The Governor of Katsina State, Dikko Radda, called an emergency meeting of the State Security Council on Friday, Feb. 9, to discuss the current hardships faced by Nigerians as a result of the skyrocketing prices of food and the activities of certain traders who, taking advantage of the weak Naira, had chosen to export Nigerian food to Niger, Chad, and Libya.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report that, the governor said, “This emergency meeting is to discuss the current situation of food prices, which is threatening the existence of the country”.
“Food prices are rising, making it harder for the poor to buy, and if something is not done, there will be famine, which would ultimately lead to crisis and instability in the nation”.
For this reason, we must intervene to stop protests in Katsina.
“I received information on the contributing reasons to this problem. Due to their currency’s higher value than ours, traders are exporting food commodities to nearby Niger, Mali, and certain regions of Libya. They buy food in large quantities for their country and consume it in tiny portions”.
Furthermore, we’ve heard from merchants that they fill trailers to the brim with food every day and hold off on selling until the commodity hits a particular price.
Even though the harvest season is still ongoing, a bag of corn costs about N60,000, with a minimum pay of N30,000.
“A family man with ten children may buy a lot of maize in a single day, not to mention additional expenses. The impoverished will be compelled to start taking food from anyone if caution is not used. We must think things out again”.
He added that they had to come up with a new plan because most of the bandits’ spies, who were giving them information, had disappeared. These days, they go on rampages and abduct the impoverished, for whom three square meals are not a certainty.