Many Lagos residents, who spoke especially the ones from families that are not used to bulk purchase of food items, are going through hard times as a result of the Coronavirus lockdown.
Mrs. Babatunde Ajala, a pastor’s wife, said before the lockdown, her neighbour told her about buying things in bulk but she did not have enough money to do so then.
“I have never bought things in bulk in my life. I don’t even have a fridge or a good place to store anything as we live in a makeshift house, so I ignored her but on the second day of the lockdown, we became very hungry.
“Our usual way of feeding is to walk down the street to buy things and cook late in the night with firewood but because many of the shops were locked, we couldn’t get anywhere to buy anything.
“My husband had to borrow N10, 000 for me to buy food at Agbara Market. I left home before 5:30 am and got to the market before 6:00 am but by the time I finished buying, there were no buses to bring me back to my bus stop as buses usually stop working before the police road blocks are mounted.
“I had to walk for more than 10 kilometers with my bag on my head. If I could throw the things I bought away, I would have done so. I would walk for a while and stop to rest. This was how I got home that day,” she said.
Mrs. Jessica Nduka, a nursing mother, the family could not get pure water to buy and so they had to drink boiled borehole tap water.
“Our water finished on the fourth day of the lockdown and my husband went out to look for water for us. He went everywhere that he could go on foot because we don’t have a car and there were no vehicles but he couldn’t get pure water or dispenser water to buy. So, I got the idea to boil our borehole tap water, cool and refrigerate it so that we will not starve.”
Mr. Zubair Inape said most of his neighbours got bitter-leaf from him to cook soup all through the lockdown.
For Mrs. Ogbodu, a peasant farmer in her sixties, the lockdown has brought untold hardship. Ogbodu said “This is the first time I’m harvesting this year, and just like that, N80, 000 worth of vegetables are wasting away on the farm. Government should please help us so that we will not die of hunger.”
Segun Awolope believes the social impact of the lockdown policy was not put into consideration.
Clement Agbabiaka, who lives in Gberigbe, Ikorodu, said, “This lockdown has been extremely difficult. It was not planned.”