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Dolapo Bright, a former Special Adviser on Agriculture during Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, has criticized the decision of President Bola Tinubu to suspend duties, tariffs, and taxes on food imports. Speaking on the matter, Bright contended that Tinubu had been misinformed by his advisers into thinking this move would curb inflation. He added that such a policy might oversimplify the complex factors driving food prices in the country.
During his appearance on Channels Television’s Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Sunday, Dolapo Bright discussed the ripple effects of high fuel prices on Nigeria’s economy. He explained that the rising costs of diesel and petrol, both essential for transporting agricultural goods, have driven up the prices of food commodities, further straining household budgets.
He said, “I don’t think it happened. The person who advised the government to do that, the person is clueless, if you understand what is happening, you won’t give such advice. The person is misleading the president. Do you know why? Let’s assume that you are going to import. Importation is going to be into Lagos. Are you not going to transport the thing to other states? It doesn’t make sense because that is going to make our agriculture stagnant.”
The surge in food and commodity prices has reached unprecedented levels, plunging Nigerians into what many describe as the most severe cost of living crisis since the nation gained independence more than six decades ago.
At the time of President Bola Tinubu’s inauguration in May 2023, Nigeria’s inflation rate was 22.41%, as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). By November 2024, inflation had soared to an unprecedented 34.6%, a staggering increase of over 12%. This inflationary spike has been largely attributed to Tinubu’s bold economic reforms, namely the removal of the petrol subsidy and the unification of foreign exchange rates.
Food inflation hit 39.93% in November 2024, a sharp increase from the 32.84% reported in November 2023. The rising costs of critical food items such as fish, rice, yam flour, millet, corn flour, eggs, milk, and frozen chicken have been largely responsible for this surge in food prices, further straining household budgets.
To stem food inflation, the Tinubu administration in July 2024 announced the suspension of customs duties on imported food items but the policy has reportedly not seen the light of the day due to bureaucratic bottlenecks.
Read also: Lamentations As Prices Of Foodstuff Skyrocket In Kaduna
Bright, who was Buhari’s aide on agriculture from 2015 to 2023, said the government has been partly responsible for inflation because the administration is trying to sit on the driver’s side of agriculture instead of allowing the private sector to do so.
He said farmers won’t necessarily need the government’s intervention if the right environment is set for them to make a decent profit.
“A lot of farmers are not producing the capacity they were producing before because of high input costs,” he said, blaming the cost of diesel and petrol which he said significantly affect harvests.