By Josephine Agbonkhese & Anino Aganbi

It is incredible how tomato, an essential in most Nigerian delicacies, has become quite a luxury—even more expensive than Premium Motor Spirits (popularly known as). With N145, what you get is about three small-sized pieces of tomatoes as each now sells for N50.

The place of tomato in Nigeria

File: Tomato market

From stew to soup, jollof rice and even salad, majority of delicacies in Nigeria are tomato-based. This is no surprise as the nation ranks second largest in the production of the commodity in Africa and 13th in the world.

It is also however ironically reputed for massive wastage of over 50 percent of this output each year due to lack of storage and unavailable market.

Hence, with as little as N200 worth of tomatoes, the average Nigerian gets a load of tomato-based delicacy without stress, and only has to worry about rice, garri or yam to feed the family. But all that have changed drastically—and devastatingly too, since mid April.

Price hike

As at the time of this report, a basket of tomato which sold for N6,000 now sells for N45,000. With N200 therefore, what you get is a paltry four small-sized pieces of tomatoes.

Of course the effect on restaurant owners, grocers, households and other consumers can only be left imagined. It is as well interesting as even those who claimed to be obsessed with the unique taste of fresh tomatoes and would have nothing to do with tin tomato pastes have also learned, within a very short while, creative ways of substituting the commodity. Indeed, life must move on, like we say.