Residents lament hike in tomatoes, onion prices in Bauchi

Bauchi State residents have lamented the hike in prices of tomatoes, onion, pepper and other vegetables in Muda Lawan market.

BusinessDay spoke with some customers that were in the market to buy.

Jummai Ignatius said she used to buy everything needed by the family for a month at N20,000, but now spends over seventy (70) thousand naira for the same quantity of things she used to buy with N20,000.

Ignatius prayed for good leadership in Nigeria so that everything would return to their normal positions.

Hajiya Rahama Abubakar Abdulkadir, another buyer in the market, said that it was not just that prices have increased, but that the quality of the vegetables has dropped and posed serious dangers to the health of consumers.

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She said that there was no comparison between what they are buying now and what they used to buy in terms of quality and taste of the vegetables.

Hajiya Rahama said that before now vegetable farmers only used manure fertilizer in their farms which according to her, did not affect the taste and looks of the vegetables, but complained that this time around, “there is no longer good taste because of the type of fertilizers that farmers are using that always bring problems to human body which is very bad.”

Chairman of perishable goods in Bauchi State, Abdullahi Salisu Maigambaye said that the prices of tomatoes, Onion, pepper have increased across the state.

Maigambaye, who was represented by his deputy, Saleh Boko said that before now, a basket of tomatoes sold for five thousand (5000) but now N18,000; Onion was N7,000 but presently N13,000; pepper was sold at N5,000 but now N9,000.

“We cannot blame the vegetable farmers in Bauchi State that they are the cause; no, it is just a matter of the time and season,” he said.