‘5kg Bag Of Rice Will Sell For N5,325’ — Lagos Opens Discounted Food Market Amid Economic Hardship

The Lagos State government will on Sunday commence discounted sales of food items across the five divisions of the state.

According to the state government, food items such as rice, beans, gari, bread, eggs, tomatoes, pepper, among others, would be sold at 25 percent discount to residents.

This was disclosed by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso.

To prevent sharp practices and ensure that many residents benefit from the intervention, the commissioner said a voucher system would be introduced as the pilot scheme of the initiative begins.

According to him, prices of food items would be made available through various media outlets, adding that a 5kg bag of rice would sell for N5,325 while 1kg goes for N1,065; 5kg bag of Beans – N6,225 while 1kg would sell for N1,245.

“Independent payment solution providers and food vendors have been identified and carefully selected to operate the process. They will also provide real-time data on the exercise for monitoring.

“For the purpose of transparency, prices of the items have also been listed. A 5kg bag of rice would sell for N5,325 while 1kg goes for N1,065; 5kg bag of Beans – N6,225 while 1kg would sell for N1,245. Prices of other staple food items will also be made available through various media outlets.

“The markets will be open at 27 locations in Ikeja; six in Lagos Island; nine in Ikorodu; five in Epe; and 10 in Badagry divisions.

“Mr. Governor has called on all Lagosians to cooperate with the operators at the various locations, monitor the process, and provide feedback through official channels of the Lagos State Government,”Omotoso said in a statement.

Recall that Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu had in February announced plans to open Sunday Markets where residents can buy food items at discounted rates in about 42 markets across the state.

This, he said, was to cushion the effect of the current economic challenges.

He had said: “We are going to be opening ‘Sunday Markets’ in about 42 markets in Lagos. This time you’ll be buying at a reduced cost. We’re going to cap what you can buy at not more than N25,000 and we’re going to be giving you a 25% rebate immediately there.

“Somebody that wants to buy N10,000. N15,000, which are the people that we want to take out from poverty, we will give you an immediate discount of about 25 per cent.

“The third level will be that we are doing what we call the Soup Bowl. We want to identify ‘Mama Put’, caterers and we want to be able to feed between 1,000 and 1,500 in every local government per day, at the first instance between the next 30 to 60 days.”

Food inflation in Nigeria reached an all-time high of 37.92 per cent in February.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the headline inflation rate increased to 31.70 per cent compared to the January 2024 rate, which was 29.90 per cent.

With the figures, inflation rose on a year-on-year basis at 9.79 per cent points higher when compared to the 21.91 per cent recorded in February 2023.