President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered that the Nigerian Custom Service (NCS) returns food items seized at various borders to their rightful owners with a caveat that the returned food items should be sold in Nigerian market to aid food sufficiency.
The prior seizure of these food items is inline with the Export Prohibition Act which provides that certain goods are not to be taken out of the country. Goods prohibited under the act include beans, cassava tuber, maize, rice, Yam tuber, all products or derivatives of these products, and all imported food items.
The President of Nigeria in a show of his magnanimity and sympathy towards the suffering of Nigerians with regards to food supply has directed that food items going out of the country that have been seized at various border across the country should be returned to their owner on the condition that they should be sold in the Nigerian market, he also imposed on penalty on violation of this condition by the owners. This directive is in hope that re-entry of these food items in the market will ensure the availability of food in the market which can address the problem of food sufficiency.
While addressing the availability of food in Nigeria, it is important to consider the effect of high cost of food items, caused by high cost of transportation and inflation, as a major cause of food insufficiency. The complaint of the common man has been that the prices of food are too exorbitant, thereby limiting his purchasing power.
The Government should not put the cart before the horse in their effort to tackle food insufficiency, while the directive of the government is effective in ensuring supply, the ability of Nigerians to purchase food items is limited by the exorbitant prices placed on food items.
This factor should be given more consideration in order to ensure adequate food supply.
