The prevailing high prices of food items in Nigeria appear to have reached a crescendo. Suffice to say that Nigerians are already beleaguered by the palpable economic situation in the country, presently.
Prices of goods and service continue to climb to the top of the mountains under the present administration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Although the economic situation in the country began to slide to worrisome lows under the lacklustre Muhammadu Buhari administration that left office on May 29, 2019.
The over one year-old Tinubu administration as Nigeria’s President does not seem to have done well in addressing the challenge.
It beats anybody’s imagination that the price of a cup of beans has reportedly hit over N400 currently – the highest in the nation’s history.
Rice has become a luxury for many Nigerian families due to the fact its price has continued to rise over time. Yam, garri, noodles, bread, flour, milk, meat, fish, among others, are some of the food items whose prices have hit the rooftop under the present Tinubu-led Federal Government.
However, the recent announcement by the Tinubu-led Federal Government to remove import duty on importation of food items like beans, rice, wheat and other forms of grains, is heartwarming.
Also the move by Tinubu to remove tariffs on imported food items is welcome. Though the move may not be enough to address the issue, it is however, expected to crash the prices of some key food items in the meantime since solution actually lies in increased food production.
For the new policy to succeed, the Federal Government should go beyond the removal of tariffs on imported grains, by embarking on some kind of price monitoring and control to avoid unnecessary hiking of prices of these commodities or exploitation by greedy businessmen.
We urge governments at all levels to adopt agricultural policies that would bring about increased food protection in the country.
Furthermore, the Tinubu administration and state governments should move a step further by declaring emergency in the agriculture sector. State governments should explore the Public-Private Partnership, PPP, option in the development of agriculture in their respective states.