HARDSHIP: Affluent Lekki Residents Get Discounted Food As Lagos Opens Market In Phase 1

The Lagos State government has introduced a discounted food market in Lekki Phase 1 to cater to the needs of residents within the area.

The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, made the disclosure in a statement on Saturday.

Recall that the state government had last Sunday commenced discounted sales of food items across the five divisions of the state.

Food items such as rice, beans, gari, bread, eggs, tomatoes, pepper, among others, were sold at 25 percent discount to residents.

Omotoso said that the discounted food markets, called “Ounjè Èkò” would reopen to Lagosians on Sunday (tomorrow).

He said: “Governor Sanwo-Olu rolled out the initiative, amongst others, to impact lives in various sectors of the economy, such as transportation, MSME trade, food, education, and health. They will all be run under the theme, EKO CARES.

“The Ounjè Èkò market pilot scheme began on Sunday March 17 with sales of dicounted food items, such as rice, beans,garri, bread, eggs, and perishables – tomato, pepper, rodo and onions.

“Local food vendors have witnessed increased sales since the exercise started, just as residents in each locality are excited at the low prices.”

To prevent sharp practices and ensure that many residents benefit from the intervention, the government had introduced voucher system during the pilot scheme of the initiative.

Last Sunday, a 5kg bag of rice sold for N5,325 while 1kg went for N1,065; 5kg bag of Beans – N6,225 while 1kg sold for N1,245.

But Omotoso advised residents “to look out for prices of the items displayed in each locality as they might slightly differ in different locations.”

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.”