Worried by the rising food prices in the country, the Federal Government has directed the Special Presidential Committee on Emergency Food Intervention to immediately wade in by opening the national food reserve to the Nigerian populace to stem the inflation. Contrary to some claims, the federal government debunked that Nigerians is facing acute food shortage, as government is alleging that saboteurs were capitalising on Naira’s depreciation to escalate the cost of food items across the markets.
Accordingly, the, chief of staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila and National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu on the directive of Mr. President convened a meeting at the state house yesterday to address the matter.
On Monday, some decedent group with some placards took to the street on major road across Minna, Niger State protesting the high cost of foodstuffs.
The protesters called on the political officeholders to save them from hunger.
However, Governor Umar Bago, of the state alleged that, it was an act of sabotage by some cartel which he accused of mopping up foodstuffs in order to cause hike in prices.
According to Bago, the Federal Government was aware of the activities of the cartel, alleged that the aim of the saboteurs was to cause hunger and incite the people against the government.
Shortly after the meeting, the Information and National Orientation minister Mohammed Idris assured that food items would be released from the National Food Reserves to crash prices.
Subsequently, Idris explained that major millers and commodity traders would be engaged by the government so that the food items will be made readily available.
In his statement, “We just rounded off a meeting. It is a special presidential committee to address the issue of food shortage or lack of enough food on the table of most Nigerians.
“What I will tell Nigerians is that the President has directed that government needs to step in to stem this tide. Government will not fold its arms and see the way Nigerians are suffering in terms of the availability of these food items.
“Now, some of these will involve unlocking the foods that are available in most of the storage facilities (National Food Reserve) around the country. You know that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture has some food reserves. They are going to be made available to Nigerians.
The Minister continued, “The government is also talking to major millers and major commodity traders, to also see what is available in their stores. To open it up, so the government will provide some intervention, discuss with them and provide some intervention to make this food available to Nigerians.
“What the government is noticing is that there is still food in this country. Some people are taking advantage of the situation, especially because of the high cost and the depreciation in the value of our currency that has led to the cost of these food items also going up.
“All these issues were discussed; the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (Yemi Cardoso) was at the meeting. The Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister for the Economy (Wale Edun) was there and of course, the Chief of Staff and the National Security Adviser were there. The NSA was there because of some national security implications.
“All these have been discussed and like I said, this conversation or discussion is going to continue.”
More so, the minister further assured that the federal government is doing all its best to ensure that it alleviate the suffering of a common man.
Idriss said, “This is just the beginning of that meeting. It is going to continue tomorrow (today) and the day after tomorrow. The government is very concerned about what Nigerians are going through, especially what happened in Minna yesterday (Monday). Government is taking some action to ensure that Nigerians have some relief in terms of the availability of food on their tables.
“Of course, this meeting is not by itself exhaustive. It’s just like I said, the beginning.
“ I want to plead with you to understand with the government. By the time these meetings are concluded, we’ll be able to issue a definite statement on what the position of government is in this regard. But all I can say is that discussions are ongoing, and very soon a solution will be in sight.
Asked if there were any immediate actions, Idris replied: “Some of them are dependent on the follow-up meeting on this hardship. The government is stepping in a big way to ensure that Nigerians have succour.”
