Published 18th Apr, 2024

By Timileyin Akinmoyeje

Several individuals and blogs have been claiming that a bag of rice now sells for N60,000 since Tuesday. A single post made by Nigeria Stories with the claim has packed about 17 million views. About 1,700 people directly commented on the post, many of them asking if the price drop applied to their respective localities.

To verify if a bag of rice sells for N60,000, FIJ went to two food markets in Lagos to ask the sellers.

On April 18, this reporter randomly visited five stalls between the Wasimi Taxi park in Mile 12 and the Momo office near the market entrance from Ketu.

According to the store owners, a bag of local rice sells for at least N65,000. Three out of these five stalls maintained the N65,000 price for local bags.

As for long-grain foreign rice, this reporter got the lowest price of N80,000 from the Hausa-populated area of the Mile 12 market. However, the stall owners were willing to sell short-grain imported rice for N77,000.

In Ikeja, this reporter visited another five stalls in the Ipodo-Computer Village axes to confirm the cost of a bag of rice.

The price range differs only slightly from what is obtainable in the Mile 12 food market. Most of the stall owners agreed to sell a bag of local rice for N68,000.

The lowest price this reporter got was from Ike Ventures 02, who was willing to sell for N66,000. For long-grain and short-grain foreign rice, a bag went for between N78,000 and N85,000, depending on the brand.

Meanwhile, according to the recently published inflation figures, food inflation currently stands at an all-time high of 40 percent, as against the 24.45 percent Nigeria recorded in February 2024.

According to the NBS, food items like garri, millet, cassava, yam tuber, water yam, dried fish, mudfish, palm oil, vegetable oil, beef, coconut and watermelon, among others, are responsible for the high rate of food inflation in the country.

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