Disturbed by the skyrocketing cost of food in Ile-Ife, Osun, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, took decisive action this weekend by banning all market groups in the community. These groups were allegedly inflating prices and enforcing uniform pricing among market women.
The monarch, disapproving of the price-fixing practices, stated, “We don’t want that in this community. We want traders to be free to sell at affordable rates to their consumers.”
“It is unfortunate that these groups of traders, who buy items cheaply from farms, are involved in fixing the prices of goods,” he added.
Akinwande Olajire, the leader of the market heads, conveyed the royal directive while addressing the traders. According to him, Oba Ogunwusi suspended the market groups because their activities were driving up the cost of food items.
“We have also received numerous complaints from traders about being extorted by motorists and others. We will address these issues, but traders cannot sell at prices we consider too high in our markets,” Olajire said.
“Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, sent me to the markets across Ife. You might have seen one of the videos we recorded during these visits. I am the Babaloja of the Ejigbomekun market, also known as Oja Tuntun. I lead the Babalojas in Ife,” he continued.
“Baba Ooni and his Chiefs have been informed about the unjustifiable prices traders are charging in the markets. One measure to address this is the ban on market groups. These groups have been setting prices for their members, and we don’t want that,” Olajire emphasized.
“Traders should be free to sell at a low price if they can buy cheaply from farms. The groups have been banned,” he reiterated. “We have locked all the identified places these market groups use for their meetings and will continue to monitor them. Anyone caught intimidating traders for selling at low prices will face the consequences,” he concluded.
