The Arewa Think Tank (ATT) has stated that the recent drop in food prices across Nigeria, especially in Lagos and Abuja, is proof that the country’s economic policies are yielding positive results.
Muhammad Alhaji Yakubu, ATT’s chief convener, shared this view in a conversation with a reporter in Kaduna. He expressed disappointment that despite the efforts of the current administration, many Nigerians continue to criticize President Bola Tinubu rather than acknowledge his achievements.
Yakubu urged Nigerians to remain patient, assuring them that more positive changes would emerge.
He said, “We are still pleading with Nigerians to exercise more patience because they will see more positive developments than what they are seeing now.
“What Nigerians need to know in 2025, for the first time since President Tinubu took office in May 2023, is that Nigeria’s cost-of-living crisis has started to be on the easy side of life.
“When we followed a recent market survey in Lagos, Nigeria’s economic hub, it showed that the prices of key food staples declined in February 2025, easing the financial burden on cash-strapped Nigerians who have endured soaring inflation since the 2020 pandemic.”
According to him, the survey revealed that a 50kg bag of foreign parboiled rice now costs N85,000, a reduction from N120,000 five months ago. Local parboiled rice dropped to N95,000 from N105,000 in three months. Fresh tomato prices saw a significant decline of 70 percent, falling from N120,000 to N35,000 per big basket.
“Also, a 4-litre paint container of garri now costs N2,500, down from N3,500 five months ago, while a 60kg bag sells for N37,500. A big tuber of yam now sells for N2,500 in Abuja and Onitsha, compared to N5,500 five months ago. In Port Harcourt and Abuja, N1,000 can now buy six to ten pieces of onion, compared to three or four pieces three months ago,” he said.
Yakubu emphasized that lower prices of beans, yams, and garri had provided significant relief for low-income earners, improving families’ diets across the country.
