Business
Housewives Lament As Tomato Prices Soar
Published
2 years agoon
By
Editor
Some housewives in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on Sunday said they have ditched tomatoes for their stews and other sauces as cost skyrockets.
The residents, who made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, said they have resorted to using garden eggplants and carrots in their stews.
They said garden egg, called “ganyen gauta” in Hausa, “igba” in Yoruba, and “anyara” in Igbo, could blend very well with rice in the same manner as tomatoes.
Others said they were exploring pumpkin, pawpaw, or traditional soups like white soup and palm fruit soup popularly called banga soup in place of tomato stew.
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Mrs Jumai Amodu, a mother of five, said a week without rice with tomato stew was unfulfilling for her and the family.
She said rice with stew was a regular on their menu, adding that “there is an unexplainable satisfaction that comes with taking cooked rice and stew.”
The mother of five, however, said with the scarcity and high cost of tomatoes, her family was exploring garden egg stew.
Amodu said, “Since tomatoes became very expensive, we decided to use garden egg for stew and it is as sweet as tomato stew.
“The only major difference between garden egg stew and tomato stew is the colour.
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“We also use pumpkin stew with rice sometimes and although it has its unique taste, it blends well with rice.”
Mrs Helen Omo, a businesswoman, said although tomato stew was an important recipe in almost all homes in Nigeria, its scarcity had made some Nigerians think of alternatives.
“I went to the market yesterday to get some tomatoes for stew and a sizeable bushel, which costs between N2000 and N2500 was being sold for as much as N6500.
“I did not bother to haggle the price because it was way beyond my budget,” she said.
Mr Chinedu, an entrepreneur, told NAN that he enjoyed taking rice with pepper soup or white soup.
“The prices of all foodstuff have gone up but that of tomatoes is outrageous probably because it is tomatoes off-season.
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“Besides being expensive, it is very scarce and as a result, we decided to explore other recipes,” he said.
Umar Adamu, a tomatoes retailer in Nyanya market in the FCT, said he had stopped retailing tomatoes for some days due to low patronage.
He said customers were not “patronising him because of the high cost.”
Mrs Rukkaya Umar, Chief Executive Officer, Abraks Farm Produce Nigeria Limited said the primary reason for the scarcity of tomatoes was the high cost of fertiliser.
According to her, many tomato farmers do not grow it because they cannot afford fertiliser, adding that fertiliser was critical to its growth.
Umar also said reliance on seasonal farming was one of the reasons for the scarcity, adding that it was tomatoes off-season.
“Most farmers in Nigeria still do seasonal farming and that is contributing greatly to scarcity of farm produce particularly in their off-seasons,” she said.
NAN reports that a sizeable basket of tomatoes which hitherto sold for about N10,000 now sells for about N35,000 while big baskets cost more.
NAN
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The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, has increased the pump price of premium motor spirit across its retail outlets.
It was gathered that NNPCL retail outlets in Abuja have adjusted their fuel pump price to N955 per litre from N890.
This is the case in NNPCL retail outlets along Kubwa Expressway, Wuse and other parts of Abuja.
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Similarly, the pump price hike has been implemented at filling stations in Kogi and Nasarawa.
This means that the petrol pump price was increased by N65.
This comes after independent petroleum product marketers and filling station owners in Abuja increased petrol pump prices to between N950 and N971 per litre at the weekend. Their decision followed an upward review of the ex-depot petrol price by Dangote Refinery to N858 per litre, up from N820.
Business
Naira Appreciates Against Dollar As External Reserves Swell
Published
2 days agoon
August 5, 2025By
Editor
The naira appreciated against the dollar at the official foreign exchange market on Monday to begin the week on a bullish note amid swelling external reserves.
According to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s exchange data, the naira appreciated to N1,531.95 against the dollar on Monday from N1,533.74 traded last week Friday.
READ ALSO:Naira Continues To Appreciate Against Dollar On Official Market
This showed that the Naira strengthened by N1.79 when compared to the N1,533.74 exchanged at the close of work last week.
Meanwhile, at the black market, the naira remained stable at N1560 per litre, the same exchange rate traded on Friday.
The development comes as Nigeria’s external reserves had maintained a modest rise to $39.54 billion as of August 1st, 2025, up from $39.36 billion on July 30th.
Business
Naira Continues To Appreciate Against Dollar On Official Market
Published
5 days agoon
August 1, 2025By
Editor
The naira continued its appreciation against the dollar at the foreign exchange market on Tuesday.
Accordingly, the naira strengthened further to N1,533.18 against the dollar on Tuesday, from N1,534.21 traded the previous day.
This represents a gain of N1.03 against the dollar on a day-to-day basis and marks the second consecutive day of appreciation at the official FX market.
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Meanwhile, on the black market, the naira depreciated further to N1,545 per dollar on Tuesday from N1,537 traded on Monday.
Recall that the naira had similarly closed Monday’s trading session with mixed sentiments, recording gains at the official market but depreciating at the parallel market.
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