Onions

Onions are the quiet essential — less dramatic than pepper or tomatoes, but present in literally every Nigerian dish. At ₦1,060/kg, they're relatively stable compared to other vegetables, partly because northern Nigeria's onion harvest cycle is more predictable than tomato or pepper. The Sokoto-to-Lagos supply chain is well-established, with dedicated "onion trucks" running the 900km route regularly. The NBS data shows onion prices dropped 17.87% year-on-year in January 2026, making them one of the few food items that have genuinely become more affordable. However, onion prices spike 30-40% during pre-harvest months (July-September) when stored stock runs low.

Onions are one of the most price-volatile items in the whole market, and the reason is geography: the bulk of Nigeria's onions are grown in the far north and trucked south, so anything that disrupts that supply line — the dry-season gap between harvests, fuel costs, or unrest along the routes — shows up fast on Lagos stalls. Prices can double in weeks and then ease just as sharply when a fresh harvest lands.

They keep far better than most vegetables, though, which is the household defence: bought when cheap and stored somewhere dry and airy (never sealed in plastic, which rots them), a net of onions lasts for weeks. Since almost every Nigerian pot — jollof, stew, soups — starts with onions, buying a little extra in a cheap window and storing it well is one of the simplest ways to smooth out the market's swings.