Residents of Anambra State are calling on the state government and relevant regulatory bodies to sit up and protect the masses from arbitrary hikes in the cost of commodities.
Across Anambra, 1kg of gas is now between N1,450 and N1,500 as against N850 and N1,000 sold in Enugu and Delta states respectively, while cement is now between N9,500 and N10,000 against N8,000 sold in Asaba as at today.
Other commodities whose prices have also skyrocketed include pure water bags, planks of wood, as well as house rent.
According to the residents, the major concern for them is how these exploitative merchants do the increase without recourse to the condition of the people without any form of questioning from government and regulatory bodies.
A concerned citizen, Dan Okafor regretted that the government was no longer concerned about what was going on, leaving the masses in the hands of exploitative merchants.
Describing the development in Anambra as typical of a lawless society, Mr Dan said the situation is capable of bringing a loss of confidence in the people, in the capacity of government to cater for their welfare, which will not augur well for the society.
“It is quite appaling that under the nose of the state government, the poor masses will be exploited unduly, without any form of intervention by those we elected to lead us.
“There is no way the government can feign ignorance of this development and expect the suffering masses to believe it. It is just laxity and this will not be tolerated.
“Government exists to protect the overall good of the people and in a situation whereby they can not do that, they have totally lost their relevance and the people can now adopt any other means they deem necessary, to fight for their rights.
“What is happening in Anambra, especially the state capital, Awka, is quite alarming and we can no longer keep quite because the people are suffering,” he said.
Another citizen, Mary Collins decried the development, wondering how the poor people will survive in the state.
According to her, “It was only in December last year that I filled my gas at N1,100 per kg from N770 I bought initially.
“Today, at the plant, I was told it is now N1,500 here in Awka and I could not just believe what I heard.
“And with the way this thing is going, we may be asked to pay N5,000 for a kg by the end of this year!
“Where are we headed with these hikes in this state? It is more worrisome that the government is not doing anything about it.
“In neighbouring states, the rates are way lower but here, anybody does anything they wish with the poor masses and nobody is saying anything.
“Remember, since last year, the government has been at loggerheads with the Labour over salaries of workers and up till now, no tangible agreement has been implemented, yet, prices of commodities have skyrocketed.
”How will the average civil servant with a family survive this hardship?
“Is it not better they gather all the poor people in this country and kill them since it is obvious that they do not want us to exist alongside the rich,” she lamented.
On his part, a vexed building engineer, Tochukwu Igboeli, who expressed his frustration at the implication of the hike in the cost of building materials, noted that if the trend is not checked, unemployment may drastically increase.
This he said, is because the majority of the population of the labour community in the building industry, who are non-professionals, may be put out of jobs, because the developers may not have the finances to purchase building materials to sustain ongoing projects.
