Ekiti traditional ruler directs reduction in prices of foodstuffs, bans traders’ associations

A traditional ruler, the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe and his council of chiefs, on Monday, directed the reduction of prices of foodstuffs across markets in Ado Ekiti.

They also dissolved various trading associations and banned the activities of middlemen in various markets.

The Ewi-in-Council, led by the traditional ruler, Oba Adejuyigbe, took the decisions during a meeting with the leadership and some members of the market women association drawn from the various markets in the state capital.

The council expressed dismay with the reports obtained from members of the public, confirming that most traders hide under middlemen to inflate the prices of goods to the detriment of the residents.

The items that the Ewi-in-Council directed immediate slashing of their prices included tomatoes, pepper, vegetable, palm oil, locust beans, meat, garri, and beans, among others.

He warned that any erring trader caught inflating the prices of the aforementioned goods would be sanctioned.

Also, the Ewi-in-Council banned various associations responsible for charging exorbitant prices for their goods and ordered that vegetables should not be sold for more than fifty naira; pepper, one hundred naira; a measure of garri for seven hundred Naira, while a kilogramme of meat should be reduced to four thousand five hundred naira.

Oba Adejugbe noted that the step was taken to make life bearable for residents of the Ado Ekiti, while appealing to the leadership of traders in the various markets to implement the directive.

The monarch said the chiefs would continue to monitor the markets to ensure strict implementation of the directive and to sanction defaulters.

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“All along, we have market women association leaders in all sectors. People selling clothes have associations. We never knew that in addition to the leaders we have there, there are still some people called middlemen. That is why the farmers will bring foodstuff from the farm, the middlemen will hijack the goods and increase the price.

“Sometimes, they don’t pay the farmers until they have sold them. We realised that is one of the reasons why there are high prices of goods in the markets. We decided to ban all associations in the markets and there is no middleman again. Bring your goods to the markets and nobody can stop you again.

“We will sanction whoever goes against the directive. The chiefs have been directed to be monitoring the markets. We have minimum prices for the foods that we eat and nobody should inflate them,” he said.