A TYPICAL NIGERIAN MARKET

A TYPICAL NIGERIAN LOCAL MARKET

The Nigerian local markets are mostly for buying and selling perishable goods. However people troop in from different places to buy fresh stuffs since markets are but few of them. The different people who come to the market come for different purposes, some are there to sell, some to buy and even some to steal and snatch people’s belongings.  In some cases the markets are always filled up with people of different tribes and ethnic group as they exchange goods and services, most times, more populated by the hausas with their Gambari hat, which is synonymous with Hausas from the Northern part of the country.

 The Hausa people are the largest ethnic group in Nigeria. They are revered merchants and savvy traders known for raising cattle and growing crops.  So they are mostly found in the market selling their food stuffs like onion, tomatoes, pepper and so many others. Even in the market there are shops of those that sell food items, snacks, and a few groceries for those who come to the market.

In a typical local market  The major foodstuffs available are fresh vegetables such as onions, tomatoes, pepper, vegetable oil, grains and cereals such as rice, cow peas ("beans"), cassava flour and yam flour.

For middle-class housewives, processed and packaged products such as beverages, milk, canned tomatoes are available at outdoor "stores" located close to the markets. Small store owners often situate and display their wares close to small markets to attract patronage of middle and high income Nigerians who can afford to buy processed and packaged food items and beverages.  More so, expatriates unfamiliar with the intricacies of haggling in Nigerian markets often end up paying outrageously high prices for minor items, for which reason the daily dream of the average market woman is to have an expatriate buyer. 

Apparently, the market is where fresh foods are sold and so Nigerian buyers insist on fresh meat, and the price depends on the quality of the cut and of course the buyer's haggling power. Nothing goes to waste here. Practically every part of the butchered animal goes for sale as table meat. The entrails (ifun), the legs (bokoto) and hide (pomo) are cooked and eaten. Boiled hide (pomo) is a delicacy in Nigeria and successive Nigerian governments have tried unsuccessfully to convince Nigerians to spare cattle, goat and sheep skins and hide for the leather export industry. 

 

However, In Nigeria, there are a number of markets that attract a large number of people for various reasons. Some people go to these markets to purchase items because of their relatively low prices while others prefer them for a quality shopping experience. Take for instance a small scale retailer based in one of the suburbs, he or she may visit these markets to purchase bulk items from wholesalers in order to resell at lower prices at a more convenient time and place.