As the rising cost of food drags many Nigerians into meltdown, the Federal Government yesterday, raised hopes of a relief as it said it plans to set up a commodity board to regulate the soaring prices of food in the country.
This is coming on the eve of an ultimatum a Federal High Court in Lagos on February 7 gave, ordering the Federal Government to fix the prices of goods and petroleum products within seven days.
The food price hike across all segments had assumed an alarming situation since the turn of the year, especially as data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on January 15, 2024, placed Nigeria's food inflation at 33.9 per cent. Despite the government declaring a state of emergency on food security, prices continue to climb.
But at a two-day high-level strategic meeting on climate change, food systems and resource mobilisation held in Abuja yesterday came reassuring and soothing words from Vice President Kashim Shettima.
According to Shettima, the board would be given the mandate to assess and regulate food prices, as well as maintain a strategic food reserve for stabilising prices of crucial grains and other food items.
He said food security was one of the eight areas of priority declared by President Bola Tinubu as part of his Renewed Hope Agenda. "Our solution to the potential food crisis has become immediate, medium, and long-term strategies," he said.
"The short-term strategy entails revitalising food supply through specific interventions like the distribution of fertilizers and grains to farmers and households to cushion the effects of subsidy removal.
"It also entails fostering collaboration between the ministries of agriculture and water resources for efficient farmland irrigation, ensuring year-round food production; and addressing price volatility by establishing a national commodity board.
"This board will continually assess and regulate food prices, maintaining a strategic food reserve for stabilizing prices of crucial grains and other food items."
The vice president said Tinubu's administration was fully investing in the restoration of degraded land. According to him, there are ongoing plans to restore four million hectares, or nearly 10 million acres of degraded lands within the nation's borders as its contribution to the AFR100 Initiative.
"I wish to assure you that we will engage our security architecture to protect the farms and the farmers so that farmers can return to the farmlands without fear of attacks," he said.
Not impressed by assurances from the Vice President, the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), expressed deep concerns over what it described as biting economic hardship, high cost of essential life-enhancing commodities and alarming food scarcity in the country "occasioned by the ill-implemented policies of the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration, which are already causing restiveness and agitations in various parts of the country."
This was contained in a communiqué issued on Tuesday after its meeting in Abuja. The opposition party noted that the future of democracy is gloomy with veiled attempts to force the country into a one-party state.
This was also reiterated by the chairman of the PDP Governors' Forum and governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed.
Speaking before a closed-door meeting of the party's BoT, former Senate President, Adolphus Wabara, who is also the chairman of PDP's BoT, said: "If PDP goes under, definitely democracy will go under in Nigeria.
We know that there are plans to turn this country into a one-party state but that will be only when we allow it. So, we must fight for democracy in Nigeria and it is only the PDP that can do that."
The communiqué released after the BoT meeting reads: "The BoT is appalled by the monumental corruption and unbridled treasury-looting in the APC administration, especially the looting of billions of Naira meant for palliatives for poor and vulnerable Nigerians.
"The BoT is seriously worried over the fall of the Naira to an abysmal N1,500 to the Dollar, incessant increase in the pump price of fuel, which now sells for over N700 per liter with long queues in various parts of the country.
"These have attendant negative consequences as evident in the nearly 30 per cent inflation rate, 41 per cent unemployment rate and alarming 46 per cent poverty rate where up to 130 million citizens have sunk deeper into multi-dimensional poverty in the last nine months.
"The BoT is disturbed that the catastrophic economic and security situation in the country have left Nigerians hopeless, despondent, angry and constitute a present and immediate threat to the survival of the country as hardworking young Nigerians, professionals in critical fields as well as major multinational companies are now leaving our nation in droves.
"The BoT calls on President Tinubu to know that the situation in the country has become unbearable. Mr. President should immediately address the issues of corruption in his administration, worsening insecurity in the country, continuous fall in the value of the Naira, high fuel price, unbearable food scarcity and unemployment in the country."
