BUSINESS
Food Vendors in Enugu Lament High Cost of Foodstuffs, Other Commodities
…..Food Vendors in Enugu Lament High Cost of Foodstuffs
From Sylvia Udegbunam, Enugu
Some food sellers in Enugu have lamented the high cost of foodstuffs and other commodities in the state, saying it is making their food business difficult on a daily basis.
A cross-section of food sellers, who spoke to our Correspondent in Enugu at the weekend, lamented their inability to buy the quantities of foodstuff needed for their businesses.
A food seller at Mayor Market, Mrs Vera Uzochukwu, said she could no longer make reasonable profit due to the high cost of foodstuffs, adding that she was managing to keep her business moving.
“It has not been easy for me since the removal of fuel subsidies, prices of foodstuffs and other commodities go up on a daily basis, which has been making it difficult for me to run this food business as I should,” she said.
Another seller, Miss Faith Ani, at Amechi Bus-Stop, explained that following the increase in prices of foodstuff, she was forced to increase the price of her food from N300 to N500 per plate.
Mrs Chidimma Agu, another food seller at Garki Market, said that she had to reduce the quantity of her food in order not to increase the price as customers were complaining about the price increase by other food vendors.
“For me not to lose my customers, I had to reduce the quantity of the food for them to pay the usual price of N300 per plate without meat, and N400 with a piece of meat,” she said.
Mrs Joy Ilodibe, another food seller at Old Park, said she used to make about N15,000 daily, but now she hardly makes up to N10,000 due to the high cost of foodstuffs.
Ilodibe called on the government to take deliberate steps to reduce the cost of foodstuffs in the country.
However, one of the customers, Mr Collins Umeh, blamed the food price increase on the food sellers, adding that they also increase the prices on their own to maximize profits and not because of subsidy removal on petroleum.
The Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) continued its bullish trend on Wednesday, gaining N183 billion.
Accordingly, the market capitalisation, which opened at N59.532 trillion, gained N184 billion or 0.31 per cent to close at N59.715 trillion.
The All-Share Index also added 0.31 per cent or 303 points, to settle at 98,509.
68, against 98,206. 97 recorded on Tuesday.Consequently, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return increased to 31.
74 per cent.Gains in Aradel Holdings, Zenith Bank, United Bank For Africa(UBA), Oando Plc, Nigerian Breweries among other advanced equities drove the market performance up.
Market breadth closed positive with 34 gainers and 17 losers.
On the gainers’ chart, Africa Prudential, Conoil and RT Briscoe led by 10 per cent each to close at N14.30, N352 and N2.42 per share, respectively.
Golden Guinea Breweries followed by 9.95 per cent to close at N7.18, while NEM Insurance rose by 9.74 per cent to close at N10.70 per share.
On the other hand, Julius Berger led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at N155.25, Secure Electronic Technology Plc trailed by 9.52 per cent to close at 57k per share.
Multiverse lost 7.63 per cent to close at N5.45, Haldane McCall dropped 6.07 per cent to close at N4.95 and Honeywell Flour shed 5.62 per cent to close at N4.70 per share.
Analysis of the market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 49.44 per cent.
A total of 320.10 million shares valued at N6.48 billion were exchanged in 7,943 deals, compared with 939.41 million shares valued at N12.81billion traded in 9,098 deals posted in the previous session.
Meanwhile, ETranzact led the activity chart in volume with 70.27 million shares, while Aradel led in value of deals worth N1.22 billion.(NAN)
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the Yuan, weakened 22 pips to 7.1870 against the dollar on Monday.This is according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.In China’s spot foreign exchange market, the Yuan is allowed to rise or fall by two per cent from the central parity rate each trading day.
The central parity rate of the Yuan against the dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day. (Xinhua/NAN)
Arewa Youths Initiative for Energy Reforms (AYIFER), has urged Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) to do everything possible to bring Kaduna Refinery back into operation.
National Coordinator of the group, Mr Bashir Al’Amin, stated this in a statement issued on Friday in Abuja.
Al’Amin specifically called on the Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mallam Mele Kyari, to do all within his powers to rejuvenate the refinery and bring it up to global standard.
He said that having delivered the Port Harcourt refinery, coupled with the establishment of Dangote Refinery in Lagos, attention should be shifted to Kaduna refinery for easy spread of petroleum products.
“We are calling on Malam Mele Kyari to expedite action on Kaduna refinery so we can be at par with other regions in the country.
“We equally beg the NNPCL to do professional work in rehabilitating the old refinery and deliver a standard and functional petrochemical refinery and not a blending plant.
“Kyari should resist any temptation that could make him do something that can jeopardise his good image,” he said.
Al’Amin said that since the extinction of groundnut pyramid and textiles in Kano State as well as PAN in Kaduna State and with the Kaduna refinery getting moribund, a lot of youths had lost their jobs.
According to him, all their hopes in the north are tied to the legacy refinery, expressing the hope that God would use Kyari to deliver it well and on time.
He said that the group was solidly behind NNPCL in prayer and would be ready to celebrate the company if its expectations were met. (NAN)
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