The closure of the country’s borders seems to have led to an increase in prices of some food items such as rice, frozen chicken and turkey.
Observers say if the borders are not opened before December, it portends a bleak Christmas for many Nigerians, given the astronomical rise in the prices of both the local and imported rice.
Investigations by our correspondents in major markets in Lagos showed the prices of some of the items had increased between 42 percent and 100 percent from August when the borders were closed to the last week of September.
At Ile Epo Market, Daleko, Mile 12, Isheri and Ogba, all in Lagos, a 50kg bag of imported rice that hitherto sold between ₦13,000 and ₦14,500 has now shot up to between ₦24,000 and ₦30,000, while the local variants of 50kg bag had risen from ₦14,000 to ₦18,000.
A 12.5kg plastic measure of the imported rice that hitherto sold for ₦3,750 had moved up almost 100 percent to ₦6,000.
For the local variant, it had moved from ₦3,500 to ₦4,800.
The price of the smallest measure called Derica or Congo (781g) of the imported rice has also shot up from ₦280 to ₦400 while the local variant has moved from ₦250 to ₦300. There are 64 of the measure in the 50kg bag.
A rice seller at the Ile Epo market, Isa Mohammed, said, “Since the borders have been shut, the prices of foreign parboiled rice have increased. The 50kg bag of such rice in July still sold between ₦13,000 and ₦14,500. But it is now being sold between ₦24,000 and ₦30,000.
“Prices of other measures of the same variant have also increased.”