Residents of Kwara state have been lamenting the sudden increase in prices of bread.

The people also called on the government to urgently introduce a price control system to arrest high prices of goods and services in the country.

A cross-section of respondents, who spoke with the Tribune Online on the sudden price hike of bread talked about causes and way out.

The people, who described bread as one of the staple foods in the country, said it is relatively within the range of the common man.

It was gathered that prices of bread within the ranges of N200, N300 and N800 had increased by at least 100 per cent.

One of the major bakers in the Ilorin metropolis, Chief Abddulfatai Alaba, linked the increase in prices of bread to the high cost of fuel and other important ingredients

He said that a bag of flour is now sold for N41,000 as against the previous N35,000, while a bag of sugar increased from N38,000 to N50,000 in the last eight weeks.

“All the ingredients we use in baking bread are now times three higher than their previous prices. We do business to make a profit, mind you. We can’t sell below production cost to our customers”, he said.

According to Ismail Olayiwola, another baker in the state capital, “It’s because of the flour and everything. The cost of almost everything has increased in the country. So, we too, decide to put more money on the prices.

“Before, we had Lafiagi and Bacita sugar companies, among others in different parts of Nigeria. None of these sugar companies, scattered all over the country, are producing now. Why? It’s better, if we want to have sufficient sugar in this country for consumption, we need to be producing all these ingredients by ourselves so that we’ll have enough to consume.”

They also suggested price regulation and help from the government as measures to stabilise the prices of bread as well as other goods and services in the country.