It’s hard to be a poor man in Nigeria. The price of things won’t let you be poor in peace. I find it scary, if we are being honest, the way prices of common food have suddenly skyrocketed and are almost impossible to afford. Even when you can afford them, the quality is never satisfying. Wetin dey occur pon di motherland?
1. Bread
There was a time when N50 bread was a thing. Gone are those days. Now, bread is filled with air. Bread that used to be N70 is now N120 and once you press it tight, it vanishes or becomes a thin slate of flour.
2. Spaghetti
Even noodles too. Is my memory faulty or did we not once buy noodles at N35 one time? Even spaghetti could go for N120 or so. Now, if you don’t have up to N200 or more, you can’t buy noodles.
3. Rice
*deep, exhausted, poor man’s sigh* Sunday afternoons are no longer the same. I worry that people might start serving something else when Christmas comes.
4. Garri
A cup of garri has now become gold. There’s nothing as scary as being unable to afford even the commonest (and what used to be the cheapest) of foods.
By the way, I ranked everything we drink garri with. Can you guess which one came first?
What Is The Best Thing To Drink Garri With? We Ranked Them All
5. Fish
And meat and turkey and chicken. But let me address the issue of fish, because that is what I’m able to afford, even though I have to kneel for the seller and offer to pay in kind. A kilo of sawa fish now goes for how much now? Haq. One Titus fish is about N600, N500. The last time I priced Kote fish to N400 in Ibadan, the woman threw her fish back and said she thought I was a reasonable human being.
I randomly wake up in the midnight to think about that statement.
Here’s something more from my escapedes in Ibadan:
7 Things To Keep In Mind If You Want To Enjoy Ibadan
6. Beans
Oloyin beans o, durum o, both have now become something else. And it’s annoying how dirty and low quality they actually are.
7. Palm oil and vegetable oil
Small time, we will be using the oil from our faces to cook concotion rice. I swear.
This is just a tiny percentage of things that have become expensive oh. I didn’t add onions, sardine, milk, tomatoes, tomato paste, pepper, and all the many other foods that make life bearable.
Not like things are 100% better in Ibadan, but here’s a list you should see:
