The ‘Ounje Eko’ food markets in Lagos have commenced operations on March 17 at designated locations, but with limited supplies for residents who trooped to the centers to purchase subsidized food items.
The food markets which would be operational at designated locations across Lagos every Sunday between 11:00am and 4:00pm is an initiative of the Lagos State Government to cushion the effect of the high prices of food items.
The items available at the food market are sold at 25% discounted rates with prices of items made publicly available and placed at the entrance of the food markets.
At the African Church Primary School, College Road in Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government, Lagosians were seen in their numbers trying to gain access to the premises to purchase the food items.
Around 1:18 pm, two hours after the market ought to have opened, Mrs Basirat Ayokanmi, a Deaf woman who claimed she had been standing at the gate for over an hour under the scotching sun, shared that the process is highly unorganized.
Mrs Ayokanmi and other Deaf women who were at the Sunday market left after it seemed impossible to gain access to the market.
At exactly 1:32 pm, the gate was opened which allowed people to gain access to the school premises. However, many were unable to purchase the items after a long wait in the queue.
One of the buyers, identified as Mama Tee, lamented that she had been in the market before 1 pm and was only able to purchase two loaves of bread and one crate of eggs before she left around 4 pm.
Mama Tee narrated that “people were much on the queue and it wasn’t moving, the only thing I could buy was bread and egg. Initially, we were told that there was no rice, beans and gaari, but I saw a few people purchase them.”
Speaking about the delay, she said “the sales didn’t start at the exact time because the food items were not packaged. They had to start using the scale to weigh the items one after the other, which led to a delay
“Most people bought only bread and egg,” she added.
She thereafter expressed optimism that the sales would be more coordinated by next Sunday, to afford people the opportunity to purchase more items.
For his part, Mr Kehinde Odumosun (not real name) who lamented about the delay said the expectations of people were already high and the excuses given by the officials were not tenable.
Odumosun said, “we’ve been told we can buy different food items at subsidized prices, but that is not the situation. We have heard different excuses and reasons for the delay, but everything needs to be in order to ensure that we’re able to purchase what we need.”
He charged the LASG officials in charge of the sales to be more coordinated and learn from the errors to make subsequent market day experiences to be seamless.
“Opening the market by 11:00 am means the items would have been packed before 11:00 and people can make purchases easily. I hope this is improved before the next market day.
“We acknowledge that this is a good initiative from the government, but we need to benefit from it and see that our needs are met,” he added.