Nigerians defied the prevailing economic recession on Saturday as they besieged various markets in a last-minute rush for Christmas shopping that lasted hours, leading to serious traffic snarl in many parts of Ibadan, Oyo State.
At the popular Bodija market in Ibadan, traders had a field day attending to many customers.
A part of the road linking to the market was blocked off as a result of the crowd of sellers and buyers who were not deterred by the high cost of chickens and other items.
Sunday Tribune’s findings revealed that as early as 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, many traders in notable markets in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital had been busy attending to customers, who besieged their shops as they engaged in what the traders described as ‘rush hour’ business period.
Many roads linking to the markets, especially Mokola/Dugbe, Challenge/Ring-Road, Sango/Bodija axis and other parts of the city experienced traffic jam as many motorists were forced to park their cars by the roadside while they trekked to the markets.
At some of the markets visited, most of the traders who were busy attending to customers informed Sunday Tribune that it was not unusual to see people rush down to the markets on the eve of Christmas as some of them believed that prices of items would have gone down by then.
Some of the buyers who spoke with Sunday Tribune blamed the rush on the dearth of cash in many banks and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) across the state in the past week.
A trader, Ebunlomo Adebayo, said the outcome was expected when they discovered that many people could not withdraw money in the last three days.
“You should expect something like this when people could not withdraw money from their banks for three days. Recession or not, Nigerians will always like to treat their families well on Christmas day,” she said.
Another customer, Sola Johnson, disclosed that she had to wait till this morning before she could withdraw money from the three accounts she ran.
“I don’t like the fact that I am rushing to shop but I could not help the situation because my banks failed me. I have three different accounts but I could not withdraw from any of the banks. That’s why I have been here for the past three hours and I am yet to buy what I want because the crowd is just unbearable,” she lamented.
In a related development, Nigerians defied the impact of the country’s economic situation to travel for Christmas as many motor parks in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) witnessed large turnout of travellers on Saturday.
Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Public Relations Officer, Peace Mass Transit (PMT), Mr Jude Ugwu, said that people still preferred to travel despite the economic downturn and the increase in fares.
Ugwu explained that even though the passengers complained about the hike in fares, they had equally shown understanding with the company considering the fact that prices of motor parts had gone up.
Other factors, according to him, were the cost of spare parts and prices of buses because the Toyota Hiace bus that normally sold for N9 million now sells for over N24 million.
“If you don’t increase the fare, you may not be able to stay in the business. We currently charge N9,500 to Lagos; N8,000 to Enugu; N8,500 to Onitsha; N7,000 to Nsukka and Port Harcourt at N9,500,” he stated.
Financial Secretary, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Lagos Unit at Jabi Motor Park, Muhammed Hassan, said the passengers’ turnout was low on Saturday as against the rush on Friday.
According to him, “passengers are paying N5,500 to Lagos as against N5,000 we used to collect, but Ibadan, Akure, Osogbo are still the same N5,000 and N4,000.”