I Regret The Increase In Food Prices Amid The Pandemic – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has come out to share his concerns about the sudden spiral of food prices in Nigeria.

He recently revealed this via a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, in Abuja.

According to him, he regrets the increase in price amid the pandemic and his government is already looking and putting in place measures to remedy the situation.

He added that 2020 has really tested Nigerians in ways that globalization has never been tested since the turn of the century, but a solution will arrive very soon.

His words, “While Providence has been kind to us with the rains and as such an expectation that a bumper harvest would lead to crashing of food prices and ease the burdens on the population, government’s concern is that the exploitative market behaviour by actors has significantly increased among traders in the past few years and may make any such relief a short-lived one.”

“This year has indeed tested us in ways that globalization has never been tested since the turn of the century. These challenges have disrupted lives and supply chains all over the world, and Nigeria has not been spared.”

“The effect has been deeply felt in the delays encountered in the procurement of raw materials for local production of fertilizer (damaging standing crops before harvest) and the speculative activities by a number of rice processors who are ready to pay for paddy at any price to keep their mills running non-stop.”

“But of all these problems, the most worrisome are the activities of “corrupt” middlemen (with many of them discovered to be foreigners) and other food traders who serve as the link between farmers and consumers found to be systematically creating an artificial scarcity so that they can sell at higher prices.”

“In dealing with these problems, the administration has, in line with its ease of doing business mantra, avoided imposing stockholding restrictions, in order not to discourage investments in modern warehousing and cold storage.

“The President has just approved the release of food items from the strategic reserves, including 30,000 tons of maize to animal feeds producers to ease the high cost of poultry production.

“President Buhari’s administration has raised some of these issues with the various food producer associations involved, particularly those of rice and other grains.

“With their cooperation, the high food prices should soon be a thing of the past.

“In addition, investments in the agro-allied sector by the private sector will significantly increase domestic production of farming inputs especially fertilizer, further crash prices, create employment and ease the pressure on our foreign reserves.”