EXACTLY a month ago, traders were given one month ultimatum to crash exploitative prices in the market. It’s 30 days already but nothing has been done. Is like they don’t understand the gravity of the situation and the urgency of the need to check this unwholesome development.
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, gave a month’s notice to traders and other market stakeholders involved in exploitative pricing to crash the prices of goods.
They held a meeting to address the growing trend of unreasonable pricing of consumer goods and services and unwholesome practices of market associations.
According to Bello, the executive vice-chairman of the FCCPC, the commission will begin enforcement after the expiration of the notice. It’s a month already, we haven’t heard a thing from them or rather seen any action. There’s even the representation of more than 500 per cent inflation cost of so many things
The vice chairman also made mention that “in the spirit of democracy, we are first exploring the option of dialogue. It is also in this spirit that we are giving a moratorium of one month (that is, September) before the commission will start firm enforcement. Let us work together to create a marketplace that is not only competitive but also fair and just”. Hello October!
We are our own problem. It’s like everyone is waiting for the opportunity to pounce. The artificial scarcity and rising cost of foodstuffs in Nigeria is the handwork of some greedy distributors and producers.
what is the basis for the arbitrary hike in the price of goods in the market? Same product with different prices everywhere. Everyone sells at the prices they deem fit. And again, prices are arbitrarily jerked up from time to time without any justifiable reason, consumers on the other hand have no option than to purchase at these outrageous prices.
Agreed, high cost of transportation, insecurity, multiple taxation, among others, are reasons for the continuous increase in prices of goods and services. The most common even is the sellers of food items and transport operators. When you question them, their common response is that the cost of transportation had increased.
A Date fruit seller will tell you the same. But how justifiable is it for the date fruit seller to double the price of a basket or sack of date simply because they paid higher transport fare? Whereas the price of the same dates was far cheaper at another market within the same area? Now, the question we should ask ourselves, did the seller who sold at a lower price not also pay the transport fare? Or is it that they do such because they know nothing can be done?
This is what we all say as humans – how justifiable is it for the public driver to double their fare simply because they paid slightly higher for petrol? Of course, this will only result in a spiral of arbitrary hike in the prices of other services. But they have every right to increase their fare, this is justice. But that’s only if petrol price is regulated by the NNPC. Talking about public drivers and all, even the petrol is not sold at a uniform price.
On the other hand, let’s look at it this way.
The government has no right to force traders to crash prices because the traders bought the commodities at a very high rate, this will definitely lead to artificial scarcity because traders will rather hoard their goods than sell at a very low rate to their detriment. Can you blame them?
Let’s be realistic, until the issue of insecurity and high cost of transportation of goods and services are addressed, any thing regarding the reduction of price would be considered optical illusion.
I rest my case.
- Kabara, is a writer and public commentator. Her syndicated column, Voice, appears on News Point Nigeria newspaper on Mondays. She can be reached on hafceekay01@gmail.com.