Nigerian farmers and food traders are not happy with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent directive to crash food prices.
Last week, the President ordered that food prices be slashed to make life easier for ordinary Nigerians. But farmers and marketers say the policy could put them in serious financial trouble.
Malam Abba Sani, a farmer in Kano, told reporters that they might suffer heavy losses.
He said: “We bought our seeds, fertiliser at an expensive price, how then are we supposed to get our money back?”
Sani added that while the order may look good to ordinary Nigerians, farmers like him are the ones who will “suffocate under the new price regime.”
Speaking with DAILY POST, Bashir Madara, the public Relations officer of Singer Market, a major food hub in northern Nigeria, said traders with old stock will be the hardest hit.
He said: “Every good Nigerian with a heart that wants to see the poor enjoy some peace will welcome the President’s order to slash food prices.
“But as you may be aware, whenever there’s a price slash, it is very likely that some marketers have products in stock. This will definitely lead to losses to some of the marketers with old stock.”
Madara noted, however, that most traders now avoid keeping too many goods in their stores.
He explained: “We monitor the direction at which things are moving now. Unlike before when businessmen would make bulk purchases, now they stock enough to sell in a short period, hoping before he returns to buy more, the price may have reduced.”
According to him, while there will still be some losses, “it will not be too severe.”
Madara advised fellow traders to quickly sell off their old stock before the price cuts fully take effect. He also appealed to the government to take traders’ challenges into account while trying to ease the burden on ordinary Nigerians.
He added that despite the concerns of traders, the policy is still “good for the common Nigerian.”
