Sports Festival: Food Vendors Make A Kill At Venues

Traders at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos and other centres hosting the 18th National Sports Festival in Lagos State have seized  the opportunity to get extra cash from participants at the games, as prices of goods, especially food  have skyrocketed.

All the ahletes and journalists from the 36 states of the federation, including the FCT, Abuja, now pay almost double for the prices of food items at the centres.

For instance, a pack of rice and one piece of meat, which was sold for between N150 -N200 before the festival began in Lagos last weekend, now goes for about N350. P.M.NEWS’ gathered that a plate of Semovita, which the food vendors sold for N250 before the games is now sold for N450, and the sports shops at the centres are not left out of the ‘festival largesse’.

A shirt, which used to go for about N1,500, is now sold for N3,500 at the same venue. Even a bottle of carbonated soft drink, which was originally sold for N100, is sold for N120 or N150.

One of the athletes, Ibrahim said the attitude of the food vendors was a cheer wickedness.

“It’s quite sad that these people have to increase prices of their goods. How on earth could they sell a bottle of fanta for N150? The visiting journalists also complained about the high cost of living at the Centre of Excellence.

—Damilare Okunola