A half a year after promising to fix high food prices, the Nigerian government certainly hasn’t paid any thought to what their intervention might have led to for their people.

Naijaeyes recalls that the government launched such a program in July 2024 specifically to unveil what it tagged strategic initiatives toward fighting high food prices.

The Minister of Agriculture and Food security, Abubakar Kyari, announced plans to that effect, with the claim made via his verified X handle in July last year.

Kyari had stated that within the next 180 days, actions would be put into operation with expectations to reduce soaring prices of food items.
“Government has deployed a range of strategic measures that will suffice over the next 180 days,” according to the Minister.

Six months have passed with no single sign yet of intervention from a promise the Nigerian government made to its citizens to reduce high food prices.

Naijaeyes recalls that the government had in July 2024 unveiled what it called strategic measures to combat high food prices.

Plans to that effect were announced by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, with the claim made via his verified X handle in July last year.

Kyari had stated that within the next 180 days, actions would be put into operation with expectations to reduce soaring prices of food items.

The Minister explained that the initiatives had included a 150-day Duty-Free import window for food commodities, suspension of duties, tariffs, and taxes on imports of specific food commodities including maize, husked brown rice, wheat, and cowpea through land and sea borders.

“Introduction of 150-day Duty-Free Import Window for Food Commodities suspension of duties, tariffs, and taxes for importation through land and sea borders of a number of other food commodities such as maize, husked brown rice, wheat, and cowpea,” said the Minister of the Government.

Our administration has kicked off a multi-faceted strategic approach to addressing the current high food prices afflicting our country. This will continue over the next 180 days.

Naijaeyes reports that the 180 days countdown from June 10, 2024 has completed its cycle as Tuesday, January 7, 2024.

Before the Minister made the declaration, DAILY POST reported how increases in the prices of garri, yam, and other food items escalated Nigeria’s food inflation from 40.66 percent in May to 40.87 percent in June 2024.

The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, while disclosing the then development in its Consumer Price Index and Inflation report, stated that Nigeria’s food inflation 2024 was 15.62 percent points above the rate recorded in June 2023 (25.25 percent).

According to it, the upsurges in the whole grains like millet, garri, guinea corn, yam, water-yam, groundnut oil, palm oil, and fish led to the upturns.

By the comparative analysis of the Consumer Price Index report revealed by NBS, it reported that in July 2024, food inflation rate is 39.53 annual rate, 12.55 per cent points higher than the rate reported in July 2023 (26.98 per cent).

Therefore, in August of the same year, NBS Consumer Price Index, CPI report for August 2024 says food inflation fell to 37.52 percent from 39.53 percent in July.

According to NBS, this was due to a fall in prices of some consumer items such as tobacco, tea, cocoa, coffee, groundnut oil, and milk.

The thing is, according to the NBS, the food inflation rate as of September 2024 was 37.77 percent. On year-on-year terms, they reported it is 7.13 percentage point higher than what was recorded in September 2023 (30.64 percent).

While in October, NBS said that food inflation in Nigeria soared to 39.16 percent year on year in October 2024 and compared that to 31.52 percent recorded from October 2023.

NBS report said for November, the food inflation rate was at 39.93 percent.

But most worrying is the trend about which President Bola Tinubu has vowed to turn tables in terms of reducing food item prices, thereby lowering inflation from the current record of 34.60 percent as in November 2024 to a target of 15 percent.

http://Six Months In: Tinubu Govt Struggles with Food Inflation

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