President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has bemoaned the inflationary trend in the country, suggesting that the Federal Government should devise a mechanism for the yearly review of wages, especially the national minimum wage.
Ajaero stated this yesterday at the second National Labour Adjudication and Arbitration Forum, organised by the National Employers Consultative Association (NECA), in Abuja.
The NLC President, who spoke on the impact of galloping inflation on the wages of workers, said: "No matter what amount you negotiate in the present Nigerian economy, in the next five years, it can't buy a bag of rice.
"There is a need to tinker with the law providing for five yearly renegotiations of the national minimum wage to allow for a yearly adjustment of wages based on the level of inflation and value of the naira.
"This is important because people have been coming up to say that if we increase salaries, it will affect inflation, but should we keep salaries constant while other variables continue to grow."
Ajaero also said that workers are dissatisfied with the government's poor implementation of the wage award, saying that nobody is paying the N35,000 as agreed last year.
Ajaero wondered why it took the President less than 24 hours to implement the removal of the fuel subsidy but was unable to decide on measures to manage its impact eight months later.
"It took you 24 hours to say fuel subsidy is gone and is taking you more than eight months to decide what to do with it, and you are telling us to give you more time. It took 24 hours to remove fuel subsidy, but after more than eight months, no single CNG bus is on the road," he said.
Meanwhile, in a bid to ensure accountability and good governance, members of the House of Representatives have resolved to beam their searchlights on the usage of over N6 trillion Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) to the 36 states of the Federal and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
The decision to monitor the expenditure of the monies was arrived at during the House plenary session presided by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, who also said the searchlight should be extended to the 774 local councils of the federation.
Consequently, the House mandated its joint Committee on Special Duties, National Planning and Economic Development, and Intergovernmental Affairs to investigate the releases, spending and utilisation of the increased allocations from FACC, and report back to the House for necessary action.
Mr. Ademorin Kuye, sponsor of the motion under matters of urgent importance, stressed the need to monitor increased FAAC allocation to the two tiers of government to reduce the biting level of poverty afflicting the vast population of Nigerians.
"The share for the local governments, states and the Federal Government from the Federation Account has increased significantly due to the withdrawal of fuel subsidy, floating of the naira and other economic policies unanimously introduced by the Federal Government," he stated.
According to him, states and local governments got the most from FAAC, at least in the last seven months, after the subsidy removal, adding that states and local governments received a total of N5.6 trillion in 2023, which nearly doubles the N3.3 trillion they received in 2022.
"Despite the availability of more cash to the states and the local governments, 14.2 million more citizens continue to grapple with poverty even as Delta as one of the state received N217 billion, Rivers N179.8 billion, Akwa Ibom-N175.5 billion, and Bayelsa-N128 billion. These states still have poverty rates as 13.1 per cent, 7.3 per cent, 22.9 per cent and 24.3 per cent respectively."
Similarly, the Coalition of United Political Party (CUPP) has decried the alleged hijack of the 774 local councils by the 36 governors. CUPP's Secretary General, Peter Ameh, in a statement, pointed accusing fingers at governors over the management of funds meant for the development of local councils, amounting to over N40 trillion since 1999.
CUPP pledged to support any collaborative efforts in the direction of working with the National Assembly to carry out constitutional amendments that will lead to the granting of full financial and Electoral autonomy to the local government system and administration in the country.
The group particularly expressed concern over the failure of State Independent Electoral Commissions to perform their functions has contravened section 7(1) of 1999 Constitution (as amended), which stipulates the election of a democratically elected local government councils' chairmen.
"If local authorities become autonomous and the tenure of elected officials are guaranteed, it will be easy for the people to hold them accountable, and this will in turn bring development closer to the people and thus encourage the growth and development of local communities which by extension lead to a robust and prosperous democracy.
"What is going on at the Local Government level in Nigeria is a mockery of democracy because there is an urgent need for all stakeholders to work together purposefully to establish the needed environment for good governance to grow and save our people from bad leadership.
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