also blamed the price hike on petrol cost and foreign exchange rate.
The decrease in the price of crayfish has brought joy to some residents in the state.
On Monday, Esther Emmanuel, Comfort Effiong and Glory Okon told PREMIUM TIMES that they were pleased with the development.
"Imagine buying N2,000 crayfish for a pot of soup," Mrs Emmanuel lamented but said she now buys same for N1,000 as the price has reduced.
