These are trying times for the one-year-old administration of President Bola Tinubu. As a known democrat who had championed protests against underperforming governments in the past, some of his former co-travelers in the pro-democratic movements may wish to return to his government the same token of protests and resistance. New Sheriffs have emerged and are
These are trying times for the one-year-old administration of President Bola Tinubu. As a known democrat who had championed protests against underperforming governments in the past, some of his former co-travelers in the pro-democratic movements may wish to return to his government the same token of protests and resistance. New Sheriffs have emerged and are roaring to sustain a tradition once championed by the President.
On Monday, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu hosted all the southwest governors at the Lagos State government house, at Alausa, Ikeja. Security was on the agenda. There have been pockets of protests in Ibadan, Lagos, and Osogbo, earlier in the year protesting hardship and hunger. The protesters are on tape calling for the removal of President Tinubu and calling him unprintable names.
The youth in the protests carried out their pro-democratic activities under the surveillance of officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force. They carried placards describing why they were on the streets in protest. That this could happen happen in Tinubu’s strong base of Lagos speaks volumes. Lagos is the hotbed to test the feelings of Nigerians. The other time the President was in Lagos for end-of-the-year celebrations, his convoy was pelted while citizens screamed “Ebi pawa o”, meaning we are hungry.
Youth Protest Against Hunger, Hardship in Nigeria
The protesters’ actions may not be misplaced. They may have been provoked by the challenges Nigerians have had to endure since President Tinubu came to power on May 29, 2023. Without mincing words, life has become difficult and unbearable since the removal of the fuel subsidy and the fiscal experiment for the Naira to find its real value in the marketplace. From about N800 to a dollar when Tinubu took over, Naira’s exchange rate has depreciated by almost 100 percent, now trading at about N1,500.00 to a dollar.
The hardships may not be the sole-making of President Tinubu. Some are a result of the failure of past governments over the years. Apart from Tinubu’s new fiscal measures, the crisis of rising costs of food prices can be blamed on both insecurity and the huge cost of transportation. The deteriorating insecurity situation in the North and some other parts of the middle belt has driven several farmers away from their farmlands and has created an unusual scarcity of foodstuffs in the South.
Four years ago, the then Katsina state Governor Bello Masari warned that banditry was keeping farmers away from the farms. He said over 60,000 hectares of land weren’t being cultivated in that year’s farming season. Agronomists posit that 60,000 hectares used to cultivate maize could yield as much as 120,000 tonnes of maize. A tonne of maize is retailed at around N800,000.00 in today’s market. That runs into billions of Naira’s loss to the farmers and disruption to the food supply chain. Shortage of maize is a big disadvantage to the poultry industry. That is why poultry farmers are complaining about a shortage of maize and prices of poultry products soaring,
If the government does not solve the problem of insecurity around the food baskets of the country, Nigeria will keep experiencing rising prices of foodstuffs because of the basic economic law of demand and supply. In a situation where the supply is declining, and the demand is rising due to increased population; prices will keep soaring and become unaffordable to a larger percentage of the population.
Consequently, regional economic integration, food production, and regional security were the main items that topped the agenda at the meeting of the South-West Governors’ Forum held in Lagos on Monday. The meeting highlighted the importance of focusing on the agricultural sector in the region in the communique after their meeting. “To expand food production and agricultural development, the Forum also directed their respective States’ Commissioners for Agriculture to immediately come together and develop a comprehensive agricultural template that would leverage each State’s comparative advantage”.
There is no shortcut to making more food available to their citizens. The Tinubu government at the federal level must make courageous moves to solve the banditry problem and other security challenges around the country, especially around the food basket areas of Nigeria. The government should make haste and provide subsidised farm inputs, and improve social infrastructure in Nigeria. The current situation is volatile and should not endure longer than necessary. Nigerians must be encouraged to go back to the farm and produce more than enough for local consumption and save the evil’s day. It is the government’s responsibility to provide a business-enabling society.
Nigeria Bureau of Statistics Scary Report
The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics reported in May that the average prices of key staples such as rice, garri, and tomatoes have skyrocketed by 141 percent over the past year, marking the highest annual increase for the period, according to data from the selected food price report.
The report reveals that the average price of rice surged 156 percent, reaching ₦1,399 in 2024, up from ₦547 during the same period in 2023. Similarly, garri, a staple for low and middle-income households, saw a price hike of 135 percent, climbing from ₦363 in April 2023 to ₦852 in April 2024.
Month-on-month, garri’s price increased 13.59 percent, rising from ₦750 in March to ₦1,554 in April. The report also indicates that the average prices of other food items, including onion, beans, bread, beef, and tomato, experienced significant increases, driving food inflation to 40.5 percent in April.
The price of 1kg of beans brown (sold loose) increased by 125 percent year-on-year, from ₦616 in April 2023 to ₦1,388 in April 2024, and saw a 12.44 percent rise month-on-month.
Avoidable Protests
To avoid further protests President Tinubu has to address the problem of food scarcity and their prohibitive costs. This year’s June 12 could witness street protests because of economic hardship. It, therefore, behoves the government to enunciate policies and programmes to stem the rising cost of food in the country.
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