Founder of Prime Newspaper in Makurdi, Akosu Tor has made a shocking revelation about how female Tiv farmers end up selling baskets of tomatoes at N50 each due to the activities of retailers.
According to him, after agreeing on the price, the retailers will leave and return late in the evening then insist on buying the tomatoes at N50 per basket. At that time the women will have no choice but to sell instead of going back home with the goods.
After buying the tomatoes, these retailers then sell at much higher price to traders from the East and North.
Read Tor’s post below:
“The government has failed yes!
We have no Industries yes!” writes Mr TorBut the reason why our mothers,women and people suffer is not far fetched.
Merchants from the east and far north arrives our markets, our own brothers the so called retailers will bargain and accept N650 for a basket of tomatoes.They we go into a bredan meeting and for reasons best known to them agree to buy at ?150 but surprisingly they will not buy till 5pm in the evening. At this time our mothers has no choice than to sell at N50 per basket and the government tax them N20 on each sold basket, making them earn only N30 per basket.
These women made nursery farm, transplant, water, weed, apply fertilisers and harvest tomatoes and sell at N30
This is not the government fault, it is the insatiable nature of the Tiv man.
Mgbejime u or Tiv ka or Tiv.
